Backburner
A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, land clearing or wildfire fuel management. Controlled burns may also be referred to as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing or a burn-off.
Controlled burns are conducted during the cooler months to reduce fuel buildup and decrease the likelihood of more dangerous, hotter fires. Controlled burning stimulates the germination of some trees and reveals soil mineral layers which increases seedling vitality. In grasslands, controlled burns shift the species assemblage to primarily native grassland species. Some seeds, such as those of lodgepole pine, sequoia and many chaparral shrubs are pyriscent, meaning heat from fire causes the cone or woody husk to open and disperse seeds.
Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology, and cultural burning has been used by indigenous people across the world for millennia to promote biodiversity and cultivate wild crops, such as fire-stick farming by aboriginal Australians. Colonial law in North America and Australia displaced indigenous people from lands that were controlled with fire and prohibited from conducting traditional controlled burns. After wildfires began increasing in scale and intensity in the 20th century, fire control authorities began reintroducing controlled burns and indigenous leadership into land management.
Continuum
- 2022-02-11T00:00:00.000000Z
Eclipse
- 2015-03-17T00:00:00.000000Z
Heatwave
- 2011-08-30T00:00:00.000000Z
Press Eject
- 2022-01-14T00:00:00.000000Z
More Fire
- 2021-12-27T00:00:00.000000Z
Spice Rack
- 2021-12-03T00:00:00.000000Z
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