Controlled burn

A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a <a href="/facts/Fire/M6XwR3am">fire</a> to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for <a href="/facts/Forest_management/llmQfj9c">forest management</a>, <a href="/facts/Ecological_restoration/gJ6wT9Gg">ecological restoration</a>, land clearing or <a href="/facts/Wildfire/LU3797A0">wildfire</a> fuel management. Controlled burns may also be referred to as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing or a burn-off.
Controlled burns are conducted during the cooler months to reduce fuel buildup and decrease the likelihood of more dangerous, hotter fires. Controlled burning stimulates the <a href="/facts/Germination/BdNz4TyV">germination</a> of some <a href="/facts/Tree/3q0G4cbP">trees</a> and reveals <a href="/facts/Soil/5Ddpr3QM">soil</a> mineral layers which increases seedling vitality. In <a href="/facts/Grassland/T4P1kqT0">grasslands</a>, controlled burns shift the species assemblage to primarily native grassland species. Some <a href="/facts/Seed/a4xGSLxJ">seeds</a>, such as those of <a href="/facts/Lodgepole_pine/exc0CS6A">lodgepole pine</a>, <a href="/facts/Sequoiadendron_giganteum/lh4ApHTz">sequoia</a> and many <a href="/facts/Chaparral/vszyaQlg">chaparral</a> shrubs are <a href="/facts/Serotiny/25jNYFGf">pyriscent</a>, meaning heat from fire causes the cone or woody husk to open and disperse seeds.
Fire is a natural part of both <a href="/facts/Forest/RnMtb31v">forest</a> and grassland <a href="/facts/Ecology/YE8upuJU">ecology</a>, and <a href="/facts/Cultural_burning/tuBX0xn7">cultural burning</a> has been used by indigenous people across the world for millennia to promote biodiversity and cultivate wild crops, such as <a href="/facts/Fire-stick_farming/tuBX0xn7">fire-stick farming</a> by <a href="/facts/Aboriginal_Australians/DNAQ5z5m">aboriginal Australians</a>. Colonial law in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> and <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a> displaced indigenous people from lands that were controlled with fire and prohibited from conducting traditional controlled burns. After wildfires began increasing in scale and intensity in the 20th century, fire control authorities began reintroducing controlled burns and indigenous leadership into land management.

Controlled burn open-in-new

Controlled burn