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Abstract:

Prescribed burning is a rangeland management technology used world-wide for a variety of

management objectives. The Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma represent the largest

contiguous area of the remaining tallgrass prairie ecosystem in North America. Each year

approximately two and one-half million acres of largely privately-owned prairie in this region

experiences a prescribed burn during the month of April (Mohler and Goodin 2012). Late spring

burning has been shown to achieve both ecological and economic objectives with a single burn.

This concentrated period of burning has contributed to air quality non-attainment in nearby cities

where air quality monitors are located. Urban and regulatory concerns about the contribution of

prescribed burning smoke resulted in the development of the Kansas Flint Hills Smoke

Management Plan. The plan acknowledges the need for prescribed burning in maintaining the

tallgrass prairie ecosystem, and includes minor regulations and a largely voluntary program for

reducing non-attainment in urban areas.

During the summer and fall of 2010, regulators chose to utilize a collaborative approach to

formulating a smoke management plan. Urban, rural, and wildlife interests were represented on

the committee that formulated the plan. Following approval of the plan in December 2010, an

extensive outreach campaign was initiated to inform the public and encourage voluntary

compliance with the plan. Three non-attainment events related to smoke from prescribed burns

were recorded in urban areas of Kansas in April 2011. Burn bosses indicated they knew about

the plan but burned additional acres due to fear of increased regulations in the future.