FAQs About Prescribed Burns on the Shawangunk Ridge

What is a prescribed burn?
Who will be involved?
Why use fire now?
Why did we choose old fields at Spring Farm
     and chestnut oak forest at Sam’s Point as
     the first sites for prescribed burns?
How are prescribed fires conducted?
How is the fire kept under control?
How will this affect the ecosystem?
How will this impact visitors and neighbors?
How can people help?
How was the project planned & funded?
Where can I learn more?
Contact information

What is a prescribed burn?
Prescribed fires are set intentionally under predetermined conditions to achieve specific land management objectives. “Prescribed” fire means that the fire will not be set unless all of the required conditions are met at the site. These include time of year, wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, fuel moisture and having on-hand qualified, burn crew members and appropriate, wildland firefighting equipment.

This year’s prescribed burns follow in a long tradition of planned fires on the ridge. Native Americans, followed by European settlers and the huckleberry pickers of the last century, put fire on the ridge to clear land or to increase harvests. Preserve co-founder Daniel Smiley conducted some of the most recent prescribed burns on the ridge in the late 1970s to examine their impact on ridge vegetation.

Prescribed fires have been used nationwide as a land management tool for over forty years. Between 1996 and 2000, federal agencies ignited over 31,000 prescribed fires and burned nearly 8 million acres of land. Of these fires, a mere one-half of one percent escaped from their specified, burn unit boundaries. The Nature Conservancy is a leader in fire management among non-governmental organizations, burning over 100,000 acres annually. From 1989 to 2000, The Nature Conservancy conducted 3,892 controlled burns, of which only one-half of one percent escaped.

Who will be involved?                                                                                                                              Back to top
Prescribed burns are only conducted by experienced crews with specific fire management and prescribed burn training. All burn crew members are trained wildland firefighters and most supervising staff (Burn and Line Bosses) have actively participated in prescribed burns for many years. All participating firefighters have at least a basic understanding of wildland fire behavior (per guidelines developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group) and have previous experience in either fire suppression, prescribed burning, or both. Thanks to funding provided through a National Fire Plan grant, several of the Partnership’s members and volunteers have received advanced training at the New York State Wildfire Academy or other Fire Academies, including staff from the Mohonk Preserve, the NYS DEC, Minnwaska State Park Preserve, and The Nature Conservancy.

The Gunks prescribed burn teams will draw on the fire management expertise of Nature Conservancy staff from throughout the Northeast and from the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. In 2004, the Albany Pine Bush successfully burned nearly 150 acres and has averaged 68 acres of prescribed burns in pine barrens each year since 1991. Also participating will be qualified Mohonk Preserve rangers, staff from Minnewaska State Park and Sam’s Point Preserve, and trained volunteer firefighters. NYS DEC rangers will be stationed on-hand as back-up.

Why use fire now?                                                                                                                                  Back to top
Throughout its history, the Shawangunk ridge has experienced fire—some started by lightning, others by people. Nineteen major fires burned from the late 1800s to 1990. More recently, however, active fire suppression has reduced both the frequency and intensity of fires on the ridge, with no fires greater than 100 acres occurring since 1976.

Despite the decline in fire, the ridge remains a fire-prone environment. Every year, dry conditions set the stage for wildfires that can be fed by the build-up of natural “fuels,” such as dry leaves, woody debris, and highly flammable shrubs. With such high fuel loads, such unplanned wildfires could devastate areas in our forests due to their potential to burn with greater intensity than fires would have historically. This could change forest composition in undesirable ways. If we don’t “put fire on the ground” through prescribed burns, the forest will burn anyway. Instead, introducing fire under controlled conditions will minimize the risk of devastation that can be caused by larger, higher-intensity wildfires.

• Fire & the Pitch Pine Barrens
  The pitch pine barrens of the Shawangunks support species adapted to periodic fire. For example, when pitch pine needles are burned off, the tree can regrow needles from buds that are protected under the tree’s thick bark. While the dominant tree is pitch pine, other characteristic, fire-maintained species include black huckleberry, scrub oak, and low-bush blueberry.
  
  Research shows that the number of acres of Shawangunk pitch pine barrens is shrinking due to invasion by tree species that gradually shade out barrens species. In the absence of fire, red maple, black gum and sassafras are invading fire-maintained communities.
  
  
• Chestnut Oak Forest
  The Shawangunks boast the second largest chestnut oak forest in New York. Oak forests across the northeastern United States, including those in the Shawangunks, show negligible regeneration of oak seedlings. Some scientists attribute this lack of regeneration to the absence of fire. Ecologists predict a continued decline of this important forest in the Shawangunks unless management action—such as prescribed burning— is taken to encourage oak regeneration.

For these reasons, the Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership has identified the absence of planned fire as one of the three major threats to the long-term survival of the ridge. The selective use of prescribed fire will allow us to lessen the threat of uncontrolled wildfire and to safeguard our native species.

Why did we choose old fields at Spring Farm and chestnut oak forest at Sam’s Point as the first sites for prescribed burns?                                                                                                                         Back to top
Compared to most other areas in the Shawangunks, old fields and chestnut oak forests provide some of the less complicated places to begin our prescribed burn program. Old fields in particular can burn safely under a wide range of conditions, making it more likely to get days when the necessary weather parameters are available to burn. Burn crew members can also see across much, if not all, of the old field burn units, making it easier to observe fire behavior and to modify how the prescribed fire is managed. Consequently, prescribed-burning old fields provides the best place to demonstrate prescribed burn techniques and to develop a stronger burn crew as we reintroduce fire as a natural process to the Shawangunk landscape. In addition, Mohonk Preserve’s Old Field Management Policy calls for maintaining the historic, open condition of these fields and identifies prescribed fire as a possible management tool.

Although old fields provide a good place to demonstrate prescribed burn techniques and to strengthen the skills of a prescribed burn crew, the members of the Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership also need to prepare for burning the more complicated, fire-dependent communities of the Shawangunks (including chestnut oak forest and pine barrens). Chestnut oak forests, especially those with lower concentrations of mountain laurel, huckleberry and blueberry, provide a good first step towards burning these more complicated wildland fuel types. In addition, pre- and post-burn monitoring in the chesnut oak forest burn units will provide information to help determine how fire can be best applied to manage this fire-dependent forest community.

How are prescribed fires conducted?                                                                                                Back to top
The first step is creating firebreaks, or pathways that surround the burn site. To create firebreaks, trees, shrubs and grass are cleared using a chainsaw, mower, or other equipment. These firebreaks may also be raked or disked using a tractor to remove nearly all flammable wildland fuels.

The burn unit is then ignited using drip torches—portable canisters used to drop small amounts of flammable material (usually a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline) along a fire line. A carefully planned ignition pattern utilizes wind direction, topography, and other factors to help control the spread of fire until it extinguishes itself at the firebreaks, where it runs out of fuel.

Special wildland firefighting equipment also helps control the fire and protect the fire crew – such as mobile water sources (e.g. an ATV or pick-up truck with a water tank and pump), flame-resistant clothing, specialized fire control tools (e.g. backpack pumps, a wide range of hand tools), portable pumps and hose.

How is the fire kept under control?                                                                                                      Back to top
Four strategies are employed in every burn to keep the fire under control:

• Setting prescriptions—or required conditions—for elements such as wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity (and other factors) ensures that the fire will only be ignited under safe, manageable conditions. Prescriptions also include estimates of fire behavior, identifying the crew and equipment needed to manage the fire, making back-up contingency plans, and setting other specific guidelines for the burn.
  
  
• Trained, burn crew members experienced in using wildland fire fighting equipment patrol the burn unit and its firebreaks and use equipment, when needed, to ensure that the fire remains within the burn unit boundaries.
  
  
• Establishing firebreaks and a specific fire ignition pattern restricts the fire to the targeted area.
  
  
• Emergency fire suppression equipment—including fire pump trucks—stationed at each burn can be used to quickly extinguish the fire should weather conditions change or the fire threaten to escape control.

How will this affect the ecosystem?                                                                                                    Back to top
Extensive research from pitch pine barrens across the Northeast shows that fire helps cycle nutrients; reduces the invasion of less desirable, fire-sensitive species; and improves the vigor of the fire-dependent plants more characteristic of these fire-dependent systems. In addition, species like the inland barrens buckmoth appear to thrive in areas recently burned.

Because prescribed fires are relatively small and slow-moving, most wildlife can easily escape the flames by moving to adjacent areas or by hiding in underground burrows. Some birds just fly away, while others – such as hawks – may soar overhead, hunting for small prey flushed out by the fire. A number of bird species make nests on the ground in grassy fields at the Mohonk Preserve. This year’s prescribed burns at the Preserve will take place before the nesting season to avoid harming the birds and their nests.

Fire is beneficial because it helps preserve biodiversity by maintaining habitat for rare species such as the blueberry gray moth. Also, the diversity of vegetation can actually increase after the fire. All the dominant barrens plants possess adaptations to survive recurring fire. Scrub oak, pitch pine, low-bush blueberry, and huckleberry have the ability to reproduce from roots once the stem is killed by fire. The roots are protected from the heat of fire by mineral soil. After fire, scrub oak sprouts vigorously, sending up as many as 20 to 40 stems. Once the canopy is opened up by fire, it may provide opportunity for wildflowers that may benefit from increased light on the forest floor.

Changes brought on by the fire can create habitat that draws an influx of new species, while other species may decline in response to the changed environment. Burned trees can provide shelter for small animals and an abundant food source for wood-boring insects such as ants, beetles, and wasps. While the post-burn conditions may be less hospitable to some nesting birds, they may help others to thrive, by meeting their specific habitat, food source, and nesting requirements. For example, a 1995 study in California showed that nests located within the burn zone had a success rate 15% higher than in the unburned habitat. In this way, prescribed burns can help increase biodiversity by providing food and shelter for a changing variety of wildlife.

How will this impact visitors and neighbors?                                                                                   Back to top
In the months and weeks leading up to the burns, the Partnership will notify the public via web sites, the media and on-land postings. Immediate neighbors will be directly notified well in advance of the burn, and public programs and informational meetings will be scheduled if necessary.

Burns will be conducted under conditions that will direct the dispersal of smoke away from developed areas. The small amount of land being burned will also limit the amount of smoke created.

After the burn, Sam’s Point visitors may notice charred trunks, while on the Mohonk Preserve, visitors will see burned stubble in the fields. On-land signage will help visitors understand the effects and benefits of prescribed fire. Visitors will be encouraged to look for the greening of the fields and new forest growth in the following spring.

Neither the burns at Sam’s Point or at the Preserve will pose a significant threat to adjacent, developed areas. Both burn zones are in uninhabited areas, extensively buffered from development. Nonetheless, all adjacent developed areas will be identified and measures taken to ensure their protection.

How can people help?                                                                                                                               Back to top

• Before the burn:
  Learn more about the benefits of prescribed fire: Check out some of the leading web sites on the subject. (See web sites below).
  
  
• Day of:
  Don’t notify fire companies or call 911. They will already have been already alerted.
  
  Avoid the burn areas, which will be signposted.
  
  
• After the burn & ongoing:
  Visit the burn sites to observe the effects and to learn about the benefits of prescribed burning.
  
  Volunteer to help build firebreaks for future burns.
  
  If you live in a forested area, learn how to protect your home from unplanned wildfires by participating in Firewise—a program that equips homeowners with information and resources to minimize the risk of wildfire to their home. For more information on Firewise and how it can benefit you and your community, visit www.firewise.org or contact Heidi Wagner of The Nature Conservancy at (845) 647-7989 x12.

How was the project planned & funded?                                                                                            Back to top
Grants from the federal National Fire Plan are funding the Gunks prescribed fire program and a companion prescribed burn at the Albany Pine Bush, located in Latham, NY.

Through this collaborative effort, the Partnership will be implementing the recommendations of its own Protection and Management Guidelines for the Shawangunk Mountains, the Preserve’s Old Fields Management Policy, and Sam’s Point’s Master Plan. The results of these demonstration burns will inform the development of a collaborative, long-range Fire Management Plan for the Shawangunks.

The Shawangunk Ridge has been designated as anchor site of the Northeast division of the North American Fire Learning Network (FLN). A joint project of The Nature Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service and the Department of Interior, the FLN was created in 2002 to catalyze efforts to reduce hazardous fuels at both local and national levels.

Where can I learn more?                                                                                                                          Back to top

• The Nature Conservancy Fire Initiative:
  This TNC team works to assess, abate, and prevent fire-related threats to biodiversity conservation around the world. In the U.S., the Initiative is working with partners to promote ecologically appropriate fire management and to further fire education and training.
  
  
• Firewise:
  Firewise is an on-line resource for homeowners who want to protect their homes against the threat of fire in forested areas.
  
  
• Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership:
  Over 40,000 acres of the ridge are protected by the Preserve and other members of the Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership. Composed of non-profit and public organizations, the Partnership uses science and land management strategies to preserve the sensitive wildlife habitat and other natural resources of the Shawangunks.

  Informed by field research findings, partners collaboratively manage the larger landscape, provide environmental education, and work with local communities to preserve open space on the slopes of the ridge.
  
  For a general brochure and other publications about the Partnership, also visit Mohonk Preserve's website.

For more information, contact:                                                                                                             Back to top

• Primary media contact
  Cara Lee
  Shawangunk Ridge Program Director
  The Nature Conservancy
  (845) 255-9051
  
  
• Sam’s Point/The Nature Conservancy
  Gabriel Chapin
  Shawangunk Ridge Land Steward
  (845) 255-7989 x103
  
  
• Mohonk Preserve
  Debi Clifford
  Communications Director
  (845) 255-0919 x243
  
  Hank Alicandri
  Director of Stewardship/Head Ranger
  (845) 255-0919 x246