Prescribed fire, when used appropriately and safely, can be a valuable tool in managing natural resources.
Prescribed fire as applied to land stewardship is the controlled application of fire to perpetuate and enhance desired plant communities and wildlife habitats. “Prescribed” refers to the fire prescription, a plan and set of weather criteria that describes a prescribed fire’s objectives, burn units, fuels, preparation and cleanup, safety precautions, and the environmental conditions under which it will go ahead and not be postponed, such as wind speed (some is advantageous but above some threshold is too risky), wind direction (to keep smoke away from nearby roads or residences), temperature, and humidity. Prescription burning is recognized and widely practiced within the scientific and natural resource management communities as a way to reinstate what used to be a natural occurrence and later a cultural practice. The goals of a prescribed fire are not only to accomplish ecological objectives but at the same time to minimize, and in many cases to reduce, threats to people and property.
Fire has played an important part in shaping local plant and animal communities for thousands, if not millions, of years. Before European settlement, fire was a frequent occurrence within forests (especially following major disturbances such as wind events or insect defoliation), native grasslands and meadows, and open barrens (serpentine, scrub oak, heath, pine, and pine-oak barrens). Wildfires set by lightning or purposeful fires set by Native Americans were frequent and widespread. Native Americans used fire for many reasons, including driving game, rejuvenating food resources such as berry patches and pasture for game species, and making travel easier and safer. The history of human management of the land using fire varies across Pennsylvania; the evidence gathered so far dates back nearly 9,000 years.
Fire exclusion over the last century has modified the plant composition of forest, grassland, meadow, and barrens communities, threatening important natural ecosystems and their component species and allowing the potentially dangerous build-up of fuels (flammable organic matter), which often leads to catastrophic wildfires. Many eastern forests have been transitioning from a fire-adapted oak- and hickory-dominated canopy to a fire-sensitive canopy dominated by red maple and other mesic species. On the barrens, the lack of fire has resulted in the buildup of organic duff and invasion by woody vegetation, conditions that decrease the viability of plant species adapted to the exposed mineral soil and full sunlight conditions maintained by periodic fires. Maintaining abandoned agricultural land as meadow has become problematic due to the still-growing presence of introduced invasive plants. Left unchecked, invasive species such as creeping (“Canada”) thistle, mugwort, multiflora rose, and Japanese honeysuckle outcompete the native grasses and wildflowers that can tolerate periodic fires. Whether in forests, grasslands, meadows, or barrens, invasive plants homogenize the structural and food resources of a plant community by displacing native vegetation, thereby reducing habitat value for native fauna.
To reverse the homogenization and native species decline in many of Pennsylvania’s native landscapes, there needs to be greater use of prescribed fire. Foremost among the conditions that need to be met for this to happen is the support of both the general public and local authorities, particularly fire management personnel. Careful, safe use and clear communication between owners of natural lands and neighbors and local authorities is essential in maintaining their support.
Another key condition is a better understanding of the biological and ecological effects of fire in this region to guide its use in achieving natural resource management goals. To date, most research has been undertaken in western states and Florida, which contain different plant species (both natives and invasives) and site conditions. Detailed knowledge of plant responses to different fire regimes, especially variation in fire frequency and season of application, is needed for land managers to make the best use of this stewardship tool.
Fundamentally, prescribed fire consists of fire applied in a knowledgeable manner to fuels (live and dead vegetation) on a specific land area under selected weather conditions, to accomplish predetermined, well-defined management objectives. Safely fulfilling this formula requires extensive preparation, proper training, and specialized equipment.
Regulations around prescribed fire programs in Pennsylvania are rapidly evolving as of August 2024. State agencies are in the process of rolling out new requirements. As such, anyone interested in conducting prescribed burns should consult the latest requirements for a Certified Prescribed Burn Manager Program, currently managed by the Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council. In time, this program may be transitioned a different state agency.
The information below includes information on what should be done as part of a prescribed fire program. While some of the below information will likely remain the same, including organizational commitment, ecological justification and research, and pre-burn management and public relations, many of the other topics are likely to change as the new regulations are rolled out, particularly for training.
Safe application of prescribed fire requires proper equipment to protect participants and the property of neighbors. Below is an example list of equipment as used by Natural Lands’ trained staff in southeastern Pennsylvania. Equipment needed may vary based on the size of the fire crew and the size of the area to be burned.
Insert link to fire equipment table
Prescribed fire should only be used by trained staff or contractors. Training is currently available from:
Minimum requirements for all participants in a prescribed fire program are the following courses and certifications (always check for updated requirements at PA Prescribed Fire Council):
Fire leaders (burn bosses) must have additional training including (always check for updated requirements at PA Prescribed Fire Council):
In addition, all participants in a prescribed fire program should meet the federal standard for physical fitness. Participants should be tested annually prior to the burn season and pass the most current standard. At this time, the minimum standard for all participants is to walk 2 miles with a 25-pound backpack within 30 minutes.
It is helpful to establish fixed points and compass bearings from which to periodically take photographs to monitor and help evaluate the to what degree the fire management program is meeting its goals. Ideally, photos should be taken in the middle of the growing seasons before and after a fire.
For lands on which endangered, threatened, or other species of conservation concern are present, or where there are one or more natural communities of high conservation significance, periodic quantitative monitoring is crucial to tracking progress toward, and maintenance of, desired conditions. Selected ecological indicators, also called condition metrics, include measures of the presence or abundance of desired vegetation and invasive vegetation, condition of the native vegetation itself (e.g., species diversity; patch diversity; intactness of structural layers), and intensities of human-caused stressors. Indicators may be qualitative (evaluated subjectively in clearly defined categories, e.g., “high,” “moderate,” “low,” and “none,” referring to conditions such as infestation by invasives; oak advance regeneration; survival and spread of plantings) or quantitative (measured or estimated numerically, e.g., percent cover of native vs. invasive species in sampling quadrats; numbers of nesting pairs of grassland bird species; numbers of individuals of each plant species of conservation concern; patch diversity). An efficient set of indicators strikes a balance between providing essential information on the direction and magnitude of the response of an ecosystem and its component species to prescribed fire and keeping the costs of collecting the information within reasonable limits.