SC Prescribed Fire Council meeting

The S.C. Prescribed Fire Council met at the Clemson Extension station in Blackville, S.C. on 10/15 and the large turnout demonstrated that PX fire is alive and well in the Palmetto state. The mission statement of the Council is to foster cooperation among all parties in the Palmetto State with an interest in prescribed fire and to promote the public understanding of the importance and benefits of prescribed fire. The wise use of prescribed fire improves public safety by reducing fuel loads in the forest and enhances ecosystems that require or benefit from fire. Carefully burned lands can also be more aesthetically pleasing. I was invited to join the panel of speakers, bringing the message of Fire Co-Ops that had been discussed at the last Private Landowners of the ACE (or PL-ACE) meeting, thanks to the American Forest Foundation. I told the Council that when I attended the first S.C. fire council meeting six years ago, an annual meeting was only a concept, and that fire co-ops may seem to be a concept now but a few years from now they may be a new reality. Fire Co-ops may be a key to the future of prescribed fire if it accomplishes the mission of bringing non-participants onboard as describing a smoke plume as a beneficial occurrence.

For past blog entries on prescribed fire click here.