As the U.S. tries to restore a key forest ecosystem in the Southeast, landowners must light more fires on private property. The so-called “prescribed burns” are key to clearing forest debris and allowing pine cones to drop seeds onto the floor. That s important for longleaf pine, a resilient tree species that evolved in a natural fire cycle. Forestry experts say volunteer prescribed burn associations are spreading the practice to private landowners, who are crucial to the restoration and unreached by many agencies.
A prescribed burn takes place May 15, 2020, in North Carolina. Groups of private landowners known as prescribed burn associations are cropping up throughout the South to prevent uncontrollable wildfires,
As the U.S. tries to restore a key forest ecosystem in the Southeast, landowners must light more fires on private property. The so-called “prescribed burns” are key to clearing forest