Photo by Ryan Kirby

All across the country, teams of landowners and conservationists regularly use prescribed fire to enhance wildlife habitat for wild turkeys and other game species.

Burning Across the Country

The Southeast is Prescribed Burn Central. Read how other parts of the country use (or don’t use) burning to manage wildlife.

Northern Great Plains

from NWTF Senior Regional Biologist Jared McJunkin

Prescribed burning, as a management tool, is not as prevalent in the Northern Great Plains region as in other parts of the country, such as the Southeast or Midwest. Most of the region consists of grasslands, and prescribed burning isn’t common practice for land managers due to the perceived risks of fire and the predominately dry climate conditions in the region.

The bulk of prescribed fire conducted in the Northern Great Plains region takes place on forested public lands (USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management) and is employed for timber stand management to reduce the risk of large-scale wildfires, as well as to improve the overall health and condition of understory shrubs, grasses and forbs.

Burning in the NGP region can take place at various times of the year and is dictated by prescription windows, but much of the burning is planned for the winter and spring when moisture levels are higher and the risk of a fire burning out of control is minimal.

Northeast

from NWTF Director of Conservation Operations Bob Eriksen (Certified Wildlife Biologist)

Prescribed fire is used in portions of the Northeast to a lesser degree than other parts of the country, but its use is on the rise.

Foresters in New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y., use late winter burns to reduce fuel loads in pine-oak forests on the coastal plain, making burns more controllable and less intense.

Acres of warm season grasses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have increased dramatically in the last decade through federal programs such as Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. More than 100,000 acres of warm season grasses are now being managed with fire on public and private lands in Pennsylvania by the Game Commission, private landowners and The Nature Conservancy. In addition, recent legislative changes reducing liability of burning in Pennsylvania likely will result in prescribed fire being used more frequently to manage hardwoods, especially to encourage oak regeneration.

Spring and summer burns are rarely used at this point in time but that may change as managers become more familiar with viable and reliable burning techniques.

Southwest

from NWTF Regional Biologist Scott P. Lerich (Certified Wildlife Biologist)

The use of prescribed fire in the Southwest is as diverse at the region’s landscapes.

The USDA Forest Service often burns to reduce fuel loads in an effort to prevent catastrophic wildfires. They can be employed in mixed conifer, ponderosa pine or pinon/juniper habitats, and are referred to as maintenance burns.

The Bureau of Land Management often implements prescribed fire specifically to reduce dense stands of pinon/juniper. These burns are often conducted during dry, hot times (May, June) to provide enough heat to kill the smaller trees.

Maintenance burns may take place during wetter, cooler times (late fall, winter) so they are easier to control.
Overall, prescribed burns are beneficial to wild turkey habitat in the Southwest, and the results are realized with the next good rain.