PRESCRIBE BURNING

An ancient weapon once used by Indians, prairie fires now are utilized by land managers to upgrade the quality of open spaces and improve wildlife habitats in wooded areas.

By Patrick L. Moser

Leaping six feet high, a head fire at the Macon County Conservation District cuts a wide swath as it burns dead grass and brush.

For thousands of years roaring blazes, driven by the winds, have swept across grasslands in what is now Illinois causing great destruction and turning everything black in their aftermath. These fires were greatly appreciated by the Indian, who used them as a tool in gathering meat and as a weapon of war. But they also feared them when they got out of control. The early pioneers used fires to clear land, but they too feared their destructive effects.

In the latter half of this century, land managers have re-discovered fire as a tool in the husbandry of wild lands.

Prescribe burning is used throughout the United States. A good example is the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in east central Arizona where prescribe burning has been used for decades in the management of both grasslands and forests. A controlled fire there accomplishes many objectives in the Ponderosa Pine Forests. Fire prunes the trees, leaving clean boles which makes the tree more valuable for lumber. Thinning of young pine thickets reduces forestry labor requirements. The understory is also thinned and thereby reduces competition for the more valuable lumber trees and also improves watershed. Fuel accumulation is kept to a minimum and this reduces the severity of wild fires. Fires on grassland and savannas, as well as in forests, check the growth and proliferation of saplings and shrubs, and the new growth of grass is found to be more palatable to cattle which increases weight gain (and also provides food for deer, elk, etc.).

In Illinois prescribe burning is used mainly in grasslands. The purposes for which controlled fires are used are:

1. To control the growth and proliferation of pioneer species such as multi-flora rose, locust and hawthorn in order that open areas be maintained as such.

2. Management of prairies incorporates the use of fire as one of its most important tools. Prairie is classified as warm season, herbacious plants — plants which thrive best during the warmer months (June - August). The prairie's greatest competition comes from cool season plants (March - May, September - October). Fire is used mainly in the spring when the cool season plants are beginning to thrive and the prairie is still dormant, with its growing tip still underground.

3. Wildlife management uses controlled fires to increase habitat in the more wooded areas and to retard succession to accommodate wildlife most adaptable to certain stages of succession.

The use of prescribed burns in land management must be decided well in advance of its application. An Open Burning Permit must be obtained from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. It is also wise to check for any local ordinances pertaining to "open burning."

An area to be prescribe burned should be isolated, using as many natural and existing man-made barriers as possible. The use of streams, lakes and swamps will often define the perimeters of burn areas, also roads, utility rights-of-way, and tilled fields. Some areas will not be totally surrounded by such barriers. A barrier may be made by plowing an area wide enough to contain the fire or by mowing a containment strip. Mowing, however, must be initiated in August of the prior year for a spring burn and should be mowed to a lawn type height several times.

Once a fire is set it must be contained or directed. Tools used for this, and putting out hot spots, are: swatters, fire rakes, back-pack sprayers and torches.

Before igniting a prescribe burn several factors must be closely monitored. Since most controlled burns in Illinois are conducted in the spring, weather plays an extremely important part. Weather forecasts should be monitored 24 hours in advance of a burn and just prior to igniting the fuel. Wind velocity, direction and speed, are extemely important to the successful completion of a burn. Wind speed should not be less than 5 mph or more than 20 mph for safe condition. Wind direction will determine head fires with the wind, and backfire against the wind, location and the ignition sequence. Humidity plays a much lesser role in determining fuel dryness.

The safest method to control burn an area is to start with a backfire from a fire break. Small stretches, 20-50 feet, are ignited pausing until the fire burns against the wind far enough to prohibit jumping the fire break, then extin-

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guishing any small fires at the fire break. The purpose of this method is to widen the fire break by consuming the combustible fuel.

Flanking fires are set next along the sides of the area making certain not to ignite too long a stretch. Sudden wind changes do occur and if a fire of several hundred feet in length were to change direction, it could be very dangerous and uncontrollable.

After determining that sufficient fire breaks have been created by back fires and flanking fires, the head fire is set. Usually the head fire is set in a much faster manner. It must be emphasized that a head fire cannot be extinguished with the tools described in this article. It is extinguished as it combines with the back fires and consumes all available fuel. It is also important to point out that no one should be down wind of a head fire. It will travel as fast as the wind and generate heat hot enough to sear lung tissue.

Maintaining safety should be the prime consideration of everyone participating in a prescribe burn. It is important that nothing be overlooked.

Local fire departments should be notified that you are burning and that they will be called if necessary. Tools should be in good serviceable condition and of sufficient quantity. A good supply of water should be readily available.

The most important factor that should never be overlooked is a good prescribe burning plan — one developed through the consideration of all the variables, including emergency procedures. The plan should be explained in detail to all crews working at the burn. One person should assume the responsibility of Fire Boss. It is his duty to develop the plan, organize the crews, obtain required permits, notify local fire departments, and make the crucial decisions concerning when to begin the burn and, if necessary, call for assistance.

Tools recommended/or use in controlling the initial fires in prescribe burning are (from left): Back-pack sprayer, swatter, drag torch, and fire rake.

The Fire Boss should be well aware of safety, not only that of his crew, but also of the public. Crews should be made aware of emergency procedures and escape routes, in case the fire becomes uncontrollable. It should also be noted that in starting a fire the Fire Boss and land owner involved are liable if it does become uncontrollable and damages the property of others. It is also important to consider the smoke generated by the fire It can be extremely dense and obstruct the vision of passing motorists resulting in accidents

(Continued on p. 40)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patrick L. Moser, Decatur, is Land & Facilities Manager of the Macon County Conservation District.

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(Cont. from p. 26)

for which liability rests with the person starting the fire.

In the months following a burn, it is important to assess the effects of a prescribe burn in relation to the original objective. Prescribe burns are simply a tool to be utilized in the husbandry of open space areas.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 40 March/April 1984