The Prescribed Burn Alliance of Texas (PBAT) (https://www.pbatexas.org/) announced the results of the 2024–2025 dormant season for prescribed fire. During this period, 18 Texas-based Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs), covering 175 counties, assisted private landowners in conducting 73 prescribed burns, safely treating approximately 25,000 acres across the state.
[Read more…] about Texas Landowners Successfully Implement Prescribed Fire on 25,000-acres!!
Prescribed fire is a critical process for grassland and savanna function, management of invasive species, and wildfire mitigation. It’s a practice that requires careful coordination and collaboration among various organizations. The overall effectiveness and success of prescribed fire is heavily influenced by social networks.
In the USDA-USFS Angelina National Forest, a prescribed burn was in progress when a wildfire was detected approximately two miles north of the burn. The burn manager released one of the one site dozers and an incident commander to contain the wildfire and secure it before launching the helicopter for continued aerial ignitions for the prescribed fire. Shortly after, another fire was detected adjacent from the prescribed burn on private land outside of the burn unit. With the fire burning aggressively, the burn manager requested contingency resources to be in route for support and to backfill onsite contingencies as they were being utilized.
Photo Credit: USDA Forest Service
[Read more…] about Shearwood Creek Prescribed Fire After Action Review
Depending on where you are in the United States, you might have noticed the warmer temperatures this year. The first day of Spring was March 20, 2023. But, according to Harry Stevens from The Washington Post, nature does not know what month of the calendar we are in but instead responds to the gradual accumulation of heat at the beginning of each year. When the daily average temperatures rise above freezing, this sends a signal to the plants and animals that life is again preparing to grow. On average this year, phenology stages of bud break were the earliest it has been in 40 years!
Happy New Year from the Prairie Project! The Prairie Project has released their Winter 2023 newsletter. Inside includes research highlights and excerpts, upcoming awards, and important dates to mark on your schedule. Keep up to date by downloading the newsletter in PDF format: Winter 2023 Prairie Project Newsletter
For more information on the Prairie Project, visit https://www.theprairieproject.org/
Join us at DeLeon City Auditorium in DeLeon, Texas on February 24th, 2023 for a day of Texas Department of Agriculture CEUs! Click here for the tentative agenda in PDF format.
Coming up April 13-14, 2023 is the 7th Hill Country Land Stewardship Conference! This year’s conference will be held at the YO Ranch Hotel and Conference Center in Kerrville, Texas. The event will include talks on economics, law, wildlife management, and changes in perspective on ranching. Day two will feature tours of the Hillingdon Ranch and Flagler Ranch.
Click here for more information.
Click here to download the tentative agenda (current to 01/25/2023).
AgriLife Extension and Bennett Trust hope to see you there!
Check out our new YouTube Channel featuring videos and handouts dedicated to increasing County Extension Agent knowledge and enhancing landowner’s understanding of tools, resources, techniques, and strategies on rangelands!
Our latest post features application and utility of Web Soil Survey, an online free resource for understanding soil mapping and tools. Nearly all farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners across the country rely on one common resource for production: their soil. If you’re interested in learning more about this medium that grows our nation’s food, fuel, and fiber, here is a advantageous tool to help! Get the Web Soil Survey Handout here and watch the YouTube video here!
Ok, get excited because I have some news to share with you! For the past year, I have been putting together an improved burn school experience in the form of an online course. This course packs all of the prescribed burn education I go through in the first two days of a burn school and lets you go through the content at your own pace.
This course is perfect for you if…
• You are ready to see an improvement in your rangeland and ecosystem
• You are limited on time and want to learn how best to bring life back to your land
• You are interested in learning more about prescribed burning and the benefits of burns
• You currently are or are interested in becoming a Certified and Insured Prescribed Burn Manager (CIPBM)
• You want to be eligible for future certification from the Texas Department of Agriculture
Prescribed Burning Benefits
Prescribed burning, also known as controlled burning, is a technique used by certified fire experts to manage rangeland productivity and restore health to ecosystems.
Fire has played a significant but complicated historical role. Land managers have tried for decades to remove fire from fire-dominant ecosystems, which has affected future generations of land managers. It is important for us to be informed about the role that fire plays in our ecosystem in order to maintain rangeland productivity, especially systems challenged by brush encroachment.
Prescribed burning can be defined as hazard-reducing burning of a wildfire, set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, and prairie restoration. Prescribed fires are intentionally ignited in order to achieve specific land management objectives, such as restore ecosystem health and recycle nutrients.
Many species depend on fire to maintain their habitat. Fire is one of the best management tools for invasive plant control and prescribed burning can prepare the land for new trees and vegetation.
Prescribed burns help manage weeds and lower the risk of wildfires by reducing the amount of flammable fuel in the area. Additionally, they can restore nutrients to the soil and encourage healthy plant growth.
Ready to take the next step in restoring your land through prescribed burns?
Prescribed Burn School Details
Cost: $200
Sections: 13
Time: 24 hours
Launch Date: February 10, 2020
Self-paced, available year-round
Once the course is launched, you can enroll at any time and set your own pace for learning. The course allows for flexible study time to go through the materials whenever you want.
Prescribed burning requires extensive planning, training, personnel, and equipment. There are important steps that have to be taken prior to the day of the burn in order to conduct a prescribed burn safely and correctly.
This course walks you through all of the steps of a prescribed burn and gets you ready to participate in a burn field day.
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
• Explain the history of fire as an ecological tool
• Evaluate fuels present across many environments according to their defining characteristics
• Describe fire behavior according to physical and chemical principles
• Prepare for weather conditions as they relate to burning
• Discuss the impact topographic influences have on fire behavior
• Analyze the effect that fire has on plant communities and wildlife habitat
• Plan a prescribed burn
• Identify proper burning equipment and safety techniques
• Employ proper firing technique according to the prescribed burn goals and objectives
• Mitigate smoke impacts
• Understand laws and regulations regarding prescribed burning
• Evaluate potential burn sites
After you successfully complete the course and earn your certificate, you will have 1 year from the date of completion to sign up and participate in a field day to become eligible for certification through the TDA. Available field dates will be listed at the end of the course.
The Prescribed Burn School course goes live on February 10, 2020. Find it on AgriLife Learn, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s new online learning platform.
Want us to send you a reminder when the course launches? Sign up today and we will notify you as soon as the course is open for registration.
Click here for more info on this course!
Do you have any idea how blessed we are to have such incredible mentors of prescribed burning? I believe what makes a good burner is one that never stops learning and always learns from every fire, every experience, every time. I decided to showcase prescribed burn practitioners who are just AWESOME at what they do. I have found that the best guys to burn with are the ones who do not care about the glory or the attention. “Why I Burn” will showcase a prescribed burn practitioner who gets the job, doesn’t care about the credit, and has a true love and passion for prescribed burning. These are their stories of fire.
Hello Chuck Stanley. A friend. A colleague. And a guy that has a wealth of knowledge underneath a dang good looking hat. I first met Chuck through my dad. Chuck and my dad were at a Society for Range Management meeting in Albuquerque and they were the only two men in the Advisory Council meeting that were #1) wearing black Stetsons and #2) talking common sense. They would later bond over fire stories. Fast-forward 8 years later and I am still hitting Chuck up for that common sense, boots-on-the-ground, hard-working, well-deserved, sweat-equity common sense.
Chuck has been putting fire on the landscape for 30 years, since his beginning range days at Texas Tech. Chuck is a Range Management Specialist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in Fort Worth. He is, basically, the go-to-guy for all things RX Fire in Texas and, especially, with the NRCS. In other words, he knows his stuff. This is Chuck’s story of fire.
How did you get introduced to fire? Well that is interesting, To me anyway. When I first started Texas Tech, like many other freshmen, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I bounced from major to major and not really finding my niche. I believe at the time I was taking engineering classes and took an introductory course into range and wildlife habitat. That was when I decided to change majors once again and moved over to the Range and Wildlife department at TTU, thinking what a fortunate decision this would be as I could hunt and fish and get paid for it. So I had to go and visit with my new advisor to get my classes set up and little did I know I was sitting in front of the man who wrote the book on prescribed fire, Dr. Henry Wright. During my “interview” on classwork, Dr. Wright asked me if I had ever burned any rangeland. I thought it might be a trick question to see if I was or had been convicted of arson at some point. I have not been but I have “accidentally” burned a few acres in my younger days. Dr. Wright smiled and said “ well tomorrow we are going to go burn 5000 acres”, I said “on purpose?” From that point on, I was hooked and have been involved with prescribed fire for 30 years. Funny thing, I am getting paid for it.
Do you make special plans for fire in your management plans well in advance, or take advantage of good fuel and weather conditions as they come? It all depends on what type of burn we are needing to meet objectives, and where the burn is to take place (smoke management issues etc.) However, there are times that I have known a place that needed burning, and when a perfect day comes along, we get it done.
What’s the hook for you on fire? I would say the main hook for me is the rejuvenation of the vegetation following the burn. And the landowners satisfaction of the results. I really like to teach the art of prescribed fire and try to get others interested.
In your opinion, what makes a successful fire? Generally speaking, I would say one that stays within the perimeter of the burn site, and all personnel are safe. Beyond that, one where the objectives were met.
Who in your burn circle/crew would you never burn without? My matches and driptorch…. Over the years there have been a bunch of folks that I truly have absolute trust in while burning. Generally they have been doing this a good while, and know what to look for, and understand fire behavior very well. I would not hesitate calling anyone of them if they were in the vicinity. Because of my position now, I just don’t get to go and burn like I used to.