Properly conducted prescribed burns take teams of trained individuals, which is where prescribed burn associations help. AGFC photo.
LITTLE ROCK — The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held their first meeting in mid-October, marking a new era for habitat enhancement throughout The Natural State.
It may seem odd to talk about setting fires for habitat management while the state is in the midst of a burn ban-inducing drought, but prescribed burns are one of the best ways to combat the wildfires that have county judges concerned.
“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” Thomas Baldridge, one of the APBA’s three directors, said. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the number one tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”
According to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society, North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years, and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and forbs that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.
AGFC staff often work with prescribed burn associations, training and coordinating activities for maximum wildlife habitat benefit. AGFC photo.
Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.
“Fire provides the best return for the least amount of cost, and depending on how and when you conduct the fire, it can promote a variety of plant species that benefit wildlife in different ways,” Randy Brents, assistant chief of the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division, said. “AGFC private lands biologists and wildlife management biologists have been working for decades to put more fire on the landscape to increase habitat for game and nongame wildlife. Last year, our staff burned 18,903 acres on private land and WMAs and assisted partner agencies in burning 28,702 more acres. Prescribed burn associations are the way to increase those numbers exponentially.”
Baldridge says the formation of the APBA was a natural evolution to what the AGFC and other partnering organizations had been standing up during the last few years.
“The AGFC started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago, and most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from the AGFC, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The APBA just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.
Nine previously formed PBAs attended the first meeting of the Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association, each with trailers and equipment to be used for wildlife habitat improvements through fire. AGFC photo.
The APBA works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state. Hunter Johnson from Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza from Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.
“We had nine previously existing prescribed burn associations show up to our first meeting, and we’re looking for ways to reach out to new groups of landowners and build this into something large enough to really make a difference on Arkansas’s landscape.
Baldridge says the APBA used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation. “Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”
The AGFC, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, USFWS and Quail Forever all pitched in to help the new association build a firm foundation. The AGFC granted the organization $25,000 and USFWS gave it $50,000, and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales. Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the APBA, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.
“Quail Forever and AGFC had procured the trailers and equipment to help work with prescribed burn associations in the state, so transferring them to us was a natural next step,” Baldridge said.
Prescribed burns are the best and most economical way to create more food and cover for northern bobwhite, turkeys, deer and a host of other upland wildlife species.
Equipment to conduct prescribed burns is one of the benefits of joining a prescribed burn association. Drip torches, fire rakes, leaf blowers and other accessories can build up quite a bill for a landowner to only use once every two or three years, so sharing the equipment removes one of the barriers some people have to building better habitat.
“The other huge benefit of a prescribed burn association is personnel,” Baldridge said. “Someone may have a few hundred acres to burn, but they need a small group of people to conduct it safely,” Baldridge said. “By joining a PBA, everyone pitches in to help everyone else in the group.”
Visit www.arfire.org for more information about the APBA and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in your area.