Written by: Paxton Caroline Hayes

Photos taken by: Paxton Caroline Hayes

Location: Red Oaks Plantation in Oakfield, Georgia

Welcome to the Fire Crew 

Whether you're a landowner who already conducts controlled burns, live in a metro area and dread the summer burn bans, or have never heard of prescribed fire before, welcome! My name is Paxton Caroline Hayes, and I am part of the Conservation and Stewardship team here at the Southern Conservation Trust. With these posts, I want to show you how important prescribed fire is for ecosystems throughout the Southeast. 

This series of blog posts will cover topics like the history and ecology of prescribed fire, proper smoke management, and fire as a land management tool. We didn’t start the fire when our environment was learning to co-evolve with it, but we should work together to start them safely now, happy burning! 

Okay, But What is Prescribed Fire?

Sometimes called controlled burning or abbreviated as “Rx Fire,” it is the intentional and controlled use of fire as a land management technique. The United States Forest Service states that prescribed fire is:

• Applied in a skillful manner
• Under exacting weather conditions
• In a definite place
• To achieve predetermined, well-defined management objectives (or results) 
• Reduce wildfire hazards
• Reduce fuels 
• Improve habitat for wildlife species
• Reduce competition
• Enhance appearance 
• Improve access

Why Should I Choose Fire?

Prescribed fire is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health, and reduce wildfire risk on public and private lands (Georgia DNR). Long before humans inhabited the Southeast, lightning-ignited fires helped shape Georgia's many ecosystems from the longleaf pine savannas and herbaceous bogs in south Georgia to oak-hickory forests and high-elevation balds in the mountains. If left unchecked, trees and brush will grow too thick, shading out understory vegetation and preventing animals from foraging or living there. 

Additionally, chemical and mechanical treatments can be significantly more expensive than prescribed burning and have greater environmental costs (such as the destruction of habitat, loss of native plants and animals, and detrimental soil erosion). While fire is temporarily destructive, our ecosystems in the Southeast have evolved to come back stronger under the right fire conditions and disturbances. Prescribed fire also safely consumes fallen limbs, dead trees, and other flammable fuels (like pine straw), which lowers the risk of catastrophic wildfires and smoke clouds.

Where Can I Learn More?

Georgia Department of Natural Resources 

Georgia Forestry Commission 

Southern Fire Exchange 

Georgia Prescribed Fire Council 

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems