Prescribed Burning for the Red Cockaded Woodpecker

Objective: Students will be able to identify, describe and evaluate some possible positive and negative effects on wildlife (specifically the Red-cockaded Woodpecker) that result from forest fires.

Method: Students brainstorm positive and negative effects of forest fires; conduct research; and create murals showing changes from fire in forest ecosystems, focusing on the effect of fires on the habitat of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Students may continue the activity by conducting a field investigation.

Background: In managing public lands, government agencies for many years have been making a slow movement to change their attitudes toward forest and grassland fires. Whereas once all fires were suppressed or vigorously fought, today many fires are allowed to burn as part of a natural cycle within forest and grassland ecosystems. In remote areas, some agencies monitor lightning-ignited wildfires and allow them to burn as long as they stay within "prescribed" limits of fire behavior and location. However, wildfires are still aggressively fought near populated areas. In fact, there has been a movement to "prescribe" fires under some conditions and in some places in an effort to replicate natural cycles that contribute to maintaining healthy ecosystems. Whennaturally occurring wildfires are suppressed, a dense hardwood midstory can develop in forests. A midstory of oaks and other hardwoods interrupts the Redcockaded Woodpecker's line of flight into its nest. Too much brushy growth changes the open habitat conditions favored by the bird. If an area becomes too dense, the woodpecker will abandon its nest. Prescribed burning every 3- 5 years mimics the natural fire regime and improves habitat for the woodpecker by removing midstory vegetation. Such "prescribed burns" are planned and tended by qualified resource managers. Prescribed burns are frequently designed to reduce the fuel load in a given area. Reducing the fuel load in a forested area, for example, can prevent fires from getting so hot that they eliminate virtually all life forms and even scorch the soil. That is, fires every five to ten years in some forest types can clear the heavy underbrush without harming the larger trees in the forest. A major fire after a 50 year accumulation of brush and maturing timber, however, can cause intensely hot and destructive fires. Objectives for use of fire as a management tool are variable. Objectives may include restoring fire's role in the natural cycle within a particular ecosystem; eradicating some plant species; and promoting the stimulation of plant species that are preferred food by some wildlife. In some area, fire is the most cost-effective tool to manage habitats.Prescribed " burns" are planned and initiated by qualified professionals who are trained in using fire for resource management objectives. Prescribed fires are only employed after burn plans are approved. Those plans must specify objectives for the fire, location, size, type, how the fire will be started and controlled and how the smoke from the fire will be managed. Fire plans set limits for weather parameters which control how hot a fire burns and in which direction smoke dissipates. Fires outside of those limits will not be started. If the fire is started and the weather conditions change to go beyond these limits, plans call for putting out the fire. Students may ask why- if some fires are helpful- the national symbol of firefighting agencies, Smokey Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires." This message is aimed at humans causing fires by error and accidents, such as carelessness in camping situations. The message also warns us about the terrible destructiveness of arsonintentional fires set by people for malicious and mischievous purposes. Accidental and arson fires are often started near developed areas. They often occur during times of severe drought or high winds. This kind of wildfire can be terribly destructive. On the other hand, prescribed fires are lit under ideal weather conditions. They generally burn much cooler than wildfires that most often occur during extremely hot and dry times. Again, the only people who may be authorized to set prescribed forest and grassland fires are those who are fully qualified professionals, trained in the study of ecological systems to reinstate fire as a natural management tool. It is still correct, of course, that fires can have negative as well as positive effects. Forest products companies, for example, in most cases would rather harvest trees than see them burn. If a fire is too large, too fast and too hot, wildlife can't easily move to safety. Individual animals may die or be displaced from their habitat. Short-term and long term loss of vegetation can have a variety of effects including loss of food and shelter for wildlife, and increase in silting and sedimentation in the waters. There are, however, possible benefits as well-particularly in the case of those smaller burns that do not get exceedingly hot. For example, fires can: maintain and enhance fire-dependent habitats such as prairies, savannas, chaparral, jackpine forests, southern pine forests, boreal forests; provide habitats fore species primarily dependent on fire driven ecosystems such as jackpine warbler; increase soil productivity by releasing and recycling nutrients in litter and undergrowth; prepare soil for germination of some seeds; activate heat-dependent seed varieties, such as lodgepole pines, jackpine, black spruce; contribute to an "edge effect," providing a greater variety of food and shelter sources for some species of wildlife; and open up habitat, generating new growth, diversity and abundance of food plants, such as for large herbivores.

Materials:

For the murals: art supplies, butcher paper for mural display.

For the field investigation: soil analysis equipment (e.g., pH testing paper), containers for soil samples, plant and animal identification guides for fieldwork; OR classroom speaker; OR access to library and other reference materials.

Introduction: Show students What's Wild video: Red Cockaded Woodpecker to introduce them to this magnificent species and the hardships it has faced. 

Procedure:

Forest Fire Mural:

1. Begin the activity with a discussion of forest fires. Students' reactions may be negative at first. Point out that while the effects of fire may be detrimental to some wildlife species, fire may benefit other species of wildlife.

2. Brainstorm possible positive and negative effects of forest fires. Keep the list of brainstorm ideas posted for the students' reference.

3. Using the brainstorm list as a beginning point, have the students find out more about forest fires. Possible topics for further investigation include: how fires affect plants (both understory plants and trees) how do fires affect animals (both initially and later) how do weather conditions affect fire behavior

4. Once any necessary research has been done, have the students make a mural. The mural should portray changes from before to during and after a fire. Analyze and discuss positive and negative consequences of forest fires. Discuss what forest fires do for the habitat of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

The forest fire mural activity may be followed with this suggested field investigation:

1.) Take a field trip to a forest or grassland where it is possible to see areas that have recently been burned, areas burned ten or more years ago, and areas not burned in recorded history. Try to arrange to go with an ecologist or wildlife biologist who can point out and explain some of the similarities and differences among the various areas. (NOTE: If such a trip is not possible, contact a regional forester, state wildlife agency, soil conservation district representative, or other resource person for information on the subject. It may be possible for a representative of the agency to come to the classroom and talk with the students about different circumstances under which fire can be helpful, and harmful, to wildlife-possibly bringing slides or a film on the subject. If neither the field trip nor the visit from a resource person is possible, the students will need to work from library and other reference materials on their own, or agencies may be able to provide you with before and after photographs of such sites.)

2.) If the field trip is possible, prepare students to: a) make and record their observations, e.g., variety and quantity of vegetation, evidence of wildlife, actual sighting or wildlife; and b) with permission of the landholder or manager, take small soil samples in the various areas for testing purposes. Back in class, these soil samples should be tested for structure, organic and inorganic parts, chemical composition, etc.

3.) Ask the students to organize and present the findings of their research. For example, they could chart information including the following: Soil Data Recent Fire Area Fire 10-15 Years Ago No Recorded Fire Plants Evidence of Wildlife or Wildlife Observed

4.) Ask the students to summarize their findings, including short-term and long-tern effects to wildlife in each area, both positive and negative. They should include in their summary an assessment of the importance of fire in natural systems, as well as of its effectiveness as a management tool. In the situations they studied, ask them to evaluate the role of fire, including its positive and negative consequences. Their findings should include a listing of those situations and forest types in which fire is generally most beneficial, those in which it is most harmful, and those where it has little effect. Ask them to address any limitations to their study; that is any aspects of their research which prevent them from generalizing their findings to all fires affecting wildlife.

5.) Back in the classroom, discuss the effects of forest fires on the endangered Redcockaded Woodpecker. How does the woodpecker benefit from prescribed burning? What are public attitudes toward fires?