Prescribed fire has long been one of the most effective tools for managing woody plant encroachment, improving wildlife habitat, enhancing forage production, and reducing wildfire risk. Yet for many landowners, implementing prescribed fire can seem out of reach due to concerns about labor, equipment, experience, liability, and planning requirements.
Across the Great Plains, Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are helping overcome those barriers through a simple but powerful concept: neighbors helping neighbors. New research published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire demonstrates that these landowner-led organizations are expanding access to prescribed fire, building local capacity, and making meaningful contributions to rangeland stewardship across the United States.
A Movement Built by Landowners
Prescribed Burn Associations first emerged in the Great Plains in the 1990s to help ranchers gain the education, equipment, training, and support needed to safely implement prescribed fire on private lands. Since then, the model has spread nationwide, with more than 140 PBAs now operating across the country.
Unlike traditional top-down approaches, PBAs are community-led organizations that bring together landowners, volunteers, and natural resource professionals to share knowledge, labor, equipment, and experience. These local networks help reduce costs, increase confidence, and provide opportunities for people to gain hands-on experience using prescribed fire.
The impact of these organizations continues to grow. Survey responses from PBAs across the United States showed that associations collectively conduct an average of 660 prescribed burns across 84,508 acres annually, mobilizing thousands of volunteers to restore fire to ecosystems where it has historically been excluded.
