Critical efforts to restore fire-dependent ecosystems such as the longleaf pine ecosystem and its many associated species like red-cockaded woodpecker cannot be successful without additional prescribed burning, especially on private lands.
Why? Fire is a critically important agent of renewal in natural ecosystems. However, wildfires can pose a substantial risk to people and infrastructure and the Southeast has more wildfires than any other region. The Southeast region also includes several fire-dependent ecosystems where prescribed burning is necessary to safely manage the land and resources.
How? By promoting prescribed fire as a land management tool, SERPPAS partners minimize the risk of destructive wildfires while restoring critical habitat and species in the Southeast. Working with fire experts from around the region, the SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Work Group developed a Comprehensive Prescribed Fire Strategy that guides their work. This strategy describes regional, state, and local activities needed to progress toward the strategic goals. The strategy recommends leveraging numerous funding sources, organizations, and networks, and identifies existing tools and models to maximize efficiency and success.
Benefit? Managing land properly with prescribed fire helps restore ecosystems, reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire, protects air quality, and improves wildlife habitat for game, at-risk and endangered species. Military testing and training in the Southeast is critically linked to prescribed burning, as installations use this management practice for fuels reduction to reduce the severity of wildfires and to manage critical habitat. Increasing prescribed fire as a management tool on and off base can enhance military readiness by increasing flexibility under the Endangered Species Act by expanding and sustaining key habitats off-post; reducing fuels to create natural buffers to DoD facilities, infrastructure and assets; and decreasing liability claims and fire costs from surrounding communities.
| Title | Author |
|---|---|
| Burning on Private Lands Website | NC State University |
| Introduction to Southeastern Prescribed Fire (online course) | Jennifer Evans/ NC State University |
| Southeast Prescribed Fire Update blog | Jennifer Evans/ NC State University |
| Southeastern Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy | Southeastern Regional Strategy Committee |
| Southern Fire Exchange | Southern Fire Exchange |
| e-FIRE (online prescribed fire course for landowners and others new to burning) | NC State University |
| NCSU Prescribed Fire Information and Resources | NC State University Extension Forestry |
| From Fire Comes Light | NC State University's Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources |
| NC Joint Information Center | NC Joint Information Center |
| Wildfires Near Me | The Wildland Fire Management Research Development & Application Program |
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