The Mark Twain National Forest is igniting the 6,971-acre Brush Creek and Clayton Ridge prescribed fire today. The project is in southwest Missouri, about 15 miles southwest of Ava. Much of it will be lit with Redding Air Service‘s helicopter 57Z, a Bell 206 L4.
Here is a link to a more detailed map.
The objectives of the project are to maintain and improve glade and savanna ecosystems by prescribed burning every three to five years. Encroaching eastern red cedars are removed mechanically by USFS personnel.
This is a huge prescribed fire. Does anyone know of any other large prescribed fires recently completed or planned in the near future, say, larger than 3,000 acres?
In April and May keep an eye on the Eastern Area Sit report. Various agencies in MN have a number of 3,000+ ac burns lined up.
Yep, to add to the “south-themed” comment above, we’ve burned 3,000-5,000 acres at a time in palmetto prairie habit in south Florida, 5,000 or more acres of marsh habitat along the St. Johns River, thousand-acre fires are routine within Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle, just to name a few examples. The more often we burn these southern ecosystems, the easier it is to set up large-scale burn units (cheaper by the acre, too)….
It’s important to do these kinds of burns, and do them “right”, in order to counteract the allegations of groups like “prescribedburns.com” that will take away this critical fire management tool. The bottom line remains that we will have fires: the only real question is will they be at our times, or at Nature’s time?
It’s good to hear that so many agencies are successfully completing large burns. They don’t make the news very often, except when things go wrong. The largest burn I have ever done was 3,100 acres.
We burn blocks of 10 000acre and two at a time in in africa.
Picayune Strand State Forest (FL-DOF), Collier County, Fl did a 4900 acre burn in mid February (Aerial Ignition), and the Babcock-Webb Wildlife Preserve (FL-FWC) in Charlotte County, FL did a 5000 acre prescribed burn last week.
Lake Meredith NRA–TX-LAP has a large Rx plan going through the NEPA process, 10,000-20,000 acres, includes private. They have done burns in the 10,000 acre range in the past. Everglades NP and Big Cypress NR does loads of burning every year in large blocks. You suprised to see these large numbers Bill?? Southest Region burned over 1 millon acres several years ago. No way they could have done that 1,000 acres at a time.
Wonder if you knew when the anticipated Lake Meredith NRA burn was happening. I’d be interested to talk with fire management there.
Knowing the NEPA process at least 1 year.