Prescribed Fire

Many of us on this site use fire as a habitat tool. On my family’s property it is essential: a few years ago we harvested slash and loblolly pine and replanted with longleaf pine. Longleaf thrives with the help of fire.

Last year we had a mild, wet winter with a very warm February. This caused the longleaf seedlings to candle earlier than expected, so we were rushed. We were unable to get a good burn.

This year we HAVE to get a good burn to remove competition for the longleaf. They are slow growers and will be out-competed by other volunteer pines. If we don’t kill the other pines this winter, many of the longleaf will be lost. Herbicide is not an option.

Here’s what we are dealing with now.







The mature, tall pines in the pics are not longleaf, and they will be harvested when the longleaf are first thinned at 10 years.

At this point we (me and the forrester) are waiting for ideal conditions. We need low humidity, high wind, and low fuel moisture. I will update as we go along. The area to be burned is about 35 acres.


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You should have no problem killing the unwanted pine in those pics. The broom sedge will carry a hot fire through in a hurry. We burn our longleaf every year and our land looks alot like your pics. Like you mentioned make sure not to burn if the longleaf have candled. Also from our experience expect a few longleaf to die from the fire but not many. They are amazing when it comes to fire. Good Luck.

cutman said:

Many of us on this site use fire as a habitat tool. On my family’s property it is essential: a few years ago we harvested slash and loblolly pine and replanted with longleaf pine. Longleaf thrives with the help of fire.

Last year we had a mild, wet winter with a very warm February. This caused the longleaf seedlings to candle earlier than expected, so we were rushed. We were unable to get a good burn.

This year we HAVE to get a good burn to remove competition for the longleaf. They are slow growers and will be out-competed by other volunteer pines. If we don’t kill the other pines this winter, many of the longleaf will be lost. Herbicide is not an option.

Here’s what we are dealing with now.

The mature, tall pines in the pics are not longleaf, and they will be harvested when the longleaf are first thinned at 10 years.

At this point we (me and the forrester) are waiting for ideal conditions. We need low humidity, high wind, and low fuel moisture. I will update as we go along. The area to be burned is about 35 acres.


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Click to expand...

Next few weeks are looking wet. Hopefully January and February won't be like last year

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I LOVE longleaf pine. And I LOVE controlled burns. Best habitat tool available. And fun!!!