Plus, fire is a one-stop shop—it can kill seeds, baby seedlings, and mature trees, while also rejuvenating native prairie plants. A dozen ranchers started the Loess Canyons Rangeland Alliance LCRA in to try to stem the incoming tide of eastern red cedars which are actually a kind of juniper with prescribed fire.
Their ranch had lost nearly half of the grasses that feed their livestock as redcedars took over, translating to lost income. After burning, Stout says tree cover on the ranch fell from nearly 50 percent to 10 percent as the trees died, their seeds incinerated, and the grass returned.
Nearly two decades after its inception, the LCRA has 80 volunteer members who have worked together to safely burn nearly 85, acres in total. Across the Great Plains, from Texas and Oklahoma to the Dakotas, more than 60 landowner-led burn groups have taken root since the s as landowners realize that fire can solve more problems than it creates.
Hundreds of thousands of intrepid families moved, spurred by a series of federal homestead acts that promised land for free—usually in acre parcels—in exchange for living on and improving the land for five years.
Homesteaders not only doused any natural fires, they also began planting millions of trees as windbreaks. That trifecta allowed trees and shrubs to quickly gain ground. Before European settlement, a swath of tallgrass prairie in the eastern plains would have burned at least every three years due to lightning strikes or Indigenous people igniting blazes, while the mixed-grass prairies further west might have burned every six to 10 years.
But for landowners to burn successfully and at scales that matter, they need the support of local communities, nonprofits, and government agencies. Liza Grotelueschen, a member of the Loess Canyon Rangeland Alliance, said it takes about three years, minimum, to plan and prep for a successful day-long burn. Her family has burned their grasslands twice in the past 15 years, and helps others with fires each spring. Forest Service fire trainings. They pile the cut wood near the center of the burn area to fuel the fire.
When it comes time to start the blaze, about a dozen landowners work together to burn 1, to 3, acres at a time. The flames flicker for four to six hours, and mop-up lasts a few more.
Everyone has a job on the burn crew, from ignition, to recording weather conditions, to driving a water truck. Grotelueschen prefers mop-up duty. She carries a rake, shovel and some water, walking just outside the perimeter to stamp out embers or spot-fires. They gain nearly three pounds per day as they munch the native plants that evolved in tandem with herds of bison and pronghorn, as well as frequent fires. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email.
Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Aboriginal peoples knew the benefits of fire and regularly set the prairies ablaze to improve grazing and attract bison to specific areas for better hunting.
With the coming of European settlers, first came the large scale removal of the native prairies and their conversion to crop fields. Then, with the loss of natural grazers and fire suppression by humans, remaining patches of native prairie grew decadent and many were lost to the advances of woody vegetation, most notably Trembling Aspen Populus tremuloides. As the movement to preserve and manage remaining native prairies developed in the latter part of the 20th century, the role of fire in keeping prairies healthy began to be recognized.
Now, in the 21st century, fire is seen as a vital tool in the management of remnant prairies. Prescribed burning is more widely accepted and even welcomed, even in urban areas, as more people come to understand the important role fire plays in the prairie ecosystem.
The North American Prairie Conference offered a chance to showcase southern Manitoba's prairies. Alarmed, I noticed that none of the adults seemed to be doing anything about it, and that seemed odd to my seven-year-old self.
She told me they were burning the prairie, that they do it every year, and not to go near it. She put extra emphasis on that third point, but I was more interested in the first two. Sitting on the swings a few minutes later, I watched the smoke rise from the tall grasses, still very confused.
Over the years, I witnessed seasonal prairie burns and gradually learned that the burns were counter-intuitively conducted in order to maintain the prairie behind the school. The Midwest is filled with prairies, and each year these prairies must be carefully maintained to keep them safe and healthy.
Oddly, burning them down is an effective way to keep prairies healthy in the long term. Each spring and each fall, a certified team of Burn Managers checks the weather for precise conditions and ignites a contained and highly-controlled fire in Midwestern prairies.
Prairie Dog Burrow Speaking of animals having a home — What lives in a prairie, and where do the animals go during the burn? Many of the animals living in prairies, such as prairie dogs, are burrowers. They live in self-dug tunnel systems under the ground, and they will pop down into their subterranean homes for safety during the burn. For safety , a burn is only prescribed and conducted under precise weather conditions ; this also helps the animals survive.
Too much wind would cause the fire to burn out of control. Too much humidity would make it hard for the fire to spread where it needs to, while too little humidity would make it spread too fast. The temperature affects how well the fire can be controlled as well.
Fires cannot be set during droughts.
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