Big Oaks' fire crew led fire fighters from 5 stations to conduct the Ohio Private Lands Office' first prescribed burns on private land. Photo by Jeff Finn.

Ohio is known for its forests, but it also had thousands of acres of prairie and savanna in the 18^th century.  Prescribed fire is an essential tool for maintaining those habitats and for promoting the oak component in forests.

Although the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Wayne National Forest, and the Nature Conservancy conduct prescribed fires on their properties, they do not conduct burns on the more than 95% of Ohio’s landscape owned by others.  A few small contractors provide prescribed burn services in Ohio.  The acres of habitat that need fire far exceed their capacity.

In March, 2009, US Fish and Wildlife staff started conducting prescribed fires on private land through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program.  The crew conducted 3 burns in Preble and Butler counties, near Dayton.  The burns went smoothly, treating 44 acres owned by two landowners.  One landowner said, “I was very impressed with the coordination and communication.  It seemed like a textbook burn.”  Having taken this first step, the Ohio private lands staff hopes to expand its use of prescribed fire in coming years.

Terry Severson is the prescribed fire specialist for Region 3’s private lands programs.  He wrote burn plans for Ohio, and shepherded the OH staff through preparations.  Brian Winters’ fire team from Big Oaks NWR contributed equipment and highly qualified personnel.  Two qualified local volunteers joined FWS staff members from Ottawa NWR, the Ecological Services office in Columbus and the Ohio Private Lands office in Newark to round out the 9-person crew.