Fire Experts Teach Conservationists How to Set Prescribed Burns from Helicopters

The Nature Conservancy, Aviation Management and other partners set to conduct helicopter training July 11-15, 2005, in Thomasville, Ga.

Thomasville, Ga. - July 5, 2005 - Conservation professionals from throughout the East will learn to safely ignite prescribed burns from helicopters at a training July 11-15, 2005, at Greenwood Plantation in Thomasville, Ga. Aviation Management, an office under the National Business Center (NBC) in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative, in cooperation with numerous state and federal partners, are organizing the training.

Twenty-six students from federal, state and non-profit agencies will undergo five days of intense classroom and helicopter field training, learning the tactical and logistical use of helicopters and ignition equipment to maximize prescribed fire efforts.

"Helicopters allow us to burn 1,000 acres an hour, whereas on foot, we can only burn 200 to 300 acres a day," said Kevin Hiers, the Georgia and Alabama fire program manager for The Nature Conservancy and one of the instructors for the training. "This makes a big difference when we only have a small window of opportunity to burn large areas in a safe and effective way."

Helicopters also enable prescribed fire crew members to burn areas that are difficult to access on foot due to rough terrain, thereby avoiding potentially dangerous situations for the fire crew.

In accordance with standards set by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the training will include instruction on aviation safety, aircraft capabilities and limitations, helicopter operation, transport of hazardous materials, and aviation life support equipment. One day of the training will be dedicated to the mechanics and safe handling of the plastic sphere dispenser, a machine that fits into the helicopter and drops small balls filled with a mixture of chemicals designed to ignite prescribed fires.

"The Nature Conservancy and our state and federal partners routinely participate in standardized training courses to maintain safety practices and to stay current on wild land fire management tactics," said Hiers. "Such training is particularly important to ensure safety for fire managers who use helicopters to perform aerial ignitions."

Students will have an opportunity to put their newly learned skills to the test during in-flight exercises using Georgia Forestry Commission and Georgia Department of Natural Resources helicopters and a privately owned helicopter provided through the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Park Service.

"The partnerships among the federal, state and non-profit agencies have been the key to making this training possible," explained Meg Gallagher, program specialist with DOI-NBC Aviation Management. "With students coming from Massachusetts, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina among other places, we are bringing together a wealth of knowledge and experience from a number of prescribed burn programs, which will make the training a richer experience for all involved."

Partners which have contributed to organizing the training include DOI-NBC Aviation Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia Forestry Commission, Eglin Air Force Base, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy.

"The interagency cooperation among all of our partners and their contributions of staff support, equipment and financial resources is a testament to the importance of prescribed burning as a land management tool and emphasizes the need for a collaborative approach to achieve our common conservation goal," said Sam Lindblom, national fire training coordinator for The Nature Conservancy.

About Prescribed Fire
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. 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.

Through The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative and the prescribed burn efforts of The Nature 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.