Fire can be a creative and a destructive force in ecosystems. In its natural role, it brings renewal to fire-adapted habitats, allowing seeds to germinate and new plants to grow. But altering this natural pattern can cause major changes: suppressing fires can lead to the accumulation of fuel and catastrophic, destructive fire. It can also lead to changes in the types of plants and animals that can grow in a particular area, as non-fire-adapted species are allowed to flourish and crowd out fire-tolerant ones. The Nature Conservancy's prescribed fire programs aim to use fire as one of many tools to manage ecosystems and maintain habitats.

The Conservancy’s Nancy Sferra, director of science and stewardship in Maine, recently traveled to Indonesia for a workshop on "Community-based Fire Management." She answered some questions about that experience and about the use of fire for conservation in Maine and around the world.

nature.org: What is community-based fire management?

Nancy Sferra: Community-based fire management involves local communities in decisions regarding the use of ecologically sustainable fire. Local stakeholders work to evaluate the risks posed and benefits of fire. Actions on the ground prevent unwanted fires while using fire as a beneficial tool.

nature.org: What was the purpose of your trip to Indonesia?

Nancy Sferra: The organizers of the workshop asked me to share my expertise on prescribed burning and its application as an ecological management tool in the northeastern United States. I presented a session on fuels and fire behavior and the basic techniques of prescribed fire.

The purpose of the workshop was to bring together information and experiences about community-based fire management in the Asia-Pacific region. The participants included representatives from governmental agencies, NGOs and forest industry from Indonesia, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. There were also presenters from Botswana, Finland, Australia, Italy, and the U.S.

nature.org: Where is fire used for conservation in Maine and why?

Nancy Sferra: Since the early 1990s, we've burned sandplain grasslands at Kennebunk Plains and pitch pine-scrub oak barrens at the Conservancy's Waterboro Barrens Preserve and Maine Army National Guard's Hollis Barrens. We apply fire to approximately 400 acres per year.

Certain vegetation types and plant species have adapted over time to periodic fire. In Maine, fire-adapted natural communities include pine barrens dominated by pitch pine, scrub oak and lowbush blueberry and sandplain grasslands dominated by little bluestem, poverty grass and lowbush blueberry. Historically, natural fire burned these sites every 10 to 25 years, but with improvement in fire equipment and the proximity of homes to these natural communities, fire suppression has virtually eliminated natural fire from these systems. Prescribed fire is used by trained crews to manage the vegetation under carefully chosen weather conditions to ensure that fire stays within the intended area and meets our ecological needs.

nature.org: Is fire management similar in Maine and Indonesia?

Nancy Sferra: In Indonesia, fire is used in land clearing for small-scale agriculture and plantations. There are areas in Indonesia that are dominated by peat soils. Fire can burn and smolder in these soils for months at a time. This burning and smoldering can destroy the organic material in these soils and reduce air quality and visibility. In some areas, inappropriate fire has changed the dominant vegetation from less flammable forest types to more flammable grasslands. The end result is a loss of native species and natural communities and a change in fire regime within an area.

A similar situation is found in Maine and the northeast because of the emphasis on long-term fire suppression. When wildfires do occur, they tend to be more devastating because of the buildup of fuel over time. In addition, fire is poorly understood by the public at large in both Indonesia and Maine and outreach and participation of the local community in understanding the use of fire is essential to our continued use of fire in management.

nature.org: Does the Maine fire crew often reach out to other parts of the world?

Nancy Sferra:  Because prescribed fire requires experienced crew with specialized training, fire practitioners in the northeastern U.S. often share resources. The Maine fire program works closely with fire programs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania. Crews from Maine have also traveled to the southeast during our non-fire months to help with prescribed burning. We are in the process of organizing an exchange with staff in China. A group of Chinese fire ecologists will be traveling to the northeast this year to learn about fire management in pine-oak forests that are similar to forests in China.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Nancy Sferra/TNC (Residents of Mandar Village, Indonesia, manage a controlled burn); Photo © TNC (Nancy Sferra); Photo © Parker Schuerman/TNC (Prescribed burn at Hollis Barrens).