Texas Land Conservation Assistance Network

A prescribed burn is the planned and deliberate application of fire as a management tool for land stewardship. Unlike wildfires, prescribed burns are conducted under predetermined environmental conditions to achieve specific resource management goals and objectives.Wildfires can occur any time fuels will burn and often under very hazardous conditions. But with prescribed burning, conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, fuel moisture and condition of vegetation are carefully selected to ensure a safe and effective burn designed to maximize desired benefits. Precautions, such as adequate firebreaks and fire control equipment, are taken to ensure that the fire burns only within the predetermined area to be treated.

Fire plays an important role in most ecosystems and is a vital component of ecosystem function. Because fire was a natural factor on most Texas rangelands and forestlands before European settlement, native vegetation and wildlife are well adapted to burning.

Fire effectively suppresses many woody plant species while encouraging grass and forb growth beneficial to livestock and wildlife. Sound range, livestock and wildlife management must accompany the use of fire for maximum benefits to be realized.

Prescribed burning is most often used to accomplish objectives such as:

• Increase production of desired grasses, forbs and woody plants
• Improve watershed function resulting in increased water quantity and quality
• Suppression and management of woody species, cacti and invasive plants
• Improve forage and browse quality and/or palatability
• Increase availability of desirable forage and browse plants
• Achieve desired composition of grasses, forbs and woody plants
• Provide for better grazing distribution of livestock
• Improve animal performance and achieve control of certain parasites and pests
• Enhance nutrient cycling
• Removal of “thatch” or vegetation accumulation
• Reduce hazardous fuel loads
• Improve wildlife habitat

Each management objective requires a particular set of conditions for burning and a specific type of fire to achieve the desired response. Objectives should be carefully evaluated in order to develop a fire plan that will achieve the desired results.

Prescribed burning is a common practice with longleaf pine management. In this video Ike McWhorter discusses a recent burn and the benefits to the forest ecosystem.

According to statistics published by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) starting in 1960, more than 60,000 wildfires occur in the United States each year. More than 3.0 million acres have burned every year since 1999, and the acreage burned each year is increasing. Wildland acreage nationwide has been relatively constant since 1910: it decreases whenever population growth expands urban development and increases whenever former farmland reverts to wildland.3 While the annual number of wildfires has not been increasing in recent years, the acres burned per fire have been trending strongly upward since about 1990.

Annual NIFC data show that the United States experienced 5.6 million wildfires between 1960 and 2013.4 Over these 54 years, the burned area totaled 235.8 million acres, or 362,849 square miles. The cumulative acreage burned between 1960 and 2013 is 9.6 percent of the total land area of the nation (3.8 million square miles).

Check out the NIFC fire information page to see fire status reports for each state where fires have been reported.

The threat of wildfire is an unpredictable danger that can strike at any time. The wildfire that may happen in your community does not have to have devastating effects. You can protect your family, and your home, from wildfire by following proper maintenance and safety precautions.

The national Firewise Communities program is a multi-agency effort designed to involve  homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, and others in this effort to protect people, property, and natural resources from the risk of wildland fire before a fire starts. The Firewise Communities approach emphasizes community and neighborhood responsibility in planning the design of a safe community, as well as, an effective emergency response and individual responsibility for safer home construction and design, landscaping, and maintenance.

The national Firewise Communities,  USA program is intended to serve as a resource for city, county, state, federal agencies, tribes, organizations, fire departments, and communities across the U.S. who work toward a common goal to reduce loss of lives, property, and resources to wildland fire. This is accomplished by building and maintaining communities in a way that is compatible with our natural surroundings.

All of the Firewise Communities in Texas vary in size, topography, population, and fire threats, but they have one thing in common…they are concerned enough about wildfire to work together to protect their community.  To learn about some of these communities and how they became firewise, go to www.firewise.org/usa/index.htm and visit the Texas section.

What are the Benefits of Being a Firewise Community?

Communities choose to become firewise for many reasons.  Communities whose residents work together have a greater chance of surviving a wildfire.  Working with your neighbors creates greater protection, since the more homes within a community that adopt firewise practices, the more effective the impact on reducing the threat of fire.  It also helps grow community relationships with one another and local fire staff.   Additionally, it can offer peace of mind, knowing that your community is prepared to survive a wildfire.  But, most importantly, it reduces the chances of losing lives, property, and resources from fire.

The five steps of Firewise recognition

• Obtain a wildfire risk assessment as a written document from your state forestry agency or fire department.
• Form a board or committee, and create an action plan based on the assessment.
• Conduct a “Firewise Day” event.
• Invest a minimum of $2 per capita in local Firewise actions for the year.
• Submit an application to your state Firewise liaison.

Protecting Texas’ natural resources through education and enforcement of state laws is one of the primary missions of Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS).

TFS has 10 full-time investigators and 15 officers throughout the state who investigate and provide services to the public as well as local, state and federal agencies. TFS Law Enforcement officers investigate and provide training on wildfire cause determination and wildland arson as requested by TFS personnel, local fire departments, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, or other law enforcement agencies.

An anonymous hotline is also maintained for the public to report crimes of wildland arson and timber theft.