Prescribed Burns
Posted: 19 Feb 2017 17:59
I consider prescribed burns a huge part of my wildlife management practices and my burn season just finished! I burnt 91 acres. Here are some photos!
January 16 - Started by back burning a safe area around the homes on my place.
Typical fire breaks around burn units.
Moving the ground blinds out of the burn units.
I use a disc with a drag for the breaks. The breaks get extremely rutted up while the burn is going on, so I disk the breaks again after the burn to smooth the ruts out and then pack them with a cultipacker. After that, I don't drive on them again until after it rains and dries. These steps make for a hard, smooth road surface.
There is a burn ban in place in my County, but by Texas Code, I'm exempt from it with conditions that include a complete plan of conditions and actions; hence, the name, prescribed burn. I have all the required equipment, but probably one of the most important is my road signs. They keep traffic from calling 911. My County's Dispatch is notified of before the burn, and hopefully, the signs keep additional calls to a minimum.
The burns: February 8th.
February 16th
February 18th
Some finds
This year, the first two burns were with the help of a friend whose job includes performing prescribed burns on the properties he is responsible for. For the last burn, I worked solo, which will wear you out as you are doing all the walking (sometimes running) of at least two people.
January 16 - Started by back burning a safe area around the homes on my place.
Typical fire breaks around burn units.
Moving the ground blinds out of the burn units.
I use a disc with a drag for the breaks. The breaks get extremely rutted up while the burn is going on, so I disk the breaks again after the burn to smooth the ruts out and then pack them with a cultipacker. After that, I don't drive on them again until after it rains and dries. These steps make for a hard, smooth road surface.
There is a burn ban in place in my County, but by Texas Code, I'm exempt from it with conditions that include a complete plan of conditions and actions; hence, the name, prescribed burn. I have all the required equipment, but probably one of the most important is my road signs. They keep traffic from calling 911. My County's Dispatch is notified of before the burn, and hopefully, the signs keep additional calls to a minimum.
The burns: February 8th.
February 16th
February 18th
Some finds
This year, the first two burns were with the help of a friend whose job includes performing prescribed burns on the properties he is responsible for. For the last burn, I worked solo, which will wear you out as you are doing all the walking (sometimes running) of at least two people.