Prescribed Forest Burning

[MarkV]

Hi all, hope you are having a great holiday season!

Does anyone have experience with prescribed burns for the betterment of forest and wildlife health? We are in the pine tree zone of the Southeast and have about 75 acres of family land that the foresters tell us needs to be burned. About 10 years ago the area was selectively logged and should have been burned a year later but was not. As a result there is a lot of under burden with thick stands of 10’ pines, briars, and varies other growth. A tornado kicked off of Katrina this last year came through the property and damaged about 10 acres of trees so this area has been recently logged. Logging leaves a heck of a mess and the foresters say that burning is also the best way to start cleaning it up.

This is a more than we want to take on ourselves so we will be having a forester do the burning. It does get expensive though. Rough estimates for an excavator to clean up the existing fire breaks, have a dozer on site during the burn and a crew of foresters to do the actual burning looks to be in the 5 to 7k range depending on how it goes.

I sure would like to hear about anyone else’s experience with prescribed burns. We would like to ask the right questions before the place is ablaze. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

MarkV

 

[JazzDad]

Hey, Mark. I'd start with your county ag agent. He or she should know who to contact. I recently went to a "controlled" burn as part of a training program. The college instructor taught us more than he intended when the fire went out of control. We got to see how the pumper truck is used and watch a bunch of students run around like ants. I learned quite a bit. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[db2]

Hi Mark: I haven't had personal experience with a prescribed burn but a friend of mine is a forester with 35+ years of experience. Last week we were talking about this subject. He pointed out that a PB accomplishes what nature used to do via forest fires. In our area they have used PB's and mechanical methods to prepare logged over areas. The PB's are the most cost effective, as well they give the best results.

Hope that helps.

 

[dmccarty]

Mark,

Check with the state's department of Forrestry. In NC they have people who have been certified to do controlled burns and there is some legal protection for the land owner. NC also has a class that the landowner can attend to be certified to do the burn themselves.

My area has a huge tick and chigger population. They only way to control them as far as I can see is through controlled burns. I would love to do one to kill the bugs and get rid of the invasive low growing plants.

Later,
Dan

 

[Amontilado]

Agree with Dan, check with the state forestry folks. They have the expertise to handle a prescribed burn.

Steve

 

[Golfgar4]

We just finished spending 2 months in 2 different North Carolina State Parks as camphosts. In both cases, the Rangers at each park are involved in scheduled burns in their areas. The last park we were in, Carolina Beach State Park, has prescribed burns at least every 3 years.

Now they never said anything about private citizens doing these kinds of burns, so I can't offer anything about that. But I would agree that a call or visit to a foresty agency or possibly a ranger station might yield some good information.

 

[HGM]

Mark,
I would recomend calling the local fire department as well being as you are rural they might be interested in a training activity on your land.... See what their feelings and recomendations are as well as the forestry division. I also would be hesitant of doing 75ac at one time. If you set it up right, you can divide that into managable portions that you could alternatly burn year after year to control. I dont curently have land to burn, but everything I have seen and read tells me that is the only way to go. I would love to do the land I hunt...

 

[Gary_in_Geneva]

Been there – done that – have the pictures. It has GREATLY improved the land and cleaned up much of the small logging slash. Ours was done by the Florida Department of Forestry, but was a lot less expensive on the order of a few hundred dollars for 40 acres.

Take a look at some of our pictures. The link is to the controlled burn: Controlled burn December 31 2004

 

[Birdhunter1]

I had a forest that neededto burn, it was about 30-40 acres, surrounded on all sides by a few miles of plowed ground or bean stubble fields. In other words stuff that won't burn.
I just went to the upwind side, dropped a few matches and all was done by beer number two!

 

[Pilot]

25 yrs. as a forester here in the Pacific Northwest, which is different from your area, but here's what I know that is relevant:

Escape fires are common and no big deal if the burn is done when the weather is right. If the weather is not as forecasted, there could be serious problems. So you need someone who knows what they are doing unless you are surrounded by plowed fields.

As someone said, burning is nature's way. Burning is good for the environment of your site, but the smoke is not good for the greater environment. Youmay have smoke management requirements to comply with that will restrict the days and times you can burn.

In your area, one of the pines (loblolly, I think, but I've been out of forestry school so long I can't remember) needs a burn to jump out of it's "grass" stage of life to take off & grow well.

The more often you burn, the lower the risk of a serious fire because burning removes all that fuel.

A good fuel management person will have access to software that will take into account the type and amount of fuel you have and will predict how the fire will burn under various weather conditions. These programs work pretty well.

Good luck, & report back on how it went!

 

[MarkV]

Thanks for all the good advice. I wasn’t very clear in the original post and should have said that we have had the Georgia Forestry Commissions Regional Forester out to look at the property as well as a private forester we have used in the past. All agree that a burn would be a good thing to do. The Georgia Forestry Commission will assist with a burn and their rates would be less expensive but there are some down sides. They do not carry liability insurance to protect us if the fire were to get away and they do not physically light fires for land owners. They did produce a nice management plan with an aerial photo map of the property. They are also willing to work with a private forester who would manage the burn.

Pilot touch on the issue of smoke management which is a concern brought up by both foresters. The property is not far from residential areas and a four lane state road.

Gary I enjoyed the photo’s of your burn. Our property is much more over grown so I would expect a bit more of a blaze from what they are telling me.

Thanks for the help.

MarkV

 

[Gary_in_Geneva]

Mark,

You probably want to have it chopped to get the fuel down. Roller Chopper

Before Chopping looking E

Pano from near the same point W to E

It makes it so I can get in there with a rotary cutter and keep it down. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[MarkV]

Gary,
That is one mean looking machine! Can’t say that I have seen one around here though. The forester and excavator work together often and seem to feel that they have a handle on what needs to be done to do the burn safely. Now we are waiting for the conditions to be right so the breaks can be cut and then for the proper burn conditions. I am sure that the “chopping” would do a better job of disposing of logging left debris though. I’ll have to ask about it and see if it is done here.

MarkV

 

[Panache]

Pilot, It is longleaf that needs fire. I have to burn all of mine every two years. Loblolly cannot be burned till about 15 years. I just got 18 acres planted in longleaf - 8000 trees over 18 acres by 8 mexicans in 3 hrs. Nowq that is moving.