Fire is often closely associated with destruction. But not always — it can be a friend or foe. Burning can be beneficial, including on Conservation Reserve Program lands, depending on the goals of the landowner.

“The real benefit, in most instances, is setting back the growth of woody vegetation, which then encourages grass growth and more beneficial insects and animals for the long term,” says Kurt Wolf, Clinton County, Mich., Conservation District executive director.

Wolf was on-site May 13 during a prescribed burn of a prairie in Clinton County planted to native grasses and wildflowers through a partnership with the county, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Pheasants Forever.

In total, the site is 80 acres, but it was split for the burn as the southernmost section was targeted to kill more prevalent woody growth. About a 60-foot section was tilled between the land pieces to provide a burn break on the property, which was deeded to the county by the Motz family in 2014.

The last prescribed burn, which was on the entire property, was in 2019.

“It’s very cost-effective to do prescribed burns,” Wolf says. “Prairies are an early successional habitat, so it needs a lot of disturbance to keep the tree growth down.”

When to burn

Spring and fall are best for most prairie burns. Fall burns favor wildflower regeneration, while springtime helps with woody removal.

“Summer is not generally advised because native plants would be actively growing, and we wouldn’t want to hurt the plants we’re trying to maintain,” Wolf says. “And there’s also too many ground-nesting birds and other small animals out there.”

For property enrolled in CRP, Wolf says to make sure it's in your conservation plan. “The first step is talking with staff at the local conservation district office,” he says.

In addition to farmland, growers often own woodlots, wetlands, meadows and prairies.

“There's encouragement to plant these native grasses and forbs for pollinator habitat and for other conservation purposes,” says Dan Zay, state resource conservationist for Michigan. “There are effects from burning that you can't get with any other management technique. These favorable species have evolved, and they respond well to a prescribed burn. These diverse mixes increase the number of flowering plants and seed heads in the grasses. They stabilize it and push out the encroachment of brush species.”

Recognizing that benefit, CRP mid-contract management is now required. “The mission of NRCS is to support conservation, to protect water, soil and wildlife in the agricultural setting,” Zay says. “So our farm bill programs, Environmental Quality Incentive Program, Conservation Reserve Program and Conservation Stewardship Program all provide financial incentives to conduct and support conservation projects.”

Land enrolled in conservation programs could be eligible for financial assistance for the cost in mobilization and execution of a prescribed burn crew and the management of the control lines. Payment scenarios are intended to provide about a 75% cost-share for the projects. “But there are various things producers can do to assist that would count as in-kind assistance,” Zay says.

Burning is the most cost-effective, but it's also weather-dependent. “It’s always a good idea to have maybe a backup plan,” Wolf says.

While a prescribed burn is one of the best options, Zay points out that it is not the only option if weather or other factors prevent a burn. Other management practices might include mowing, grazing or some light tillage with additional seeding to stimulate beneficial species. It might also include herbicides labeled for native prairie management.

Manage the landscape

Aboriginal man was prolific in the use of fire, Zay says, and they did it to manage the landscape, as different expressions of plants provide hunting and gathering opportunities that would support their lifestyle.

“When you burn the landscape, you can get woodlands, savannas and prairies growing in close proximity to each other,” he says. “That's like having three different pallets of food hunting and gathering opportunities.”

Prescribed fire is best when landowners design plantings to have control features to keep the prescribed burn inside the management unit. “Don’t plant right up next to a building or a desirable tree species,” Zay says. “Usually, we recommend a 10- to-15-foot-wide section of a mowed cool-season-grass-control line around the warm-season grass plantings.”

With filter strips being generally small and bordered by water, a lot of farmers would have sufficient suppression equipment — with a little support on initial burn efforts — to use prescribed fire into the future, Zay advises. “Farmers should connect their local field office for technical support in planning,” he says.

Native grasslands can be burned every year. Landowners can divide burn units — as was the case with the Clinton County — into different management units and burn them sequentially.

“With native grasses, I wouldn't withhold fire for longer than three years, or you start getting an unusual amount of thatch build up and or woody encroachment, which can change its value to wildlife and the health of the planting,” Zay says.

By removing thatch with a controlled burn, it also allows the spring sunlight to reach the ground sooner, warming the soil. “Plants rebound and grow quickly, and that can extend your growing season by about two weeks,” Zay says.

Burn day

While growers may conduct a prescribed burn themselves (with CRP land being in contract compliance), the Clinton County Parks and Greenspace hired a professional for its job: Dave Borneman.

For 28 years, Borneman worked doing ecological restoration work for city of Ann Arbor. Now, he has his own company, Restoring Nature With Fire, specializing in prescribed burning.

The specific laws surrounding getting permission to burn vary from state to state, and from county to county, so every burn boss has a different protocol they follow before starting a burn. It’s also a good idea to let the 911 dispatcher in the area know a burn is occurring, Borneman advises.

As the burn boss, he makes sure his team knows the client’s objective, as well as details about the site.

“I provide aerial photo maps to keep track of where everyone is at on the property — location points are labeled A-B-C-D-E,” he says. “Everyone on the team has a radio harness and walkie talkies to communicate locations and activities, while I’m choreographing the whole thing.”

With a burn plan and a burn permit from the local fire department, Borneman watches the weather — wind direction, wind speed, temperature and humidity — looking to find the right combination of conditions for the burn.

“There's a lot of work that happens in the office before burn day,” he says.

To further ensure the burn breaks in the split field, a leaf blower was used to remove more of the debris remaining on top of the tilled soil.

A drip torch, with a combination of diesel and gas, is applied to start and move the fire. The crew of five were on-site for four hours — 2.5 hours for the actual burn.

“Grass thatch and leaf litter carry the burn, but it doesn’t consume everything, as woody stems remain,” Borneman explains.  “But we put enough heat on the cambium layer — the ring of living tissue around the outside of the stem — to kill that plant. So even though it remains standing right after the burn, that woody growth is dead.”

Special attention was given to the burn around in-field utility poles.

“For thousands of years, Native Americans have been burning the landscape to keep areas open. If you take fire out of the landscape, those areas close in,” says Borneman, who has done a variety of burns, thousands of times. With woodland burns, he targets oak forests for the most part.

“Oak leaf litter burns really well, and it kills invasive species — especially non-native, invasive shrubs,” he says. “Within just a few hours you can kill thousands of 5-foot-tall shrubs that were invading. It's very effective.”

He has worked for individual landowners, park departments and businesses, who have converted green landscaping on corporate campuses that had to be mowed to native prairies. “I also do a lot of burning for hunters to improve habitat,” Borneman says.

Michigan, as with many states, has a Prescribed Fire Council, an education and outreach organization to protect, conserve and expand the safe use of prescribed fire in Michigan.

The council maintains a comprehensive list of burn contractors for prescribed burning. Visit firecouncil.org for more information. Read the Conservation Practice Standard Overview established by USDA at nrcs.usda.gov.

Benefits of a prescribed burn

After many years of fire exclusion, an ecosystem that needs periodic fire becomes unhealthy. Trees are stressed by overcrowding; fire-dependent species disappear; and flammable fuels build up and become hazardous. The USDA Forest Service advises to set the right fire at the right place at the right time. In doing so, it will: