Iowan Scott Moats Selected to Lend Fire Expertise in Ethiopian Grasslands

DES MOINES, Iowa ¯ April 2, 2007 —Iowan Scott Moats, prescribed fire expert for The Nature Conservancy and northwest Iowa preserves manager located in the Broken Kettle Grasslands near Sioux City, recently taught tribesman (pastoralists) in southern Ethiopia how to safely burn their pastures and rangeland to eliminate thorny invasive species, brush and trees to return the land to better grazing for livestock, protecting villages and people.

Fire in this area has been suppressed for more than 30 years. Restoration of rangelands has economical benefits by increasing fodder for livestock grazing and thereby increasing food security for these African communities. Moats was part of an elite team included with technical experts from the United States Forest Service sent with the support of the United States Agency for International Development’s Pastoralists Livelihoods Initiative in cooperation with the Ethiopian government.

While in Ethiopia, Moats, the team and pastoralists from the communities trained pastoralists and burned two units near Negelle, the first 2,500 acres and the second approximately 40 acres.

“This was the first tangible concrete action to restore these pastoral lands and while these areas were tropical grasslands, the savannah was similar to our tallgrass prairie in Iowa,” said Moats. “In addition, the methods and procedures we used to conducting prescribed fire in Africa were identical to what we do in other areas of this country, including Iowa.”

As with all prescription burning, communication is critical to a methodical, safe and successful burn. With humor, Moats relayed a story from the blackline (a fireline that will contain the larger fire) burn. “When we started to burn the blackline, there was much excitement with the crew. As it started to burn, the crew shouted and yelled and quickly put it out. We started it again, and again they quickly put it out. We had to communicate to them to let this burn to establish the fireline. However, we had to translate through a few different languages to make sure we were understood.”

An international exchange of stewardship expertise. © Tim Sexton

In fact, there are about 80 different languages and dialects spoken in Ethiopia.

In addition to the language barrier, the resources available to the fire crew in Ethiopia were limited. “Water is not readily available and that can be daunting when considering safety. Instead of flappers, we used Acacia tree branches with green leaves to beat out the fire. Also, there was no access to weather forecasts. We relied heavily on the experience of the pastoralist and our own experience in predicting weather. We had the opportunity to empower people using the tools at their disposal – so we learned from each other.”

There were several additional units in the Yabelo area planned for burning, but were postponed by USAID security because of recent violence in the area. The large burn successfully demonstrated to government officials and cooperative agencies, PARIMA, Save the Children and CARE, that prescibed fire can be done at a landscape scale safely and effectively.

The Pastoralist Livelihoods Initiative is working with the Government of Ethiopia to return fire to land that depends on it to improve the lives of Ethiopian pastoralists. Controlled rangeland fires repair the health and overall ecological integrity of the land by removing invasive species and allowing new growth, which is the same reason for controlled fire in Iowa.

Moats is a member of the Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative team, teaches classes to Conservancy staff and to other conservation organization staff on prescribed fire and serves as the fire manager for Iowa and Nebraska for the Conservancy.

Controlled fire is an integral tool in the management of global grasslands, also called prairies, pampas, savannas and heaths. The world’s grasslands are one of the most imperiled systems with less than five percent of all grasslands protected for conservation and yet, grasslands serve as home to nearly 800 million people, providing food, medicine and economic opportunity to countless million more.

Grasslands face increasing threats from invasive species, suppression of naturally occurring fire and the conversion of the landscapes for agriculture and urbanization.

The Nature Conservancy is expanding its global reach by working directly with communities, like those in Ethiopia and by working with partners to conserve the world’s imperiled grasslands by using all the tools of conservation — including science, partnership, acquisition, land management and restoration.

In Iowa, fire and grazing are important processes for the landscape and lie at the core of the Conservancy’s management efforts at Broken Kettle Grassland Preserve, the largest remaining prairie in Iowa. The conservation area is in the northern portion of the Loess Hills just north of Sioux City in Plymouth County, and it is a stellar example of this rare and intriguing landform.

Historically, fire was an integral part of the pre-settlement prairie habitat. Today, the Conservancy uses fire to clear small trees, underbrush and scrub to conserve the native grassland habitats. Detailed plans, or prescriptions, are prepared prior to the burns for safety and control and to ensure specific management objectives are met. In addition, prescribed fires minimize the potential negative impacts that fire or wildfires could have on some of Broken Kettle’s rare species, such as the prairie rattlesnake and the regal fritillary butterfly. The Conservancy implements prescribed fire that leaves suitable habitat and will not cause large mortality for less mobile animals, like the rare prairie rattlesnake.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

The Nature Conservancy in Iowa has more than 7,500 members and manages 33 preserves totaling over 6,000 acres. Since the Chapter began in 1963, with the aid of volunteers it has been involved in the protection of nearly 20,000 acres in the state, including native prairies, wetlands and woodland communities.