Fire as a management tool (1 Viewer)

[Godwin]

We have some acreage that needs yearly+ maintenance which, in the past, was bush hogging. After about 5 minutes I'm ready to get off the tractor when it comes to bush hogging. Knowing the ecological benefits of fire and having several friend who have had substantial fire training and experience, I've begun utilizing more fire on our property. My goals are to suppress certain trees such as sweetgum, unwanted pine, and invasive species, plus open up tree canopy for native grassess and forbs. One burn on a tract is insufficient, it must be burnt on a frequent basis, generally 1-2 years depending on fuel load.

This week I burned a small section, 2.5 acres, that had become overgrown with pine and sweetgum. We first burned this two years, followed by bush hogging that which did not burn. I wanted to hit it with a growing season burn to try to have a more effective impact on the unwanted species. I'll still need to follow up with some bush hogging but overall the burn went well. Within a few days following the burn grasses are responding with seeds of some other plants having sprouted.

Who else burns their property?

 

[Godwin]

With dense overlying vegetation gone we found a skeleton of a young deer and remnants of a turkey nest.

 

[thorslc1977]

Here in the Sierra Nevada it was common for the Native Americans to set fires as they were coming down from mountains in late fall/winter. It ensured new growth in the springtime and kept access to waterways open. It worked so well the cowboys followed the practice when they arrived on the scene . Fire departments/forest service relearning about controlled burns here now. The horrible fires we have had here in California recently were made that much worse with the 50 -100 years of fuel load built up caused buy poor forest management.

 

[PIP]

When I read the title I immediately thought of a lazy employee I had years ago. I thought about using a weed burner as a management tool. Not gonna lie.