Management
Fire management specialists may prescribe fire to treat the forest in much the same way a doctor prescribes medicine to treat a person. When a doctor prescribes medicine, it is under very specific conditions that the medicine is taken. When a prescribed burn is implemented it is under some very specific parameters which are identified in a detailed burn plan. A burn plan provides guidelines for when and where to burn, under what conditions to burn, what objectives will be met, any benefits that may be gained, acceptable level of negative impacts, acceptable fire behavior, contingency plans for fire control, public concerns and smoke management. Also identified are the people who will be involved in the implementation of the burn and each person's role on the burn. Daily weather conditions play a key role in whether a burn can be accomplished or not. This is one reason why prescribed burns get cancelled and why it is sometimes hard to predict the exact day a burn will be implemented.
Why Do We Conduct Prescribed (Rx) Burns?
Crew member conducts a prescribed burn in one of the National Forests in Alabama.
Photo Credit: USDA Forest Service photoPrescribed fire refers to the controlled application of fire by a team of fire experts under specified weather conditions that help restore health to fire-adapted environments.
U.S. Forest Service fire specialists use prescribed fire to improve plant and animal communities and reduce the accumulation of fuels, which may feed catastrophic wildfires. If left untreated, the combination of excessive ground debris and wildfires may be destructive to Alabama communities. Forest fuels include dead and fallen trees, branches, and brush.
Fire managers have two seasonal windows to conduct burns. During the winter, dormant season burns are very effective in reducing forest health threats such as wildfires, droughts, insects, and disease. Prescribed burns take on a slightly different role in the spring. Prescribed burns conducted during the spring, known as "growing season" burns, tend to open up the forest's understory and help restore vegetation that is critical to the Red-cockaded woodpecker, as well as, deer, quail, and wild turkey.