Plan Your Spring Burn Now

Right now is the right time to plan a prescribed burn for the prairie that you have on your property. Conservation uses prescribed burning to manage grasslands in our roadsides, parks and wildlife areas. Burning is a very valuable management tool to maintain and improve the prairie areas we manage. The two main times of the year is preferred in the spring and fall. The timing of the burn is very important in understanding what the fire will accomplish. Spring burns are known to increase the population and height of native warm season grasses and decrease the amount of exotic cool season species of grass such as brome and bluegrass. Spring burns are also the best time to burn for wildlife to benefit from the burn. Pheasants need the prairie vegetation for habitat in the fall and winter months. They prefer the shorter regrowing grasses to nest in. Fall burning will increase the flower content of a prairie while decreasing the amount of grasses. Fall burns can have disadvantages by removing the habitat needed to protect wildlife through the winter months but they are used to burn wet and easily flooded areas that are difficult to access and burn in the spring months.