Last month the Kerr Center conducted another round of prescribed burns on the ranch. Considering the risks associated with wildfires, many landowners are understandably shy about deliberately setting fire to any portion of their acreage.
However, properly managed, fire can be a safe and beneficial tool for pasture management. It can even reduce the likelihood of unplanned fires.
Fortunately, there are a variety of free and low-cost trainings available to help would-be fire managers learn how to conduct prescribed burns safely.
A couple of those were coming up quite soon, but have been among those events postponed due to the virus situation. Keep an eye on the Oklahoma Prescribed Burn Association‘s website for updates on these and other upcoming prescribed burn trainings. In addition, the site offers advice and resources for starting local prescribed burn associations.
The Oklahoma Prescribed Fire Council, operated by the Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management at Oklahoma State University, links to an online basic prescribed fire training course from eXtension. (This article, from the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, provides more information on the course, including step-by-step instructions for accessing it.)
