The Gift of Fire

Blueprint for a Chapter Burn Program

Prescribed burning can raise funds while managing local grasslands

7 Steps to Starting a Chapter Burn Program

Burn Boss Clay Frazer offers this step-by-step approach to getting a profitable, productive Burn Program underway.

1. Have chapter members volunteer their time with established Prescribed Fire Crews. This could be with State DNR, USFWS, USDA, other PF/QF chapters, The Prairie Enthusiasts, The Nature Conservancy, and other NGOs that burn.
2. Get some National Wildfire Coordination Group (NWCG) training.
3. Start investing in equipment: drip torches, Nomex Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), backpack sprayers, fire brooms, fire rakes and flappers.
4. Appoint a point person, the Burn Boss, who is responsible for all aspects of a prescribed burn.
5. Charge for fire! Do some market research on what contractors are charging in your area and charge at least that or a little less.
6. Start with simple, low complexity burn sites that have well-established and safe fire breaks. Don't get over your skis promising landowners what you can't deliver. Most landowners do not understand what constitutes a high-risk, low-reward scenario. Burning wetlands dominated by reed canary grass or hybrid cattails is high-risk, low-reward.
7. After generating revenue, start to budget for equipment. A UTV with a water pump can run $20,000.

Other Elements of a Chapter Burn Program

Gather a team of dedicated volunteers. Along with a Burn Boss, you need at least a Line Boss per fire line and a Crew Boss for fire suppression. Frazer says he needs a minimum core of six to eight experienced burn crew members on most applications of prescribed fire, and SEWI has a list of 70 extra volunteers who can be called upon if the need arises.

The supervisory volunteers need to do course work which involves time and money for certification at the various levels of responsibility. What you are looking for in a volunteer is someone with the enthusiasm of Tom Nieland, who says, "I'm a retired metallurgical engineer, and a fire and brimstone junky. Prescribed fire always intrigued me as a conservation tool, and I jumped at the opportunity to join our chapter program from the get-go."

"There is a significant effort nationally to put more fire on the ground in general and specifically on the prairie," says Nieland. "It is extremely rewarding to be part of that effort, giving back to the outdoors."

Burn Programs also require mechanically inclined people. Equipment maintenance, storage and trailering are required before and after every burn.

"Off-season maintenance is a chore," says Pat Zimmer. "It is hard to quantify how much time and expense goes into it, but it is substantial. Each mechanical unit needs oil or hydraulic fluids changed, spark plugs replaced, and moving parts lubricated. Our tracked UTV needs daily greasing during burn season."

Frazer estimates time required at 100 hours per year to prep, maintain, winterize and move equipment around.

Don't forget insurance. "PF National has minimum standards set up for equipment and personnel for chapters to be covered by the PF National insurance," says Frazer. "We could not afford to have a burn program if we had to purchase our own liability insurance for prescribed fire. This is critical to understand."

The SEWI Burn Program Story

In 2010 SEWI did two burns, and then for the next four years only three to five burns per spring season.

In 2014-15, SEWI decided to re-write and formalize the chapter's mission statement. The result included a formula that now directs their resource allocation: 60% for habitat, 20% for youth and education, and 20% for legislative action.

The new emphasis on habitat was a catalyst for growing the chapter's burn program. Frazer reports that "by 2015, we were doing 10 or more burns each spring and grossing about $10,000/year. In 2018 we did 15 burns (over 230 acres) and we grossed about $25,000. From 2021-23 it was $30,000/year, and in 2024 we grossed $46,000 doing 18 prescribed burns."

But what about the sticker shock on this fundraising vehicle? Treasurer Nieland reports that the chapter now owns around $150,000 worth of equipment: UTVs, trailers, pumps, water tanks, drip torches, hand tools, VHF radios and Nomex PPE.

This cache has been accumulated over 15 years, and many of these units will eventually need to be replaced. Fortunately, the financial sustainability of the burn program looks strong, and the profitability is trending higher.

SEWI is proud of its habitat restoration efforts and their resulting benefits to wildlife. The chapter is also gratified by the partnerships it has promoted with private landowners, chapter sponsors, other non-profit organizations, and government agencies.

There is an ongoing need for prescribed fire, and SEWI encourages all interested chapters to get involved.

For questions about prescribed fire management within PF & QF, contact Jonathan Eerkes, Prescribed Fire Programs Manager at JEerkes@PheasantsForever.org.