Abstract
Woody plant encroachment in North American rangelands has led to calls for greater use of prescribed fire to reduce fuel loads and restore grazing productivity and grassland biodiversity. However, the use of prescribed fire during periods when woody plant mortality is maximized has often been limited by temporary restrictions on outdoor burning enacted by regional or local governmental entities. This study reports the results of a survey assessing the familiarity with and attitudes toward prescribed fire in Texas and Oklahoma, USA, of officials tasked with implementing restrictions on outdoor burning and how these attitudes influence their decisions. Most responding officials considered prescribed fire to be a safe and beneficial land management tool that should be used more frequently. Self-reported familiarity with prescribed fire was the most significant explanatory variable for this attitude. Further, familiarity with prescribed fire was influenced by respondent participation in or being invited to participate in a prescribed fire. Such invitations came mostly from private landowners. Landowners wishing to use prescribed fire may benefit from building trust with local officials by demonstrating they are qualified to conduct such fires safely. This could help reduce the frequency of burn restrictions and may increase the likelihood that officials will grant burn ban exemptions to qualified burn managers. Additionally, because officials’ primary sources of prescribed fire information were reported to be local fire departments and emergency services, educating those entities about the benefits of prescribed fire for reducing wildfire risks could help reduce pressure on officials to enact or maintain burning restrictions. These findings highlight opportunities for reducing the frequency of burning restrictions, increasing opportunities for land managers to effectively halt or reverse woody plant encroachment.
Highlights
The Great Plains of North America were historically maintained as open grasslands by periodic fires and grazing by large herds of grazers [1,2] the widespread suppression of historical fire regimes together with land subdivisions in rural areas have catalyzed the proliferation of woody plants across many grassland landscapes, especially in the Southern Plains [3]
Rapid woody plant expansion (WPE), notably by Juniperus species (J. virginiana, J. ashei, and J. pinchotii), across the Southern Plains has compromised the habitats of many grassland species and lowered biodiversity across many locales [4,5]
While burn bans may be prudent for short-term reductions in escaped fires, they can inhibit the use of prescribed fire for mitigating long-term wildfire risks
Summary
The Great Plains of North America were historically maintained as open grasslands by periodic fires and grazing by large herds of grazers [1,2] the widespread suppression of historical fire regimes together with land subdivisions in rural areas have catalyzed the proliferation of woody plants across many grassland landscapes, especially in the Southern Plains [3]. One of the challenges facing land managers seeking to use prescribed fire is the enactment of outdoor burning restrictions These burning restrictions, called burn bans in the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma, USA, are enacted at a local (county) level and are commonly put in place during droughts or hot, dry periods when wildfire risk is deemed to be high. They typically consist of the prohibition of all outdoor fires and strict regulations of activities that can lead to an accidental fire [10]. Burn bans severely limit the ability of land managers to apply prescribed fire for grassland restoration under conditions that are conducive for high-intensity fires needed to substantially reduce the density of woody plants [11,12]
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