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A Burning Need for Conservation

 

Fire sweeps a fallen tree during the Bar NI prescribed burn

Fire sweeps a fallen tree during the Bar NI Ranch prescribed burn
Photo © Mike Babler/TNC

What is a Prescribed Burn?

Prescribed burning is the controlled application of fire to the land. That burning is used to accomplish a specific conservation of land management goal.

The Nature Conservancy uses prescribed burning to return fire to landscapes in a controlled fashion, to help the plants and animals that depend upon it. Prescribed burning also reduces the buildup of dead wood and other debris that can contribute to a catastrophic wildfire.

Learn more about fire strategies employed by the Conservancy to restore the ecologically appropriate role of fire.

Scientist starts blaze to improve health of Bar NI grasslands

A volunteer sets fire to the grasses at the Bar NI Ranch, part of a prescribed burn that will benefit ponderosa pine forests.
Photo © Mike Babler/TNC

Bar NI Ranch Prescribed Burn a Success

The Nature Conservancy completes its first burn in southern Colorado

Despite challenging wind conditions, on Nov. 5 and 10, 2005, the Conservancy completed a 23-acre prescribed burn on the Bar NI Ranch in southern Colorado. This prescribed fire--the first in the region--promises to have a ripple effect on a much larger landscape, namely due to the interest and trust generated by the event among a wide group of private landowners, timber interests and land management agencies known as the Culebra Range Community Coalition. Using the site to demonstrate the benefits and importance of restoring the forests, the coalition plans to highlight prescribed fire as an important conservation tool.

Due to strong winds, the first burn was smaller than desired and had to be continued on a second day. The first day, grasses adjacent to the forest stand were burned. Five days later the weather allowed the remaining forest stand to be burned. In addition to benefiting the landscape, the burn provided training opportunities for various firefighting tasks. Numerous partners helped with the effort, including Barn NI Ranch employees and family, New Mexico Forestry staff, the Colorado State Forest Service, Bar Stonewall County Fire Department, Vermejo Park Ranch, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Conservancy staff in Colorado and the Conservancy's Global Fire Initiative.

A Work in Progress

The Bar NI Ranch burn was done as part of a ponderosa pine restoration project. In 2001, the forest was thinned based on recommendations from local Colorado State Forest Service District Forester C.K. Morey. The removed trees were sold as logs, fence posts and poles, or chipped. Following the thinning project, Conservancy staff in Colorado, with additional input from Dr. Merrill Kaufmann of the Rocky Mountain Research Station, conducted further analysis of the site including a detailed fire history. The fire history showed the cycle of fire in the area to occur approximately every 17 years. Based on this information and subsequently developed fire models, the team determined that the ponderosa pine stand composition was similar to the historic range of variation. Prescribed fire can now be used to help reduce the number of young trees and shrubs and encourage other processes.