Grasslands and savannas in semi-arid regions of the world are fire driven ecosystems that provide many crucial ecosystem services, including serving as water catchment and filtration systems and providing habitat for animals that depend on herbaceous plants. Woody plant expansion associated with substantial changes in herbaceous plant communities is a phenomenon that is occurring across fire-adapted rangelands. Fire suppression policies have been a primary driver of increasing woody plant dominance and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations appears to be accelerating this trend. To maintain open grasslands and savannas it is critical to reestablish periodic fire as a large-scale ecological driver within these ecosystems. However, there is substantial resistance among private landowners to using fire as a rangeland maintenance and restoration tool because of a lack of knowledge about the economic costs of alternative woody plant management tools, fear of liability for fire-related damages, and negative perceptions about the deliberate incineration of herbaceous plants used by grazers. We present results of research conducted in Texas to identify economic and social factors influencing the use of prescribed fire. We also evaluate the role of prescribed burn associations in increasing the application of prescribed fire by private landowners across landscapes. The information provided is based on research conducted in Texas, including an economic evaluation of alternative woody plant treatments and a survey of landowner perceptions regarding the use of fire, as well as broader studies of the legal liability of applying prescribed fire and data from prescribed burn associations in the Southern Great Plains.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.