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Landscaping with Prairie Plants: Winner of 9 Native Challenge Announced & Selected Submitted Designs Viewed & Discussed @ HNPAT MEETING! Wednesday,…

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Prairie Facts

Today the tallgrass prairies of Texas are very rare. Less than 1% of the original 20 million acres of Texas’ beautiful tallgrass prairie remains and losses are still occurring to plowing, improper overgrazing, and development.

Managing Small Prairie Prescribed Burns

“How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!” (William Shakespeare Cymbeline, III.III.79)

If you are interested in conducting a prescribed burn on your property, there is an excellent booklet on the subject, entitled

HOW TO MANAGE SMALL PRAIRIE FIRES by Wayne R. Pauly, Dane County Naturalist in Madison, Wisconsin.

Send $3 per booklet to:
Dane County Park Commission
4315 Robertson Road
Madison, WI 53714

Contact your nearest Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Regional Office or nearest office of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) for assistance in planning your burn.  State law requires you to attend a certification class before conducting your own unsupervised burns.

TPWD uses this burn plan form when burning state property:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdforms/media/pwd_0822_p4000_prescribed_burn_plan.doc

Information regarding the Texas burn board, becoming a burn manager (“burn boss”), and other aspects of burning can be found at http://www.agr.state.tx.us/agr/program_render/0,1987,1848_5538_0_0,00.html?channelId=5538 .

Here’s a generic plan:  Sample Burn Plan

 

Photos by J Piercy.  From Feb 2003 burn in Williamson County.