What is a Controlled Burn?

Whether you’re looking for a way to clear underbrush to make walking your property more enjoyable or you want to encourage biodiversity on your property, a controlled burn can be used for property improvement of many kinds.

This article will explore the basics of utilizing a controlled burn on different property types, and why intentional controlled burns are beneficial and often necessary.

Contents

Benefits of Controlled Burns
Controlled Burns in Fire-Prone Regions
Sustainability and Controlled Burns
Risks of Controlled Burns

Controlled burns, otherwise known as prescribed burns, are an advanced land management technique that involve intentionally burning sections of land. Controlled burns can be beneficial in many ways:

• Clears underbrush
• Enhances soil quality
• Promotes biodiversity
• Controls invasive species
• Limits wildfire spread

While it may sound simple, different land types may have different needs and may benefit differently from a controlled burn.

Controlled Burns on Farmland

In a perfect world a farmer would be able to harvest every inch of their land; however, that is not reality. Depending on the topography of the farm, there will likely be areas that are left unharvested. Referred to as non-tillable acres, they may include rough patches, non-irrigated areas, ditches, roadsides, residential yards, etc.

These portions of the property may act as a safe haven for insects to bed down during seasonal harvests and throughout winters. Insects can pose real threats to a crop and cause a farmer to spend more money on insecticides than necessary. If these areas are prescribed controlled burns, they will be less likely to harbor pesky insects.

Similarly, some farmers may also utilize a controlled burn to improve soil qualities and increase the productivity of the land. Carrying out a controlled burn on tillable farmland allows the fire to burn plant litter from a previous harvest and return the nutrients back to the soil more quickly than natural decomposition.

Controlled Burns on Recreational Land

Wildlife habitats and food sources can be greatly improved by a controlled burn.

Consider these benefits to controlled burns on recreational land:

• Clears the underbrush: This will help to limit the ticks, chiggers, and other pesky insects that are a nuisance when walking your property.
• Limits invasive species of insects and vegetation: When forests go without maintenance for too long, it is likely that some invasive species and vegetation will begin to take hold. For example, Kudzu is an invasive species of vine in some southern regions, and it takes over quickly, suffocating out the native plants that many wildlife types depend on for shelter and food.
• Promotes healthier soil, vegetation, and new growth: This one is a combination of the above benefits, but ultimately, a well timed, controlled burn may help support new growth by removing plant litter from the ground and rejuvenating the soil with those nutrients. If too much plant litter has built up on the ground in a forest, it may smother out new growth that many animals depend on for food and compromise the integrity of the soil.

Prescribed Burns on Timberland

With timberland, a controlled burn is usually called a prescribed burn. A prescribed burn can help promote an altogether healthier timber tract. Prescribed burns are not raging forest fires damaging mature trees; they’re well thought out, planned burns that clear the underbrush and do not actually damage the mature timber on the property.

Consider these benefits of a prescribed burn on your timber tract:

• Eliminates undesirable competition: When you plant a timber tract, you are likely intending to only harvest the trees you planted. However, it’s also likely that other tree types will appear on the property at some point. A controlled burn can help eliminate younger, undesirable species of trees and vegetation while leaving your mature stand of timber intact.
• Removes thatch or pine straw from the timber bed: Unless you’re intending to rake the straw and sell it for additional return, a controlled burn can help eliminate a bed of unwanted litter and return the nutrients back to the soil for overall healthier trees and a cleaner understory.
• Promotes healthier tree cycles: Letting the underbrush get too thick on a stand of timber will compromise the health of your harvest. Keeping a clean forest floor via a controlled burn is a healthy way to optimize growth of your existing stand of timber.

Prescribed Burns on Timberland

With timberland, a controlled burn is usually called a prescribed burn. A prescribed burn can help promote an altogether healthier timber tract. Prescribed burns are not raging forest fires damaging mature trees; they’re well thought out, planned burns that clear the underbrush and do not actually damage the mature timber on the property.

Consider these benefits of a prescribed burn on your timber tract:

• Eliminates undesirable competition: When you plant a timber tract, you are likely intending to only harvest the trees you planted. However, it’s also likely that other tree types will appear on the property at some point. A controlled burn can help eliminate younger, undesirable species of trees and vegetation while leaving your mature stand of timber intact.
• Removes thatch or pine straw from the timber bed: Unless you’re intending to rake the straw and sell it for additional return, a controlled burn can help eliminate a bed of unwanted litter and return the nutrients back to the soil for overall healthier trees and a cleaner understory.
• Promotes healthier tree cycles: Letting the underbrush get too thick on a stand of timber will compromise the health of your harvest. Keeping a clean forest floor via a controlled burn is a healthy way to optimize growth of your existing stand of timber.

Controlled Burns on Ranchland

Controlled burns can also help to support a healthier mix of grasses on ranch land, and thus benefit any livestock that you are grazing.

Consider these benefits to a controlled burn on ranchland:

• Helps to control the type of forage that you are maintaining for grazing species like cattle, sheep, and horses: Many desirable grasses such as bermuda are sought after by ranchers, but undesirable grasses, like fescue, may grow earlier in the season, and quicker than the desirable grasses, making it hard for good grasses to flourish. A controlled burn with the right seasonal timing can help destroy unwanted grasses, weeds, and invasive vegetation to make room for more desirable, healthier grasses.
• Similar to farmland, a controlled burn on ranchland may also help support healthier soils: By burning fields, you’re able to speed the biodegradation process and rejuvenate the soils more quickly than what would occur naturally.
• Also similar to farmland and recreational land, a controlled burn on ranchland may help eliminate pesky insects that are damaging to the vegetation and the livestock: While ticks may just be a nuisance on recreational land, they can carry diseases that are harmful to livestock.

Fighting fire with fires is morally warned against and in some instances, legally prohibited. However, in certain cases, there can be reasons to consider it. Controlled burns during wet seasons in fire prone regions actually help keep the underbrush cleared and reduce the risk of wildfires during dry seasons.

Forests, fields, timber tracts, and other land types in fire prone regions can become overgrown and flammable underbrush might accumulate if they are not appropriately managed. You may be able to control the narrative of your own property by intentionally burning away undesirable vegetation that could act as kindling to a wildfire at a later time.

Climate change may cause drought, which increases the risk of wildfires. This is because wildfires are a natural way that the earth works to keep land healthy. As discussed above, keeping a neat property clear of any underbrush may help limit the spread of wildfires in your area.

It can be argued that controlled burns are healthier for the wildlife, vegetation, and the planet than trying to kill dense underbrush with a powerful herbicide, or wait on a wildfire to do the job for you in a less controlled manner. Controlled burns can act as a natural phase in the circle of life to control invasive species of plants and insects, promote healthier soils, allow new growth, and host happier, healthier ecosystems.

Controlled burns should never be done without planning, preparation, and due diligence.

You should gain a full understanding of when and how to prescribe a controlled burn on your property based on the land type, geographical location, weather conditions, and goals that you have for your land.

Consider these risks before initiating a controlled burn:

• Hazardous weather conditions (burn bans, dry weather) may increase risk of losing control of the fire.
• Legal restrictions in your area that might prohibit controlled burns.
• Burning too frequently may compromise the integrity of the soil, wildlife, and vegetation.
• Controlled burns too close to busy areas may increase the risk of temporary air pollution.

Final Thoughts

Controlled burns may be the next step in your land management program, but it is important to remember that a controlled burn is not an unplanned burn. Seeking a professional opinion, doing extensive research, and notifying the local fire department are all good ideas when you’re planning a controlled burn on your property.

For more informational content on biodiversity, land types, and land management, visit our learning center!

Please note: this article is meant to be a topical overview and, as such, does not include specific farming, property management or legal recommendations or advice. Every situation is unique, and you should consult with an industry expert prior to engaging in any activities that could be harmful to any property or persons, including yourself.