Prescribed burns in Kentucky can fight bad fire with good fire
From California’s wildfires to the devastating bushfires in Australia, fire is often the subject of bad news. Wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity as the climate changes and drought conditions worsen. Warmer, drier conditions cause longer fire seasons and faster-spreading, more destructive fires that are more difficult to put out. These wildfires damage nature and human communities alike, destroying homes and wildlife habitat.
As counterintuitive as it may seem, many of these landscapes would benefit from more fire, in the form of controlled burning. Also known as prescribed fire, this management practice removes excess forest fuels—underbrush that burns quickly—making wildfires less likely and less damaging when they do occur. This “good fire” is experiencing a renaissance as fire managers have recognized that overgrown forests present a hazard to people and nature. Native Americans once used fire to renew nature, and after more than a century of fire suppression, today’s natural resource managers are returning to this practice.
Prescribed fire isn’t just useful for lessening the risk and severity of wildfire, however. When safely implemented, fire promotes desirable tree species like oak and hickory, which are more beneficial to wildlife and have a higher value when used as timber for everything from furniture to bourbon barrels. Less valuable species like maple and beech often out-compete these high-value tree species without the use of prescribed fire.
Fire is an essential part of nature’s systems for many ecological communities and associated wildlife. Applied under the right conditions, fire renews natural areas, where rare plants, animals, and habitats can all benefit from the application of prescribed fire by experienced technicians. Using fire to keep woody plants from encroaching on native grasslands is a key management tool to restore bobwhite quail populations, for example.
Prescribed fire season is beginning in Kentucky, and the Nature Conservancy is working closely with its partners to restore as many as 50,000 acres this year using this management tool. The Conservancy and its partners are highly trained in prescribed burning and wildfire suppression. Many of the practitioners planning and lighting prescribed burns are the same individuals called upon nationally to assist with containing large wildfires. Fire managers develop site-specific burn plans that identify fuel conditions, weather parameters, equipment and personnel needs, and contingency plans that, based on research and monitoring, target desired vegetation effects in an effort to mimic fire’s natural role.
The Conservancy and its partners have focused in recent years on increasing personnel capacity to help with prescribed fire. Kentucky’s Prescribed Fire Council has led efforts and developed the Kentucky Certified Burn Boss program. This new program provides more qualified prescribed fire leaders throughout Kentucky while ensuring they have proper training and experience.
To learn more about how the Conservancy and its partners are using prescribed fire to benefit people and nature, go to www.kyfire.org, the website of the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council. Learn more about The Nature Conservancy at www.nature.org/Kentucky.
David Phemister is Kentucky State Director of The Nature Conservancy.