Controlled Burns: A Family Tradition

Controlled Burns: A Family Tradition

Burning the pine woods where I grew up was always a family event involving my parents, grandparents, brother, aunts and uncles.  One of my earliest memories is of my brother and I riding in the back of my grandaddy’s truck checking on fires.  We would bump along the plowed fire break, jump off the back of the tailgate, and then run to jump back on.  To eight year old this was big fun.  I also remember walking along enviously behind my Dad as he would set fires with a drip torch.  The wiregrass would flame up easily and begin to creep toward more of its kind, and soon it would seem as though the whole world was on fire. 

 

Controlled burning is important for restoration, animal habitat, and getting rid of unwanted brush.  For pine trees burning gets rid of unwanted vegetation that competes with the pines.  It also opens up the area allowing more sunlight to get to the ground which in turn produces more healthy vegetation.  There are not many more natural areas more beautiful than an open stand of pine trees and wiregrass.

Burning is especially healthy for game birds like the bobwhite quail. Quail rely on open areas of upland pine to thrive.  By burning these areas regularly it provides quail with good nesting areas and access to seed plants.  Deer benefit from controlled burns as well.  Fire helps the growth of certain types of weeds like legumes. This makes up a vast majority of a deer’s diet. 

 

 

My family generally burns in the late winter months, I think, because that is the when it has always been done.  There are good reasons to burn in the winter besides just tradition.  Conditions are more favorable and predictable.  Wind and humidity play a big part when using controlled burns.  Unpredictable and shifting weather can be dangerous.  Fires can and do jump breaks, and strong winds may push a fire in an undesirable direction.  By knowing as much as possible about the wind direction and strength ahead of time, major disasters can be prevented.

This week we have started pulling fire breaks around the property, and hope to burn soon.  I’m sure that it will be a family affair again this year.  At heart we are all just a bunch of fire bugs.