Prescribed Burning

Prescribed burning, also known as “controlled burning,” refers to the planned use of fire in different environments for a wide range of reasons, including reduction of wildfire severity, protecting grasslands from forest incursion, and simulating prior fire regimes. Although the term was developed only in the late 20th century, the practice of prescribed burning has been applied throughout human history.

The word prescribed is used as these fires are set only once certain environmental parameters are achieved. In industrialized societies, the parameters are generally based on quantitative thresholds for a range of factors such as wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content of vegetative fuels and soil. Together with attributes such as local topography, these influence fire behavior, intensity, and rate of ...