Burning Flint Hills Range

Abstract

Burning has played an important role in the past management of Flint Hills range and still is common in that area. Old arguments against burning have been concerned with reduction of forage yield and water runoff (Elwell et al., 1941). It has been the purpose of this study to investigate the effects of burning bluestem range at various winter and spring dates on soil moisture from small plot studies and on range condition under stocking at a moderate rate with cattle. One of the first studies of range burning in the Flint Hills was that of Hensel (1923) who found no difference in forage production due to burning. Aldous (1934) reported more soil moisture in unburned than in burned plots and noted that time of burning may affect soil moisture. Further studies by Hanks and Anderson (1957) verified that soil in winter burned plots contained less moisture than soil in any other treatment. They were fortunate in having sampled before a 4.47-inch rain which came in an intense storm in late September. Subsequent sampling showed that unburned plots retained 83% of that pre-