Prescribed Burn Associations: Neighbors Helping Neighbors Bring Fire Back to Indiana’s Landscape

By Danielle Howard

Indiana’s ecosystems are shaped by fire. And to help them thrive, we need to bring fire back.

But how do we re-ignite a culture of fire in Indiana, especially on private land? The answer may lie in grassroots organizations called Prescribed Burn Associations.

But, before we get to PBAs, we need to explore Indiana’s fire history.

Indiana’s Fire Story

Plenty of evidence points to the historical prevalence of fire in Indiana’s forests and prairies. Burn scars, eyewitness accounts, oral traditions of Native Americans, and charcoal buried deep in lake sediment tell us the story of Indiana’s fire history. Even the composition of Indiana’s mature forests, dominated by fire-dependent oaks, points to a history of burning. These burns were sometimes caused by lightning but more often set intentionally by Native Americans for hunting, vegetation management, land clearing, creating wildlife habitat, and other purposes. For thousands of years, Native American lands stewards maintained a diverse landscape with fire.

Figure 1: An open oak woodland that has been burned twice in the last decade.

Upon arriving in Indiana, European settlers continued the fire tradition, using fire as a management tool much like their Native American predecessors. However, a variety of factors soon put a stop to this cultural burning, including devastating wildfires in Wisconsin and Chicago. As Indiana was settled by Europeans, the tradition of burning ceased altogether because it was thought to threaten settlements and agriculture. For many decades, the policy was total fire suppression, and the value of fire was forgotten.

More recently, conservationists and land stewards have begun to bring fire back to Indiana. State and federal agencies have increased their prescribed fire capacity, burning thousands of acres on state and national forests, nature preserves, and fish and wildlife areas each year. However, public lands account for about 4% of Indiana's land area, meaning the remaining 96% is privately owned. For fire to take hold in Indiana, it is critical for private landowners to start burning.

Breaking Barriers to Prescribed Fire on Private Land

Burning on private land can be a big ask. Barriers such as knowledge, understanding, training, equipment, perceived liability, and people power can impede prescribed fire on private land. So how can fire return to Indiana’s private land? By breaking these barriers. And to do that, we can look to success stories of community organization and grassroots efforts in other states.

In many states, the key to bringing fire back to the land lies in Prescribed Burn Associations. According to the Missouri Prescribed Fire Council, Missourians burned more than 11,000 acres on private land over the last 10 years through the collective action of 18 Prescribed Burn Associations. The proof is in the pudding.

What is a Prescribed Burn Association?

Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are, at their most basic level, groups of people who burn together. Rather than every landowner who wants to burn going it alone, PBAs pool resources like labor, equipment, and expertise to help each other implement prescribed fire on their properties. Thus, PBAs break many of the barriers to prescribed fire on private land. Don’t have the equipment to burn? Someone in the PBA probably does. Never been on a fire before? Other members of the PBA have, and you can learn from their experiences.

PBAs, Training, Experience, Certification, and Liability

Training and experience are important aspects of PBAs that can help reduce the perceived liability of prescribed fire. Even though fewer than 1% of prescribed fires escape, perceived liability and risk are often major hurdles to prescribed burning, especially when a landowner or their neighbors are unfamiliar with fire. No one wants their community angry with them over a management technique they don’t like or understand. And what are ways to increase prescribed fire safety? Training, experience, and becoming a Certified Prescribed Burn Manager.

This is where PBAs can help. New burners can gain training, experience, and confidence with fire through volunteering with a PBA. Some PBA leaders or members may even choose to become Certified Prescribed Burn Managers (CPBMs), which takes more training and experience but provides additional liability protection for burners. Not everyone on a burn or within a PBA needs to be certified, but having one certified person on a burn provides an additional level of liability protection.

Members who are already certified can mentor others through the certification process. If the group is large enough and has multiple CPBMs, they may choose to take on multiple burns in a single day to capitalize on favorable conditions. As the group grows, training capacity grows with it, allowing more fires to take place.

It’s important to note that landowners do NOT have to be certified to use prescribed fire, but being certified, or having someone certified on a burn, provides additional protections and privileges for the burner and the landowner. For more information about the CPBM certification, visit the Indiana Prescribed Fire Council website (inpfc.org).

The more the merrier

PBAs provide another critical piece of the fire puzzle: people power. Depending on complexity, conditions, and other factors, prescribed fire can require anywhere from a handful of personnel to a crew of several dozen people. By coming together to burn each other’s properties, PBAs give landowners access to willing burn crew members who can help them meet their prescribed fire goals.

Starting your prescribed fire journey

For newcomers to prescribed fire, gaining experience and knowledge can seem challenging. An easy first step is seeking out online training. Oklahoma State University and the University of Florida Extension offer online courses that cover the fundamentals of prescribed fire, providing a solid foundation for burning. Once learners have completed online training, Learn-N-Burn workshops can be a great way to get some hands-on experience. These events include a classroom portion and allow learners to participate in a prescribed fire. Some local land trusts also take volunteers who have completed appropriate training. And of course, there are PBAs. By getting involved with a local group, newcomers can get ample experience with practitioners who are often burning under similar conditions and for the same purposes as the learner.

Figure 2: A Landowner uses a drip torch at a Learn-N-Burn Workback

Joining or starting a Prescribed Burn Association

If you live in an area with an existing PBA, joining can be as easy as attending a meeting, signing up, and getting out on fires with the group. But if your area doesn’t have a PBA, it could be an excellent opportunity to start one. It is helpful to start by identifying other folks who might be interested, including local professionals. This small group can plan and advertise an interest meeting that’s open to the public and solicit nominations for board members. Once a board is formed, they work with the larger membership to formalize the group structure, name the group, keep track of resources, and organize events and meetings. From there, the group works out requirements to get help from the PBA. Then, all that’s left to do is burn!

Building a fire culture

As fire is increasingly implemented on the landscape, more community members will be exposed to safe, carefully planned burns with visible positive impacts on local ecosystems. Over time, this will help build public support for fire in Indiana. The culture will shift from the Smokey Bear-era fire suppression to viewing fire as an effective land management tool. Fire will once again be a normal part of life for the people living on the land.

Looking to the future

Indiana has a long way to go before this vision becomes a reality. But with the state’s first PBAs in the process of forming, landowners are taking steps toward a future where fire is once again part of the natural system. With a shift in burn culture and more prescribed fire throughout Indiana, we will eventually see large-scale oak regeneration and diverse grasslands. The native flora and fauna of Indiana, not to mention future generations of Hoosiers, will get to enjoy the open oak woodlands, savannas, and prairies that have existed on this land for millennia.

Where to go from here?

Interested in learning more about prescribed fire, finding training or Learn-N-Burn opportunities, or starting or joining a PBA? Visit the Indiana Prescribed Fire Council website at inpfc.org.

Danielle Howard is the Extension Prescribed Fire Specialist for Purdue University