Let me add one more thing to the post about fire….Here’s another area where I think we are a little off with our use of fire and could tweak things…… Now take this with a grain of salt as I may be dead wrong but I’m just going on common sense observations here……

When deer season ends in February folks start lighting up their drip torches and it looks like the world is on fire around here…..Lots of prescribed burns start taking place and one of the big talking points for “why” we’re doing it is that it mimics the natural fires that used to occur in the southeast long ago…….Here’s my knock on that idea though…..In order to ignite “natural fire” you need cloud to ground lightening and dry tinder…..How many lightning storms do we typically have around here in Alabama during February??......It’s actually pretty rare that we have those type of events during the winter, right??? On top of that…..we’re talking about the time of year when things are typically the wettest……So what are the odds of frequent natural fire from lightening occurring during this time?? It’s pretty damn low if you ask me….I’d say rare even.

Now……when would it be much more reasonable for a lightening storm to occur in Alabama and set the dry woods on fire?? During the summer correct??.....Maybe July, August, September......During the growing season……..And what does a slow low intensity burn during the 90+ degree heat of the summer typically accomplish??......Sweetgum/hardwood control……..I believe that “natural fires” were likely low intensity growing season burns that helped control the woody species and not the frequent dormant season burns we are using ……I also think the impact of the grazers controlling the grasses was a further measure that kept the fires low intensity since they reduced the grass fuel load in different areas.

My point is that if we are actually mimicking nature then we’re probably burning at the wrong time and thus creating a sorta bastardized version of what things actually looked like that is weighted too heavily toward grass.