To promote the safe, legal, and responsible use of
prescribed fire as a natural resource management tool.
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EVENTS & NEWSHELPFUL LINKS Oklahoma State University publication regarding
Best Management Practices for Eastern Red Cedar including helpful tips on
burning cedar trees & cutting. US Fish and Wildlife Service Remote Automated Weather Station located at Hastings Nebraska which should help give good fire danger information for south central Nebraska. The information it provides can be seen at the Wildland Fire Assessment System web page where you can look up Fire Danger, and Dead or Live Fuel Moisture levels. They are color coded to help determine safe days to burn. http://www.wfas.net/ Ranchers
Use Caution When Burning Passers-by shouldn’t be
alarmed at seeing a pasture on fire – unless the fire has escaped and the fire
department has been called. More
and more ranchers are using controlled fire, also known as “prescribed
burns,” as a pasture and range management tool. Prescribed burns can serve
one or more of several purposes. Most
ranchers aim to improve the quality of grass for grazing.
Ladd Reeves of Central City says, “By burning our pasture in northeast
Howard County, we’re trying to set back the very aggressive cool season
grasses and favor the more desirable warm season grasses for better mid-summer
grazing.” Other ranchers who are also
hunters want to improve habitat for game birds.
Maurice “Doc” Matthews of St. Paul claims that burning, done
correctly, “Makes for better pheasant or quail hunting, by clearing out
excessive old vegetation.” Almost
every burn includes the goal of controlling cedar trees.
Cedars “make wonderful windbreaks,” notes Helen Lassen of Elba,
“but cedars in the pasture are terrible weeds.” Native Americans
deliberately set prairie fires long before white settlers arrived.
They may not have known about releasing the nutrients that are tied up in
accumulated dead grasses, but they knew that grass grew well after a burn, and
that the bison liked it and grew well on it.
Jim Lott, resource conservationist in the St. Paul office of USDA’s
Natural Resources Conservation Service, has helped 27 ranchers plan for
prescribed burns this spring on more than 2400 acres of pasture in Howard
County. Most of these burns are
part of comprehensive range management plans, which also include rotation
grazing – regularly moving cattle from one part of the pasture to another to
give time for grass to recover, resting part of each pasture for a whole season,
and control of “invasive species,” a fancy name for weeds. For each burn, Jim has helped the land owners prepare a fairly
extensive prescribed burn plan. Pheasants Forever, through
Pete Berthelsen at Elba and Ben Wheeler and Ryan Lodge at Ord, also helps
ranchers plan for burns. Association members assist
each other in carrying out their respective prescribed burns in a cooperative
manner. Novices, as most members
are at the beginning, also gain experience by taking part in two or more burns
under trained leadership in preparation for conducting their own burns.
To back up the CNPBA and
others planning pasture burns, Pheasants Forever has equipped two mobile
prescribed burn fire trailers that can be towed to burn sites.
Each unit contains most of the equipment and gear needed to safely
conduct prescribed burns: two self-contained 250 gallon sprayer units that slide
into a pickup, with gas engines and pumps, to be used in containing fire; fire
ignition tools; hand held fire control tools; protective clothing; two- way
radios, and a mini-weather station. One
trailer has priority for use by CNPBA members.
The other is available for use statewide, and will be an incentive for
the creation of other burn associations, according to Pete Berthelsen. CNPBA does not
“conduct” burns, either for Association members or for other land owners.
Parties unable or not wishing to manage their own burns may hire
experienced crews to carry out their burn, such as the Knopik family in Nance
County, who have the necessary equipment and several years of experience, with
no escaped fires. In all instances,
liability for damage from escaped fires remains with the landowner. Specialists, including
Lott, Berthelsen, David Carr, burn specialist at Central Platte Natural Resource
District in Grand Island, and other conservationists, have encouraged and
supported the Central Nebraska Prescribed Burn Association in getting started
over the past two years. CNPBA has
approved seventeen cooperative burns for this spring’s burn season, which
began in mid-March, and will extend through early May. At least eight deliberately
set pasture fires that escaped in Central Nebraska during the past two weeks
serve as vivid reminder of the importance of careful planning and execution of
burns on rangeland. Although none
of these fires caused loss of life or serious injury or property loss, fire
crews, adjoining property, and volunteer fire fighters were at risk in putting
them out. None of these escaped
burns had been presented for CNPBA approval. Every pasture burn requires
a burn permit from the local fire chief. The
permit implies that a burn plan has been prepared.
Chiefs or members of several area fire districts have taken part in the
prescribed burning workshops sponsored by CNPBA.
Jim Kasson of St. Paul, President of CNPBA, said, “We welcome the
participation and advice of firemen and fire districts in our planning and
training efforts. We hope and
expect that our efforts will reduce the risk of fires escaping, and reduce the
load on our volunteer fire fighters. Our
goal is that no CNPBA approved burn will ever escape.” “The importance of a
comprehensive prescribed burn plan cannot be emphasized too much,” continued
Kasson. “The burn-planning form that the Association uses forces
each land owner to think about all the variables that go with each fire.
The owner should be clear about why he or she wants to burn, and what
they expect to achieve. They must consider what fuel they have available; what sort
of fire barrier must be established to protect adjoining property; how many
people and what equipment must be on hand; who will “boss” the burn; what
wind direction and speed is desirable, or acceptable, or not; where safe areas
and escape routes will be if the wind changes; and whether plenty of water is
quickly available.” If you see a bunch of
neighbors controlling a fire, rest easy. With
training, planning, experienced fire managers, and plenty of help and water,
prescribed burns can be a safe and useful tool to improve pastures.
Burning without all of these, or ignoring adverse weather puts people and
property at risk. For more information about
prescribed burn plans, call Jim Lott (308-754-4424, ext. 3) or David Carr
(308-385-6282). To explore joining
the Central Nebraska Prescribed Burn Association, call Jim Kasson (308-754-5108)
or Helen Lassen (308-968-3358.) For
information about the mobile prescribed burn units, call Pete Berthelsen
(308-754-5339). Fire Council Issues Reminder of Safer Prescribed Burn Practices With burn season upon us, the Nebraska Prescribed Fire Safety Council would like to take a moment to remind anyone interested in controlled or prescribed burning, that safe burning takes time and preparation. If you want to burn safely without escapes be sure to have enough people on hand. The idea that a prescribed burn can be accomplished with just a few people to help is pure fiction and any such burn is a disaster waiting to happen. In no case should any organized burn take place with less than six people. With specialized equipment and hard boundaries such as mineral soil or open water, some small burns (40 acres or less) can be accomplished with 5, however a burn crew always needs an extra person in case someone has a health problem. Additionally most folks do not have the specialized equipment and expertise necessary to utilize such a small number of people. The following is a sound recommendation: For
Relatively Flat Grassland burns up to 160 Acres, hard or soft boundaries: Additionally, as burns get larger, more equipment is necessary, involving more trucks, ATV’s, people, and water. Another concern is the weather. A few recent fires have been conducted during periods of unsafe weather conditions. In order to be really clear with what the weather is going to be, it’s not enough to listen to the evening or morning news. It’s critical that a burn manager go online to research the weather as much as possible. The National Weather Service has several web-based resources including websites for the Hastings, and North Platte offices. Other sites include ‘weather underground’ and ‘weather.com’. It’s critical that burn managers thoroughly research these sites on the morning of the burn to get the weather conditions. Favorable
conditions for burning: Lastly, Nebraska State Law (Neb Rev Statutes 81-520.02 Section 5) requires a burn plan for all range management burning. Through thoughtful planning, a burn manager can fully detail what it will take to burn a particular unit and can identify the appropriate number of personnel needed as well appropriate weather conditions, burn breaks and equipment needs. The Nebraska Prescribed Fire Safety Council emphasizes that burn plans need to be written for each burn and personally reviewed by the fire departments prior to the burn permit being issued. If you would like assistance with a burn plan, you can easily contact your local NRCS office. We hope these pointers help to make burning safer and to get landowners, fire chiefs, and dispatch centers on the same page. For more information, contact David Carr at 308-385-6282.
Eastern
Redcedar Management on Grasslands in Nebraska Fire: Myths & Facts READ HERE... Council Meeting Notes June
2007-October
2006
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