Stokes PrairieRestoration Project ยท near Axtell, TX

Shrike's Notebook

Fire, With an Exit: Our Plan for Patch Burning

This is a plan, not something we've done. It's a proposal that is still being discussed with Texas Parks & Wildlife. Details may change.
Shrike, a cartoon Loggerhead Shrike
Shrike says

Fire? On MY prairie? Hear me out. Prairies like this one grew up with fire. The trick is burning a little at a time, and always leaving the animals a door.

Why burn at all?

Fire clears out old dead grass, sets back woody plants that creep into open prairie (hello, cedar elm), and lets native grasses and wildflowers bounce back. Without it, a prairie slowly turns into brush.

Why not burn it all at once?

Stokes Prairie is only about 18 acres. Burn it all in one day and every bird, snake, turtle and bug loses its cover at the same time. So here's what we're planning instead:

  1. Patch burns. Split the prairie into three patches and burn about one-third each year, over 3 years. About two-thirds of the prairie is standing cover at any time.
  2. Unburned refuges and corridors. Strips along the pond margin and the fencelines stay unburned, and they connect to the unburned patches, so animals can always reach cover.
  3. Fire with an exit. Burns are lit so animals have an open side to escape toward the refuge. No ringing the whole patch with fire.
  4. No burning from April to mid-July. That's nesting season for grassland birds, and nests on the ground can't fly away.
  5. A certified burn manager in charge, working from a written burn plan, checking the weather and burn bans, and letting the neighbors and local fire department know ahead of time.

Fire is one tool, not the only one

Some unwanted plants actually like fire. Johnsongrass sprouts back from deep roots, and some burns can help King Ranch bluestem. So fire gets paired with hands-on work: cutting cedar elm and treating the stumps, spot-treating Johnsongrass and King Ranch bluestem, and pulling balloon vine before it seeds.

How we'll know it's working

Photos from the same spots before and after each burn, and iNaturalist surveys before and after, so we can compare burned patches with unburned ones. If the plan isn't working for the wildlife, the plan changes.

Shrike, a cartoon Loggerhead Shrike
Shrike says

I'll be watching from the fenceline. Fresh burns turn up lots of bugs, and I never say no to a snack.

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