Fire Management (prescribed burning)
What is it?
Fire management is the use of fire to burn vegetation to clear excess vegetation, improves species diversity,
Conservation Benefits
- Control of exotic or invasive species
- Increases species diversity
- Inhances wildlife habitat
- Mimics historical wildfires
- Restoration of native species
What does it include?
Fire management is used in a variety of habitats including grasslands, savannas, and forests. Certified professionals and technical experts should be consulted to develop a fire management strategy for the property that considers objective, native species life history strategies, restoration needs, wildlife habitat requirements, exotic or invasive species removal, time of year, duration and intensity, and frequency. These factors will determine the best strategy for burns.
Fire Management Links
- Prescribed burning (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)
- Fire Management Guidlines (The Nature Conservancy)
- Fire Management Manual (The Nature Conservancy)
- Prescribed burning board (Texas Department of Agriculture)
- Michigan Prescribed Fire Council
- Prescribed Fire (US Forest Service)
- Arkansas smoke management guidlines (Arkansas Forestry Commission)
- Features of prescribed fire and smoke management rules for western and southern states (US EPA)
- Fire: prescribed burning (Texas Forestry Service)
- Forest protection: prescribed burning and fire lines (Missouri Department of Conservation)
- Hazard Mitigation Best Management Practices (Flagstaff Fire Department)
- Interagency prescribed fire: planning and implementation procedures guide
- Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Fire Management Plan (National Park Service)
- Oklahoma prescribed burning handbook (Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service)
- Prescribed burning (Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife)
- Prescribed burning in Louisiana Pinelands (Louisiana State University AgCenter Research & Extension)
- Prescribed burning guidelines in the Northern Great Plains (US Fish and Wildlife Service; South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service)
- Prescribed burning notebook (Kansas State University)
- Prescribed burning plan (Texas Organization of Wildlife Management Associations)
- Prescribed burning regulations in Florida (University of Florida IFAS Extension)
- Prescribed burning: using fire wisely (Georgia Forestry Commission)
- Prescribed burning and wildfire (University of Wisconsin Extension; UW Dept of Forest Ecology and Management)
- Prescribed fire in Michigan - best management practices (Michigan Prescribed Fire Council)
- Prescribed fire use and important management considerations for amphibians and reptiles within the Midwest (www.mwparc.org)
- Prescribed fire pile burning guidlines (Colorado State Forest Service)
- Prescribed range burning in Texas (Texas AgriLife Extension Service)
- Volunteer fire departments using prescribed fire (Argen, Inc.)
- Watershed mangement: prescribed use of fire (p 6-15; Nevada State Conservation Commission)
- Wildfire (New Jersey Forest Service)
Fire Management Bibliography
- Brockway et al. 2002. Restoring fire as an ecological process in shortgrass prairie ecosystems: initial effects of prescribed burning during the dormant and growing seasons. Journal of Environmental Management 65: 135-152.
- Fuhlendorf et al. 1996. Simulation of a fire-sensitive ecological threshold: a case study of Ashe juniper on the Edwards Plateau of Texas, USA. Ecological Modeling 90: 245-255.
- Hester et al. 1997. Hydrologic characteristics of vegetation types affected by prescribed burning. Journal of Range Managemet 50: 199-204.
- Houghton et al. 2000. Changes in terrestrial carbon storage in the United States: The role of fire and fire management. Global Ecology and Biogeogrphy 9: 145-170.
- Hutchinson et al. 2005. Prescribed fire effects on the herbaceous layer of mixed-oak forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35: 877-890.
- Liu et al. 2009. Effects of prescribed fire on the composition of woody plant communities in southeastern Texas. Journal of Vegetation Science 8: 495-504.
- Peterson and Reich. 2001. Prescribed fire in oak savanna: fire frequency effects on stand structure and dynamics. Ecological Applications 11: 914-927.
- Rideout et al. 2003. Ecological, political and social challenges of prescribed fire restoration in east Texas pineywoods ecosystems: a case study. Forestry 76: 261-269.
- Russell et al. 1999. Prescribed fire effects on herpetofauna: review and management implications. Wildlife Society Bulletin 27: 374- 384.
- Wright. 1974. Effect of fire on southern mixed prairie grasses. Journal of Range Management 6: 417-419.
- Wright et al. 1976. Effect of prescribed burning on sediment, water yield, and water quality from dozed juniper lands in Central Texas. Journal of Range Management 29: 294-298.