PRESCRIBED BURNING
An important aspect of a successful forestry management plan for timber stand improvement is prescribed burning. Southeast Forestlands often recommends controlled burning as a means of protecting and enhancing your timberland. Reducing the accumulation of dry vegetation reduces the risk of wildfire while promoting the health of a forest’s ecosystem and improving the health and productivity of the forest.
How Prescribed Burning Can Improve Your Timber
Your Southeast Forestlands timberland consultants have a purpose behind everything we do. One of the tactics we employ to protect your timber stand and promote growth is controlled burns. Prescribed burning offers various important benefits for your timber stand.
- Enhances Tree Growth: As prescribed burning works, it removes overgrown and unwanted vegetation, releasing nutrients back into the soil. This not only spurs the growth of the timber trees developing on your timber property but it also reduces competition by clearing out undesired vegetation, leaving your timber trees free to thrive.
- Reduces Risk of Wildfire: Prescribed burns work well to reduce the accumulation of flammable materials on your property such as dead leaves, branches, stumps, brush, and more. This protects your timber stand from wildfires that might otherwise ravage timber trees along with everything else.
- Triggers Seed Germination: Some species of timber trees require fire for germination. Controlled burning triggers this new growth and regeneration of these valuable species.
- Improves Ecosystems & Wildlife Habitat: After fire, the growth of grasses, flowers, and vegetation drastically increases. This creates a new and fresh habitat to draw in wildlife which improves the overall health of your forest ecosystem, not to mention your timber stand quality.
- Assists with Disease and Pest Control: Fire eliminates many pathogens and wipes out insects that carry diseases, thus protecting your timber stand from damaging outbreaks.
What to Expect from a Controlled Burn on Timberland
When our team at Southeast Forestlands suggests a controlled burn for timberland, we start by carefully developing a burn plan. This will communicate the objectives of the burn for your specific property, discuss environmental impacts, and outline the safety protocols we have in place for the burn. We always establish fire breaks or boundaries in the burn area to ensure the fire does not spread uncontrolled. Careful weather monitoring is an important aspect of a burn and we consistently assess both forecasts and actual conditions. If anything is unsafe or questionable, we will simply choose a different time for the controlled burn. Our experienced Mississippi forestry consultants ignite in strategically planned positions to control the fire’s spread and supervise closely to adjust as needed throughout the entire burn. In the months following the burn, we monitor recovery and evaluate the results of the burn, ensuring that your forestry management goals are being achieved and that forests, vegetation, and wildlife are responding well to the results of the prescribed burn.
Top Forestry Consultant for Timberland Near Me
For expert guidance on optimizing your timberland in Mississippi, contact Southeast Forestlands. Our timber professionals specialize in prescribed burns as an important part of timber stand improvement, timber appraisals, forestry management plans, timber marketing and sales, timber trespass, and much, much more! We work to ensure your timberland is thriving and promote the longevity and productivity of your timber stand. Contact us today for a free consultation!
