Module 1: Land management objective

Burn planning and preparation

Module Objective: To develop you own burn objectives for your land

Reasons for using fire

Prescribed burning is used to achieve several land management objectives. Land managers use fire for many reasons, for example:

• Removing invasive weeds and scrub
• Removal of stubble residues
• Stimulate regrowth of grasses
• Clearing large debris/ forestry slash piles
• Preparing land for planting
• Clearing trimmings and branches

Self-check: What are you trying to achieve from a prescribed burn?

Do I need to burn?

Fire is only one tool in an overall management plan. The decision to burn should consider the long-term objectives of your land.

Land management objective check:

• What are you trying to achieve?
• Is fire the best tool for this?
  • What other options could be applied besides burning?
  • What are the risks and benefits of each option/tool?
  • Are you comfortable with your choice of option/tool?

1. Consider alternatives to prescribed burning
   • Are there better alternatives to prescribed burning for the land in question, such as mechanised treatment or livestock grazing that can be explored?
2. Consider the total amount of land that needs to be burnt
   • Where is it desired to burn?
   • What is the envisaged outcome of burning?
   • Is burning the only method of producing the desired effect?
   • What are the constraints to burning on and around the target area?

Burning Frequency

Once it has been decided that land should be burned, a burning rotation programme can be developed based on vegetation growth levels. These rotations are greatly influenced by variables such as vegetation growth rates, weather, and grazing intensity levels.

The following parameters can be applied for use in determining burning rotations for upland vegetation: As a rule of thumb, you should base burning rotations on how fast vegetation grows.

Different areas of your land may suit different rotations –e.g. if growth rates, vegetation types or management objectives vary. Again, this is an area where the knowledge and experience of local landowners should apply, in addition to general guidelines regarding burning rotations.

What are your burn objectives?

Once the decision has been made that you need fire, the objectives must be developed. Prescribed burn objectives must be clear and understood by everyone involved. Some questions to think about are:

• How will I communicate to others why we are burning and what we hope to achieve?
• What type of fire you need to meet your land management objectives (e.g. windrow, stubble, land clearance (steep or flat)
• How will you undertake such a burn?
• When are you going to carry out the burn?
• Who will be involved?

Self-check: These are important elements that go into a burn plan. If you don’t know these things, then you are not ready to burn.

Activity:

Write your own land management objective for a proposed prescribed burn on your property. State the following:

• the purpose of your burn,
• the type of fire you will need
• the size of your burn
• when you will carry out the burn
• how you will do the burn
• who will be involved

Example:

Learning outcome:

By now you can clearly articulate your burn objective