Prescribed Fire. In the fall (i.e., mid-August through November), prescribed xxxxx may be performed to discourage woody plant growth, remove accumulated leaf litter and duff, and encourage the spread of native prairie grasses and forbs. An annual burn unit (ABU) will be determined based on the individual site conditions and population sizes. Prescribed fire may be used to manage prairie habitats on the enrolled property each year, but the area that may be burned in any one year is limited to no more than one- third of any occupied site. The ABU for sites supporting 100 or more adult Fender’s blue butterflies may be a maximum of one-third of the occupied habitat. The ABU for sites with less than 100 adult Fender’s blue butterflies may be up to a maximum of one-fourth of the occupied habitat. The center of the ABU will be within 100 meters of unburned occupied habitat, which can serve as a recolonization source. Once burned, a unit will not be re-burned for at least three years so that butterfly populations may rebuild. The use of fire for habitat maintenance inherently increases the risk of accidentally impacting more habitat than originally intended. The responsible Parties will plan to burn approximately five percent less than the annual maximum so that the maximum allowable ABU will not be exceeded. Large woody plants will be removed before burning to reduce fuel loads if feasible. Ignition of burn areas will be by hand using propane, fuses, or drip torches. Pre-burn hose lays, wet-lining, or fire retardant foam will be used to control and suppress fires. Prescribed xxxxx will be conducted in a manner consistent with state and local smoke management regulations. Vehicles will not be operated in areas where listed species occur. Additionally, where patch size allows, butterfly refugia within burn units will be protected with a fire break and/or watered down before burning. During a burn year, management activities will also be limited for adjacent units of the site. For example, if one-third of the site is burned, the remaining unburned portion of the site will not be mowed so that the maximum area affected by management activities is no more than one-third of the site. When using prescribed fire as a management technique, additional consideration of subsequent annual treatments for the ABU will be necessary. That is, in the year following a burn, management of that unit will be limited to manual techniques and herbicide applications. Occupied habitat that is scheduled to...
Prescribed Fire. Any fire intentionally ignited by management actions in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regulations to meet specific objectives.
Prescribed Fire use of prescribed burning to control herbaceous and woody surface vegetation and installation of fore breaks without disturbance of soil below the lowest levels of previous disturbance.
Prescribed Fire. 1. Provide staffing to support prescribed fire operations.
Prescribed Fire. Prescribed fire is a fire burning in wildland fuels according to a planned prescription and confined within planned boundaries for the purpose of achieving specific objectives of resource management. (Prescribed burning is the practice of prescribed fire use.)
Prescribed Fire. To use prescribed fire as an ecological management tool in compliance with state and other applicable laws.
Prescribed Fire. The NRCC Center Manager has been delegated the authority to support and move resources within the NRGA and between other geographic areas in support of prescribed fire needs.
Prescribed Fire. Fire is a natural process that occurs in many natural communities, including fens and other vegetation types occupied by EMR (Spieles et al. 1999). Fire in fens and savannas serves to keep the vegetation open, reduce shrub and tree cover, reduce surface cover and encourage germination and reproduction of many plant species. Prescribed fire will be allowed in managed habitat even though it has the potential to kill individual snakes. At some managed sites, prescribed fire may be the preferred or only effective management treatment for invasive species or discouraging woody growth for the purpose of maintaining important habitat. The following guidelines will allow managers to enhance or increase suitability of EMR habitat while minimizing the potential loss of individual snakes. Heat from prescribed fire does not reach far into the soil. Therefore, burning during the inactive season is not expected to harm hibernating EMR. Xxxxx et al. (2001) observed that snakes exposed to low intensity fire were more likely to survive than those exposed to high intensity fires. Mortality from prescribed fire is possible, even when steps are taken to reduce that mortality (Durbian 2006, Cross 2009), but the impacts of fires likely vary with other threats, snake population size, fire intensity, and fire frequency. Snakes and other reptiles may move from the burn unit, but in order to provide them more time and potential refuges these guidelines include recommendations to decrease rate of spread and intensity. Rattlesnakes have been known to seek subterranean refuges and may survive less intense fires (Xxxxx et al. 2001). Prescribed fire promotes dynamic changes in the landscape that set back succession, improve EMR habitat, and may be beneficial to EMR populations in the long run. The impacts from prescribed fire on EMR populations are uncertain and, therefore, will be evaluated for its positive and negative effects to EMR populations and habitat (See Section 10). The following guidelines will be observed when using prescribed fire to increase habitat suitability for rattlesnakes.
Prescribed Fire. ADCNR-WFF can enroll a landowner under a SHMA if the landowner agrees to maintain or increase the use of prescribed fire under any of the following circumstances once the property is enrolled:
Prescribed Fire. The landowner shall maintain or increase his/her use of prescribed fire on the enrolled property under the following circumstances:
