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Historically, Native Americans, farmers and Mother Nature herself – in the form of frequent lightning strikes – burned the land to keep it fertile and healthy. However, today the role of fire in many fire-dependent ecosystems, such as the longleaf pine forest, is drastically out of balance, threatening the loss of valuable forest land and plant and animal life. Many forces have contributed to the changing dynamics of fire, including fragmentation of natural habitats, escaped agricultural fires, suppression of natural fires, grazing and forestry practice and especially the increasing effects of climate change.
Through The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative and the prescribed burn efforts of the Conservancy’s state programs, strategies are being developed and implemented to safely return fire to the ground in ways that balance the needs of both the human and natural communities
In Georgia, The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with its partners, burned more than 10,000 acres in 2006 on lands owned by the Conservancy, partners and private landowners who hold conservation easements. With funding and support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Conservancy is working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Forestry Commission as part of the Interagency Burn Team which formed nearly six years ago.
Prescribed fire is an essential land management tool that not only promotes a healthy environment but also protects human communities by reducing the unnatural buildup of dense stands of flammable trees and thick carpets of dead wood and leaves that lead to intense wildfires.
To learn more abut how you can preserve your land, contact Michelle Cable at (404) 253-7213 or mcable@tnc.org