Anyone with feedback on controlled burns

[Longhorngary]

Just purchased a hunting ranch and the biologist is recommending performing rotational controlled burns of our pasture lands. I understand the concept behind the burns but the idea scares me to death.

 

[smstonypoint]

Just purchased a hunting ranch and the biologist is recommending performing rotational controlled burns of our pasture lands. I understand the concept behind the burns but the idea scares me to death.

My experience is with a controlled burn in a pine plantation tract last year. I contracted with the NC Department of Forest Resources (NCDFR) for the burn. The tract was thinned in 2008 and the purpose of the burn was to get rid of some of the thinning debris and to kill hardwood growth in the understory. All went well.

I applied for EQUIP cost-share funding through the NRCS, USDA. Although I did not receive cost-share assistance, the burn wasn't that expensive. I suggest that you check with your local NRCS office -- you may be able to apply for EQUIP or other cost-share programs.

Steve

 

[MarkV]

Here in Georgia our state forest service will help with controlled burns. They put you on a list and when you name comes up and the conditions are right they bring in the equipment and a dozer on standby. The service is free but you have to be ready when they are ready. Check with your local agencies and see what they have to offer.

MarkV

 

[dmccarty]

It should be a concern, you are in effect, playing/working with fire but I would not worry about a control burn that much. As Steve said, in NC the NCDRF helps with the burn as does state statutes. I would think TX would have similar programs and laws. Our area is loaded with ticks and chiggers which I think is because we no longer have natural fires. I have never seen so many ticks and chiggers in my life. My father was up here for XMAS and got bit buy two ticks and he only was outside splitting wood for a few hours.

For us to do a controlled burn, we would have to get a few property lines remarked by a surveyor so I could cut some fire lanes. If we had the property line fire lanes in place, we would do a controlled burn.

Later,
Dan

 

[TnAndy]

USFS did some 'controlled' burns in our area. Only difference I can see between a controlled burn and arson is who lights the match.

 

[speedbump]

USFS did some 'controlled' burns in our area. Only difference I can see between a controlled burn and arson is who lights the match.

I'll second that. The County has a controlled burn (these two words should not be used in the same sentence) every year out by our home and in several other places. They have come real close to burning dwellings and have caused several pile ups on one of our Interstates. We were coming to work on a rather diserted road one morning. The fire wasn't put out and the smoke was like a curtain. You don't know rather to speed up so you don't get rear ended or stop so you don't do the rear ending.

 

[bajabum]

Out here on the West Coast, wildfires are very common, millions of acres go up every year.
Fires are lit to keep the brush down.
The powers that be have stopped calling them "Controlled" burns, because they always get away from them.
The new "PC" term is "Proscribed" burn. They still get away from them, but the lawsuits are fewer...

 

[smstonypoint]

USFS did some 'controlled' burns in our area. Only difference I can see between a controlled burn and arson is ho lights the match.

I had arranged for the controlled burn, but the NCDFR had to wait for the right wind direction and humidity level for burning. I was given a couple of hours' notice before they conducted the burn. Five NCDFR employees showed up with a bulldozer and three pickups equipped with fire-fighting equipment. Although I had a trail around the 25-acre tract, they used the bulldozer to take the trail down to mineral soil.

The NCDFR began the burn around 1 p.m. and finished up about four hours later. They checked on the tract several times during the following weeks for hot spots. It took a month and several rains to extinguish one smouldering debris pile.

There's no way that I would have tackled the burn on my own.

Here's a photo I took at the beginning of the burn.



Steve

 

[smstonypoint]

The powers that be have stopped calling them "Controlled" burns, because they always get away from them.
The new "PC" term is "Proscribed" burn. They still get away from them, but the lawsuits are fewer...

Make that "prescribed" burn. The foresters I talk to use "controlled" and "prescribed" to describe the same type of burn.

Steve

 

[TnAndy]

I had arranged for the controlled burn, but the NCDFR had to wait for the right wind direction and humidity level for burning. I was given a couple of hours' notice before they conducted the burn. Five NCDFR employees showed up with a bulldozer and three pickups equipped with fire-fighting equipment. Although I had a trail around the 25-acre tract, they used the bulldozer to take the trail down to mineral soil.

The NCDFR began the burn around 1 p.m. and finished up about four hours later. They checked on the tract several times during the following weeks for hot spots. It took a month and several rains to extinguish one smouldering debris pile.

There's no way that I would have tackled the burn on my own.

Here's a photo I took at the beginning of the burn.

View attachment 352472

Steve

Yep.....and I would call THAT a controlled burn.....right weather conditions, cut a swath around it, plenty of help.

Not EVEN close to what they do here.....they run around with a backfire torch in mountainous terrain, no way to cut any kind of fire line around it, help consisted of a few guys watching it burn.....it would basically run up the mountain, then spread side to side. And ONE side is me, who didn't ask for a 'burn'.

IF I let a brush pile burn get away and on to THEM, I would pay a fortune for fire fighting control efforts. If theirs gets on me, tough. "Sue US" ( emphasis on "U.S." )(as in 'we got more lawyers than Wall St')

My opinion of the USFS is somewhat lower than Congress or used car salesmen.

 

[JeremyL]

We burn our native warm-season grasses pastures once a year in the late winter. It is a blast. It is quick and effective.
It is important to know what you are doing, have the proper equipment and enough people to use the equipment. Oh, and the right weather, vis. wind, humidity, smoke dispersal, etc. the key word here is "controlled."
We always feed and re-hydrate the participants so it is like a party. Nothing like good clean smoke to stimulate the appetite.

 

[Longhorngary]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll take a pass for tge moment.

 

[Jim Shooz]

I had a hillside covered in massive clumps Pampas grass and while all the conditions were 'right' and there were no un-toward consequences I some times think back and recognise that "while I had the match in my hand I had control.............."

 

[Pilot]

Working with the USFS the fuel management people & I prescribed many, many burns, usually totaling about 2,000 acres a year. Once in awhile they would get away, but it was always on federal land. The fuels guys were so good that they could burn around hemlocks and silver firs without killing more than a few of them--and they tend to die if they smell smoke. Escape fires usually happened when the weather changed. I only participated in a few of the actual burns. Burning was the best fuel treatment--better by far for the soil than piling.

In the pics it looks like they were often burning into the wind, which is good.

Grass seed growers in the Willamette Valley in western Oregon used to burn regularly to destroy weed seeds after harvest. It was quick & effective. Living in town, we'd see the smoke and being pyros ourselves jump in the car to see what was burning. We rarely got there before the fire was out, even if it was less than 5 miles away. Grass fires spread fast but go out quick.

About 15-20 years ago the smoke from a grass burn laid down right onto Interstate 5 and led to a huge pileup and I think there were some fatalities. That was just about the end to grass field burning.

 

[Bob77064]

We burn our native warm-season grasses pastures once a year in the late winter. It is a blast. It is quick and effective.
It is important to know what you are doing, have the proper equipment and enough people to use the equipment. Oh, and the right weather, vis. wind, humidity, smoke dispersal, etc. the key word here is "controlled."
We always feed and re-hydrate the participants so it is like a party. Nothing like good clean smoke to stimulate the appetite.

Great pictures.

 

[tallyho8]

I have 160 acres in the Ozark mountains completely surrounded by USFS property. A few years ago they were doing a controlled burn on their property and it got away from them and burned about 1 acre of my property.

They were nice enough to mail me a letter to let me know about the damage and see if I wanted any compensation for a few trees that I lost.
The funny part about it is that the letter was postmarked with a postmark that read: "Smokey the bear says, help prevent forest fires".

 

[mostly_gas]

USFS did some 'controlled' burns in our area. Only difference I can see between a controlled burn and arson is who lights the match.

And arsonist are not as careful when they use the match

 

[rustyshakelford]

Since your in Texas contact the Texas forestry service

Brett

 

[Redbug]

For LonghornGary...All the Weather Service Offices put out fire weather forecasts for their areas at least twice a day. Everyone can look up these forecasts themselves for their area using their local NWS Office web site. Go into the Fire Weather section.
I do some of the Fire Weather Forecasts for my area, I work for the NWS.

Looking up the area for Gary, you can see all the information on line that the foresters and landowners use to make decisions on burning. Here's what Gary can look at:
firewx.htm - National Weather Service Forecast Office - WFO, Austin/San Antonio, Texas Forecast Page
National Weather Service Text Product Display