Wild lands, wildlife and wildfire!

Wildfire has become an important habitat management tool in the United States.  Prescribed burns are used to remove combustible fuels in undergrowth and open up wildlife habitat.  Sometimes wildlfire is needed for seed stimulation of native plants and trees.  For example, the serotinous cones of the lodgepole pine need high temperatures from fire to open for reseeding.  Mother Nature has some pretty cool tricks up her sleeve!  Anyway, the benefits of prescribed wildfires can be tremendous to flora and fauna as well as wildlife.  Keep reading for additional benefits of using wildfire as a habitat management tool.  It just maybe what your property needs!

“It wasn’t all that long ago that fire was considered the nemesis of wild lands and wildlife. As a kid growing up in the 1960s, I can remember quite clearly hearing Smokey the Bear’s stern warning about forest fire prevention. Smokey was right for the most part, but he didn’t tell us the whole story.”

“Wildfires can be terribly destructive, of course, but controlled burns, managed by wildlife professionals, are a different matter. In recent decades wildlife managers have come to recognize the value of fire, and in some cases the absolute need for it.”

“Today’s land managers aren’t the first to use this knowledge, either. There is ample evidence that before European settlers arrived, Native Americans also set fires to spur new vegetation, and thus bring in more game.”

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