Public Invited to Tour Fields Burned This Spring

(GRAND ISLAND NE)-  Farmers and ranchers in the Loess hills south of Gothenburg and Cozad, Nebraska have had good success using fire to improve and maintain their pastures.  These are big burns in a big landscape.  The public is invited to attend the Spring Prescribed Burn Tour on Friday, May 27, 2016 starting at 1:30 p.m. Participants will meet in the Pizza Hut parking lot in Gothenburg, NE.  The tour will show the areas that were burned this spring including what the pastures looked like prior to the prescribed burns and the dramatic results after the burns. Participants will see firsthand how fire affects pastures and cedar trees. 

Landowners will share valuable information about the process of burning and how it works for them. The landowner burns to be featured are Jim Dalrymple, Dennis Berke, Brad Turner, Richard Fixemer, Kermit Smith and Jonathon Garwood.  There is no cost to attend.  To RSVP or for questions, contact Teri Edeal at (308) 325-1056 or Mark Alberts at (308) 529-0642.

Prescribed fire can be a valuable tool in the maintenance and improvement of native grasslands.   Rangeland areas that have not had fire occurrence are often sites of problems involving invasive species.  The invasive species, such as Eastern Red Cedar, can take away natural grassland acres that are necessary for grazing as well as for wildlife.  Rangelands that are always grazed in the fall or winter with no spring treatment may also become areas dominated by native and non-native cool season grasses and invasive weeds.  These areas offer a reduced food value to live-stock and are of reduced value to native wildlife.

When prescribed fire is used along with appropriate grazing practices, the results are increased economic output and wildlife benefit.  Fields that are moderately grazed and treated with periodic burns are more drought tolerant, more diverse in plant and wildlife species, more productive in late summer, at less risk for devastating summer wildfire, and at less risk for runoff and erosion. 

ATTACHMENT: Prescribed Burn Tour Poster

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  Marcia Lee
  Information/Education Specialist

  Central Platte Natural Resources District
  215 Kaufman Ave  Grand Island NE 68803
  Tel: (308) 385-6282  www.cpnrd.org

  Protecting Lives • Protecting Property • Protecting the Future