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The Myth of Self-Sustaining Prairies
Here’s a question I get asked occasionally: “At what point will my prairie become self-sustaining?” There are lots of ways “self-sustaining” can be defined, of course, but usually the person is hoping...
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If You Play With Fire…
There’s nothing playful about safe and effective prescribed burning. Too many things can go wrong to take it lightly. Sometimes, I think people see prescribed fire as something that needs to be done...
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Testing Assumptions – The Milkweed Seed Fiasco
A few months ago, I mentioned a technique that we use to clean milkweed seeds after harvest. We spread the fluffy seeds out on a concrete floor and light the thin pile on fire, burning the fluff off...
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Lessons From a Project to Improve Prairie Quality – Part 1: Patch-Burn...
We recently completed a large multi-year restoration and management project at our Platte River Prairies. Our specific objectives were to improve habitat quality for various at-risk prairie species...
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Should We Be Conducting Prescribed Fires During Drought?
As we enter a second year of drought in central Nebraska, I’m starting to hear discussions about whether or not it’s a good idea to conduct prescribed fires when conditions are so dry. I have some...
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Tuning Into Fire Frequency
HOW OFTEN SHOULD PRAIRIES BE BURNED? It’s a question prairie ecologists and managers have been wrestling with for many years. Unfortunately, research on the impacts of fire management is somewhat...
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Blowing Against the Wind?
As I mentioned last week, I recently spent a couple days helping our land manager, Nelson Winkel, pull garlic mustard at our Rulo Bluffs Preserve in southeast Nebraska. The invasive species has just...
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Difficult Decisions – Growing Season Fires and Other Prairie Management Choices
Would you purposefully destroy the nest of a wild turkey or grasshopper sparrow? Of course not. But what if that destruction was a consequence of a land management action that benefits the larger...
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What’s the Best Time to Burn?
As I mentioned last week, prescribed fire can help meet many prairie management objectives. It’s important, however, to match the timing of the burn to those objectives in order to avoid conducting a...
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Should We Manage for Rare Species or Species Diversity?
Land managers constantly make difficult decisions without really knowing the long-term consequences of their choices. Balancing the sometimes conflicting needs of rare plants like Canada milkvetch...
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