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What to do With Open Areas?
- Thread starter Victor Van Meter
- Start date
BenAllgood
5 year old buck +
Looks like some great spots to try bow range burns. The MSU Deer Lab discusses them here: http://extension.msstate.edu/deer-university/audio/2018/episode-026-bow-range-burnin
Victor Van Meter
5 year old buck +
As far as I know it wasn’t an old oil field. It is about 30 yards behind the previous landowner’s house and is nothing but red clay. I would really like to thicken this up not for bedding, but to cut it off from the view of whoever ends up with his house and 5 acres after he passes (both he and his wife are in late 70s). It is the only place I can get my tractor to.
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Victor Van Meter
5 year old buck +
I assume without the fence the deer will eat the red osier?
As a land owner who has done 7 controlled burns on my 12 acre prairie, I think yoderjac is over simplifying a controlled burn. However, I can only speak to the rules and regulations in the state of Wisconsin for burns. I am required to have a 15 foot fire break around my entire prairie. It must be disked or a green growing break. I have a written fire plan that was done by the UW- Stevens Point fire crew. Any burn over 1/4 acre requires a special burn permit that is issued by the local DNR office. Most permits are only good for 3-7 days and permission must be obtained the day of the burn. I have 12-20 young college students who come out to conduct the burn. They are well organized with a burn boss, team leaders and all others who have specific jobs. I send letters to all neighbors who are in the one mile smoke zone informing them of my intended burn. This is too keep calls to the fire department from happening due to the burn and for anyone who has a medical condition that is aggravated by smoke. I keep a 55 gallon sprayer filled with water on site attached to my Kubota for suppression use. The UW-SP fire crew brings a 100 gallon pumper which gets filled at my well. There is a designated parking area on one of my neighbors land for the fire crew cars. All escape routes are discussed before hand.
With all that said, I can say that all of my burns have gone off without a hitch. Once the back fire is set, I am responsible for everything afterwards. Fire had been a great asset to the growth of my prairie over the years. If you can safely burn in your area, I would encourage you to do so. The UW-SP fire crew does this as an after school activity to gain actual experience with controlled burns. Most are Natural Resource majors. They charge me by the mile for all the vehicles that come from Point to my land. There fee is VERY reasonable and I usually give them a healthy tip. Hiring professionals to do the same job started at $1K for me.
With all that said, I can say that all of my burns have gone off without a hitch. Once the back fire is set, I am responsible for everything afterwards. Fire had been a great asset to the growth of my prairie over the years. If you can safely burn in your area, I would encourage you to do so. The UW-SP fire crew does this as an after school activity to gain actual experience with controlled burns. Most are Natural Resource majors. They charge me by the mile for all the vehicles that come from Point to my land. There fee is VERY reasonable and I usually give them a healthy tip. Hiring professionals to do the same job started at $1K for me.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
We do 10-20 acres of grass every year with 2-3 guys. Running fire permit is easy to obtain and activating it is as simple as calling in and checking if any bans are on then enter the permit numbers. We keep mowed paths between the sections (mow them where you want the deer to walk) and there is also two trout streams that help break it up. Burning in the woods gets a bit smokey but the fire is much less intense and doesn't burn nearly as fast. Just clear the perimeter with a leaf blower and a rake and you are good to go.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
The burning season is near and I will fight around 100 out of control controlled burns.Ranging from a hundred square feet to hundreds of sections,yep 100s of square miles.We ahve been on a couple that were around 400,000 acres here in Kansas in last couple years so be careful out there.
Victor Van Meter
5 year old buck +
That is what scares me. With my surrounding properties, it wouldn't take much human error to go from burning a couple acres to burning close to a thousand.
VV
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I was told I would need to get a permit, and prepare with firebreaks. Then also get the ok from the local fire warden. I asked the local fire warden and she said she hasn’t approved one in her 20 years as the warden, so find a different way to clean the area.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Depends where you are located. Local ordinances vary. No issue in my area. There are certain times of the year when you can't burn without being a certified burner that files a burn plan, but no permitting is required here.
IkemanTx
5 year old buck +
Wisconsin apparently places burdens to reduce controlled burns.... Texas is much more simple than this. Written burn plan approved (literally can use the same one over and over if the same weather parameters are met), weather meets burn plan, call local fire department to remove the fire from 911 responses, call department at be gemming if burn, call fire department at end of burn.... DONE
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IkemanTx
5 year old buck +
Hahahaha good luck with that.... oops, a muffler was hot as I drove through the tall grass...
Thank goodness I planted that clover strip around the prairie last fall and it contained it!
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4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Well my area is pretty much all big woods, and I think it would be hard to constrain, which is what the fire warden told me. She basically said if it got out of control, it would take several miles of woods, since there are few roads in the area.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
And just think of what kind of habitat it would produce if it did happen. The problem is there is an over abundance of fuel because of fire suppression. Wildfires can be prevented by doing prescribed fires.
hesseu
5 year old buck +
#IfOnlyCaliforniaWouldListen
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
^^^^ Massive landslides / mudslides after fires because there's nothing left alive to hold the soil. That's why cutting trees along streams is always a bad idea. All those roots from trees & shrubs hold onto soil.
Another thing about those Cali fires - many of them are started by humans on purpose or as a result of human activity. And the latest round of Cali fires had several started by old, malfunctioning electrical grid equipment. That's been in the news and the one power company declared bankruptcy from all the justified lawsuits. It would be great if you could prevent psycho's & thrill-seeking firebugs from starting fires - and campers, smokers throwing butts out car windows, power companies, etc. would all behave in smarter ways.
How does a prescribed burn help the steep, brushy, wooded hillsides in Cali avoid the guaranteed mudslides / landslides afterward ?? Cali gets a lot of rain coming in off the Pacific. Swapping one disaster for another isn't a solution.
Another thing about those Cali fires - many of them are started by humans on purpose or as a result of human activity. And the latest round of Cali fires had several started by old, malfunctioning electrical grid equipment. That's been in the news and the one power company declared bankruptcy from all the justified lawsuits. It would be great if you could prevent psycho's & thrill-seeking firebugs from starting fires - and campers, smokers throwing butts out car windows, power companies, etc. would all behave in smarter ways.
How does a prescribed burn help the steep, brushy, wooded hillsides in Cali avoid the guaranteed mudslides / landslides afterward ?? Cali gets a lot of rain coming in off the Pacific. Swapping one disaster for another isn't a solution.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
The prescribed fires just lessen the fuel load in the forests so there is a much greater chance of a wild fire starting in the first place. Or if it does it burns much less intense and is easier to put out. If they would get burned off there would also be other plant species that could grow in the absence of thick layers of pine straw.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
S.T. - I don't think it was just pine straw burning. A lot of shrubby undergrowth was burning too.
In the last couple years, Cali was in drought conditions and that made the situation worse. Now they're back in the wetter, normal cycle and it's mudslides. I remember when Geo. Bush said they should cut down the trees and brush so there won't be any wildfires. No fuel - no fires. So you have naked land, except for maybe some weeds or grass. Dry grass burns really well too. What then holds the soil - in windy or rainy conditions ???
In the last couple years, Cali was in drought conditions and that made the situation worse. Now they're back in the wetter, normal cycle and it's mudslides. I remember when Geo. Bush said they should cut down the trees and brush so there won't be any wildfires. No fuel - no fires. So you have naked land, except for maybe some weeds or grass. Dry grass burns really well too. What then holds the soil - in windy or rainy conditions ???
