** Archived Article - please check for current information. **

#05-242 November 14, 2005

S.C. Prescribed Fire Council Meets Nov. 16 In Columbia

"Fire on the Landscape" will be the theme for the second annual meeting of the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council when it meets Wednesday, Nov. 16 at Riverbanks Botanical Gardens in Columbia. Anyone having an interest in prescribed burning is encouraged to attend.
Registration for the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council's annual meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the Magnolia Room of Riverbanks Botanical Gardens at 1300 Botanical Parkway in Columbia. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to conclude at 3 p.m. Registration on the day of the meeting will be $25.

For more information on the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council, contact Stephanie Beard, public information coordinator, at (843) 546-1013, extension 232, in Georgetown, or e-mail slbeard@clemson.edu, or visit the Prescribed Fire Council Web site at www.clemson.edu/rxfire.
The mission statement of the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council is to foster cooperation among all parties in the Palmetto State with an interest in prescribed fire to optimize burning opportunities, to encourage the exchange of information, techniques and experiences among practitioners of prescribed fire and to promote public understanding of the importance and benefits of prescribed fire.

Among the cooperators in the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council is a collection of private organizations and individuals and state and federal agencies, including private landowners, The Nature Conservancy, S.C. Forestry Commission, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Clemson University, U.S. Forest Service, National Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Defense, Nemours Wildlife Foundation, S.C. Forestry Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, National
Park Service, Plantation Managers' Association and Association of Consulting Foresters.

Topics to be covered at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council include: challenges of prescribed burning in South Carolina; growing-season prescribed burns; landscape-scale prescribed fire; a legislative perspective on prescribed burning; building a landscape-scale prescribed fire program; and the Indian Creek Partnership. Speakers include Dr. Ernie Wiggers, chair of the Prescribed Fire Council; Bob Schowalter, South Carolina state forester; Mark Hatfield of the National Wild Turkey Federation; Rick Anderson of the National Park Service; State Rep. William Witherspoon of Horry County; Joe Ferguson of the U.S. Forest Service; and Judy Barnes and Johnny Stowe, of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

Continuing forestry credits (4.5 hours: Category One) will be available from this meeting.