Prescribed burn

[ken erickson]

Besides my large (to me) oak savanna restoration project I have planted 1/4 acre of native species forbs and grasses in my back yard where I live.

Being planted in Nov of 2019 it was due for its first controlled burn which as you might imagine I was a nervous wreck. Here in Central Wisconsin we are in a high fire danger period, with lack of rain and before green up.

Before burning for ecological reasons I had to get a special burn permit from our DNR fire official. I was impressed with the DNR official , short notice, he came to my house, looked at the proposed burn site, asked me what my burn plan was, gave suggestions, recommendations and requirements.

The permit was good till midnight last night and happy to say that it went off without a hitch. The experienced burn crew pulled off a safe and efficient burn.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Cool pics. Seems close to the house from the pics?

What will be your process for the planting? Will you disc or till that under, cultipack or drag or just broadcast (or drill) right over top?

 

[ken erickson]

Cool pics. Seems close to the house from the pics?

What will be your process for the planting? Will you disc or till that under, cultipack or drag or just broadcast (or drill) right over top?

It is close to my house , and shed, part of my extreme nervousness , lol.

I planted it Nov 2019 with a diverse native seed mix after nuking the cool season grass earlier in that summer. Then we used a small native species no-till planter pulled behind my B7100.

I will not need to do any further seeding and this burn takes care of a lot of built up organic matter that inhibits and holds back native seed that has not germinated from the original planting.

Prescribed burns take the place of prairie burns that started by lightning, railroads and native Americans back in the day. Something that is necessary for a healthy prairie type ecosystem.

 

[DaveFromMi]

I burnt off a meadow last year. Prior to burning, I notified the Sheriff's Dept. and requested some help from the local volunteer Fire Dept.

 

[jyoutz]

Nice work and good practice of ecological management.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

It is close to my house , and shed, part of my extreme nervousness , lol.

I planted it Nov 2019 with a diverse native seed mix after nuking the cool season grass earlier in that summer. Then we used a small native species no-till planter pulled behind my B7100.

I will not need to do any further seeding and this burn takes care of a lot of built up organic matter that inhibits and holds back native seed that has not germinated from the original planting.

Prescribed burns take the place of prairie burns that started by lightning, railroads and native Americans back in the day. Something that is necessary for a healthy prairie type ecosystem.

Where do you get your seed mixes from? (I’ve been thinking that I might use pheasants forever store, but I am not sure really where to buy from…seems pricey but at least I know what it’s supporting with them)

Pheasants Forever

www.pfhabitatstore.com

With that style of planter and seeds do you need to use a filler/carrier like rice hulls or sand?

Thanks.

 

[ken erickson]

I burnt off a meadow last year. Prior to burning, I notified the Sheriff's Dept. and requested some help from the local volunteer Fire Dept.

I started the process by calling my local fire department. They have two really nice brush fire trucks along with the rest of their fleet and they had no interest in even coming out with one of the trucks and sitting for a hour, or using it as a training exercise, hmmmmm. . I did find the DNR very responsive with good suggestions etc.

Besides the permit I was also required to notify the Sheriffs Department just before lighting and after it was completely put out. I had about 4 cars stop in front of the house. When I called back to notify the Sheriff's Dept. I asked if anyone called in on 911 to report the fire and she told me that was information she could not release. LOL, I was not asking who might have called in, just if ANYONE had called the fire in.

 

[ken erickson]

Where do you get your seed mixes from? (I’ve been thinking that I might use pheasants forever store, but I am not sure really where to buy from…seems pricey but at least I know what it’s supporting with them)

Pheasants Forever

www.pfhabitatstore.com

With that style of planter and seeds do you need to use a filler/carrier like rice hulls or sand?

Thanks.

I sourced the seed from Shooting Star out of MN and Prairie Moon out of Wisconsin. Both companies will collect seed and sell you seed that was collected to close proximity of where it will be planted. I guess this keeps the genome of the seed more consistent to what was native to the area. Both companies will include a sheet with location of collection along with other information.

I have not used or purchase seed from Pheasants Forever and I do not know if they adhere to trying to keep the seed local. I do know that there was a issue years ago with some Wild Lupine seed. They sourced some lupine seed from the Northwestern United States and was sold here in Wi. It was not Lupinus Perennis which is the only host plant of the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly. The problem of introducing a very similar species of lupine is that it can cause a hybrid plant that no longer supports the Karner Blue.

Here is a picture of the seeder. My local Pheasants Forever chapter owns it. It is designed with two different seed boxes to handle large and then also small and fluffy type seeds. On this project we did not need or use a filler for either box but when I did my large project seeding, 28 acres , the contractor used sand as a filler in one of his boxes.

Both plantings had about 40 plus native forbs and about 5 to 6 native grasses.
All common native plants to the upper midwest and tailored to dry mesic type soils and moisture content.