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#05-272 December 19, 2005

Prescribed burning in South Carolina topic among state conservationists

Almost 150 South Carolina practitioners of prescribed fire, including representatives of state and federal agencies and private consulting foresters, met for the second time and talked about working together to continue the practice of burning the landscape for ecological and safety reasons.

The South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council held its second annual meeting Nov. 16 at Riverbanks Botanical Gardens in West Columbia. Johnny Stowe, wildlife biologist and heritage preserve manager with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and new chair of the Prescribed Fire Council, said prescribed fire is the most economical and ecologically suited practice to keep South Carolina safe from wildfires and enhance the health and integrity of the state's natural resources. Professional foresters and other land managers throughout the state use prescribed burning for reforestation, aesthetics and forest access. The method is also effective for managing and improving vital habitat of wildlife species such as bobwhite quail, Eastern wild turkey, white-tailed deer, gopher tortoise and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

The main goal of the council is to inform South Carolinians of the importance of prescribed fire. It is only through this understanding, conservation officials agree, that prescribed fire can continue to be used as a land management tool in the Palmetto State.

Two nationally recognized prescribed fire experts talked to the group about landscape-scale prescribed fire. Rick Anderson, with the National Park Service in Everglades National Park in Florida, spoke on the reasons for adopting a landscape-scale prescribed burning program. Joe Ferguson, of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region office in Atlanta, talked about some of the keys to success in building a landscape-scale burning program.

Other speakers at the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council meeting included Dr. Ernie Wiggers of the Nemours Wildlife Foundation, outgoing chair of the group; Bob Schowalter, S.C. Forestry Commission director; Donnie Watts of the Davis-Garvin Agency; Mark Hatfield, National Wild Turkey Federation wildlife biologist; state Rep. Billy Witherspoon of Horry County; and Judy Barnes, S.C. Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist.

Currently, about 500,000 acres undergo prescribed burning on public and private rural lands in South Carolina each year, but according to conservation and forestry officials, at least one million acres should be burned annually.

Among the cooperators in the South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council are 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. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Nemours Wildlife Foundation, S.C. Fire Chiefs' Association, S.C. Forestry Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Park Service, Plantation Managers' Association, National Wild Turkey Federation and Association of Consulting Foresters.

The South Carolina Prescribed Fire Council can be reached by e-mail at fire@clemson.edu, by phone at (843) 546-1013, ext. 232, or visit its Web site: www.clemson.edu/rxfire. For more information on prescribed burning assistance, call your local S.C. Forestry Commission office or visit the S.C. Forestry Commission Web site at http://www.state.sc.us/forest; or contact Mike Leslie, state fire manager with The Nature Conservancy, at (843) 887-4380 or by e-mail at mike_leslie@tnc.org.


-Written by Greg Lucas -

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