Should I Wait for the Rangeland Benefits of a Wildfire?
Or use prescribed fire as a planned and applied management tool to achieve specific results?
By Scott Parry, Northwest Region Wildlife Supervisor, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC)
“Why do you burn so much?” That was a question posed by my youngest daughter not long ago.
While it’s true that I participate in prescribed burns regularly, this time I was returning from a wildfire that I had been paged to as a volunteer fireman. I told her I wasn’t burning this time, but working with the fire department on a wildfire.
She pondered that and then asked, “What’s the difference?”
Either way, when I return home I smell like smoke, have black stuff smeared on my face and hit the shower the first chance I get. Also, there is burned ground at the fire location regardless of the origin.
What is the difference between a wildfire and a prescribed burn? In this context, both fires are rangeland fires that result in burned acres. Instead, let’s ask: What are the wildfire or prescribed fire effects on rangeland? After all, I know my rangeland needs to be burned for various reasons, but I can wait for a wildfire to get the benefits of a burn without assuming the liability and risk and still have the same results, right?
Maybe. Well, maybe not.
What is a prescribed fire?
These fires are lit intentionally and legally, within certain weather parameters, to meet certain management objectives. A prescribed fire can also help reduce fuel (grass, leaf litter, fallen logs, etc.), which helps reduce the intensity of a wildfire, if one were to happen.
Prescribed fires are guided by a burn plan, written prior to ignition, that describes the conditions under which a prescribed fire will be lit and how fireguards will be placed. The plan also identifies who will be notified the day of the burn and who will be called if a problem arises.
Prescribed fire is a planned and applied management tool that achieves specific results.
The land manager decides when and where to apply the fire. Because of this, prescribed burns are typically milder than wildfires and usually leave patches of vegetation unburned. Typically, fireguard construction is the only ground disturbance required, and that placement can be decided by the land manager.
Many landowners I speak with recognize prescribed fire as a useful tool, but they are often concerned the fire may escape and that neighboring landowners will sue. While this can happen — when you apply fire on your place, you assume liability if the fire were to escape and cause damage elsewhere — the risk is low.
Prescribed fire, when implemented correctly, is typically much safer than perceived and is a relatively inexpensive way to manage your property.
A survey of 50 Prescribed Burn Associations found that of the 1,094 fires conducted in an 18-year period, only 16 fires (1.5%) escaped. Prescribed fire, when implemented correctly, is typically much safer than perceived and is a relatively inexpensive way to manage your property.
The key is to have well-prepared fireguards and a well-written burn plan with weather parameters, personnel, and equipment needs identified — and to light only when the current weather conditions, forecasted conditions, personnel, and equipment are well within the parameters of the burn plan.
What about wildfires?
Wildfires frequent Oklahoma’s landscape. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, Oklahoma had 1,309 wildfires that burned 100,382 acres in 2015 — and that was a relatively slow year.
In 2016, the huge Anderson Creek wildfire, which started in Woods County, Okla., burned almost 400,000 acres alone. As for 2017, Oklahoma Forestry Services officials said in early April that 2017 is already among the most active years on record for wildfires. At that time, the agency had responded to more than 800 wildfires which resulted in more than 450,000 acres of burnt woodlands and grasslands.
So, is wildfire good or bad?
As a general rule, fire is a naturally occurring process, and wildfires can address invasive plant issues and regenerate plant communities. But there are many more factors to consider.
Wildfires happen without regard to when and where the land manager would like the fire and can occur on any day, year round, in Oklahoma. Even so, larger wildfires are often associated with the dormant season (November to March) on days with low humidity and/or high winds. These conditions often result in a higher fire intensity and speed than you would see with a prescribed fire. This means more land — and more vegetation — is typically burned.
For example, cottonwood trees along a creek would likely survive a prescribed fire, but may be eradicated by a wildfire, leaving an area without any roosting trees for wild turkeys.
Wildfires can vary greatly in terms of rate of spread or speed, but in extreme conditions can move much faster than a prescribed fire. This greatly reduces the chances of wildlife survival within the burned area.
As a landowner, you may be thinking: “I’m only interested in upland species and don’t need roosting trees. I know that other animals will move in from neighboring areas, so I’m willing to wait for the rangeland benefits of a wildfire.”
This is where I could nearly write a book about what can go wrong during intense wildfire conditions and what happens when fire units show up to put out the fire. The primary job for fire departments in a wildfire situation is to extinguish the fire as quickly and safely as possible while trying to protect all structures possible. Getting as many suppression units on site as fast as possible, along with heavy equipment to cut fireguards, is a leading priority.
I have seen firebreaks created up to four maintainer blades wide through the middle of pastures, across boundary fences (with the fences cut), through trees, fields, hay meadows and around yards. These fireguards are often created very rapidly, without regard to where the manager would like for them to be installed long-term. Additionally, dozers and maintainers are unloaded in the first available location — often in driveways, bar ditches and wheat fields. Additional property damages are realized when the landowners find burned fences, corrals, windmills, solar pumps, tanks, and heavy equipment that couldn’t be easily moved.
In the end, prescribed fires rotated across your property could improve the rangeland and minimize costly, damaging wildfires.
While it could be argued that a wildfire can have some positive value, the hassle of fence restoration, damage caused by firefighting equipment, threats to structures, livestock and humans, as well as the expense to communities, counties and state agencies may be a far bigger negative. A prescribed fire, with the land manager choosing firebreak placement and timing of ignition, can lead to a successful, productive and safe fire that will help accomplish management objectives.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s private lands staff is dedicated to helping landowners better understand their wildlife management options, including the implementation of prescribed fire. Three full-time biologists are stationed throughout Oklahoma to meet with landowners, discuss habitat goals, and identify management techniques that can be implemented to improve the quality and quantity of their desired wildlife habitat.
The Wildlife Department also partners with other agencies and organizations like the Oklahoma Prescribed Fire Council, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, and Noble Research Institute to provide outreach concerning prescribed fire.
