In the natural order of things, America's grasslands evolved under the influence of fire. Whether these fires were started by the people that preceded us or by lightening, the application of fire returned valuable nutrients to the soil, suppressed the growth of trees and stimulated the regeneration of the grassland.
Management of a grassland periodically calls for a burn. This is generally performed in mid-spring - when the undesirable cool season plants are beginning to green-up but just before the native plants break dormancy.
This would be a controlled burn - not a wildfire.
I had plans for burning this spring.
I mowed my firebreaks last fall and had everything prepared in advance.
Alas, it has been drier than a popcorn fart around here. As a result there has been a burning ban in place.
No campfires, no burn barrels, no prescribed burns allowed.
My window of opportunity is about to close as the probabilities for ideal conditions - humidity, temperature and wind all being perfectly aligned - diminish.
Here's some pics from a burn performed a few years ago.
My neighbors and my jury-rigged firefighting rig.We hitched a small trailer to the the four-wheeler to tow a water tank and power driven pump in case we needed to snuff-out anything that got away from us.
We contacted the local fire chief and he stopped-by to watch the proceedings. The chief contacted central dispatch to clue them-in as they were likely going to get some calls about the smoke.
Jeff is the burn-boss. He's also Pheasants Forever's Regional Biologist
The acreage to be subjected to the burn had a firebreak mowed around its perimeter the previous fall.
That incendiary device in the lower left corner is a drip torch. It is used to ignite the fire.
Everyone was equipped with a shovel, rake or backpack sprayer - necessary to keeping everything under control.
The burn was scheduled for the end of the day when the winds die-down and the temperature drops.
This is a procedure known as back-burning.
The prevailing winds are blowing from right to left - so the burning is commenced into the wind - not with it. This allows for a slow controlled fire line that leaves a burned and blackened expanse in its wake.
Once you've established a sufficiently large enough back-burned area...
You ignite a second fire line from the opposite direction.
This is called a head fire and is purposefully set to burn with the wind.
Once ignited it is going to move quickly as it has the wind at its back.
Once started, the head fire really starts cooking. But it cannot advance any further once it connects with the previously established back burn fire line.
The column of smoke and flames from the conflagration are pretty spectacular at this stage and some 911 calls began to come in.
The fire chief got on the radio to keep dispatch informed.
The resulting blackened surface.
This accomplishes a number of things.
Setting-back the undesirable plants, removing accumulated mulch, returning nutrients to the soil and leaving a dark surface that will warm-up quickly in the spring sunshine encouraging the rapid growth of the warm-season grasses and flowers.
Prairie Dock - a flower that has elephant ear leaves and grows as high as an elephant's eye! Up to 10 feet tall.
The blooms appear on these giant stalks and persist for a month or longer. The birds love the insects attracted during the growing season and the seeds in the fall and winter.
This is a plant that will flourish for decades - with an occasional refreshing burn.
Posts
fire good
ReplyDeleteYeah.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time.
But that would be another story...