How to Build Cost-Effective Skid-Sprayers for Prescribed Burning

Abstract

April 2007 The decline of grassland and savanna ecosystems due to woody plant encroachment has led to an increase in restoration efforts largely focused on reintroducing an effective fi re regime. However, reintroduction of fi re into Texas ecosystems has not been easy, especially in the Edwards Plateau region, where fi re has been suppressed since the development of the livestock industry. Implementation of an effective prescribed burning program requires rancher and landowner education and cooperation; it also requires prescribed fi re training, sharing of proper equipment, reduced liability, and the ability of ranchers to gain experience on the fi re line as well as writing burn plans and managing prescribed fi res. Equally important in getting a sustainable fi re program started is the ability to conduct prescribed burns under a wide range of environmental conditions (for example, conducting prescribed fi re during burn bans). The formation of prescribed burn associations, such as the Edwards Plateau Prescribed Burn Association, has provided a framework for ranchers and other landowners to collectively manage all of these factors with the end result of a substantial increase in prescribed fi re on Texas rangelands.1