This Turkey Tuesday is about using prescribed fire in the fall. When many think of prescribed fire, they think of conducting burns during late winter or early spring. However, late summer and fall can be great times to conduct prescribed fires, particularly in open, grassland habitats in need of improvements. Fires this time of year mimic fires that occurred historically, when lightning strikes ignited fires in grasslands and open areas. Old field habitats can sometimes have encroachment from woody tree species such as red cedar, but burning them in late summer can reduce or even remove this encroachment if the trees are still young. Likewise, dense stands of warm season grasses such as broomsedge that take over open areas can be greatly improved with a late summer or fall fire, as the fire damages the root crowns. This approach allows native forbs and legumes that are present in the seedbank, but outcompeted by the grasses, to germinate in the spring and provide far better habitat for wild turkeys and other species – the more diverse vegetation provides forage and attracts more insects. Lastly, if you’re dealing with sod-forming cool season grasses such as fescue, now can be a great time to burn – the fire removes rank vegetation and stimulates the plants to regrow – a timely herbicide application afterwards can then help convert what is otherwise poor early successional habitat into something much improved. However, as always with prescribed fire, consider scale – burning in the fall means there isn’t much time for regrowth before winter, so keep scale of fires and juxtaposition to unburned areas in mind. The take home is, old field and grassland habitats can be managed with prescribed fire in late summer and fall to create high quality habitats for wild turkeys, so consider this management tool if your property could benefit from its application.
Photo by Darcy D. Photography
