Using Prescribed Fire to Manage Grassy and Heath Balds

Prescribed fire is sometimes used in grassy bald and grassy bald-like communities to maintain vegetation structure and to maintain habitat for animals that utilize such areas. For example, prescribed fires are used to maintain open habitats where spruce-fir forests once stood in an effort to provide habitat for Golden Eagles. There is some debate about whether use of fire as a force to maintain true grassy balds is appropriate or authentic. Grazing by domesticated animals historically maintained balds in the form that we know them, while in the recent past fires were not important in their maintenance.  However, due to policies regarding grazing and expense related to maintaining herds of animals, most balds in public ownership are no longer grazed. Other forms of maintenance such as mowing and hand cutting are more expensive than burning (Lindsay and Bratton 1979). Various agencies utilize various strategies to manage balds including no management.

In the absence of heavy grazing pressure, particularly on public lands, woody plants are encroaching into grassy bald communities (Lindsay and Bratton 1980, Sullivan and Pittillo 1988).  In the absence of grazing, prescribed fire has become a management tool for public land managers to discourage encroachment of woody plants into these bald communities (Lindsay and Bratton 1979, Knoepp et al. 1998). However, fire is more effective at preventing woody establishment than reversing invasion once started (Lindsay and Bratton 1979). Management of many balds (as such) involves the removal of woody plants by some means other than fire, followed by periodic burning or mowing to deter woody plant establishment (Wiser and White 1999, Knoepp 1998).

Very little information is available on use of fires to maintain heath balds.  In using prescribed fires in maintenance of bald-like communities that included large amounts of shrubs the following conclusions were reached (Sanders 1981):

• Burns were more complete and achieved a higher percentage top-kill on higher fire danger days than are normally considered suitable.
• Buildup and cloud cover affected fire behavior more than other factors.
• Spring burning was more desirable than fall burning due to faster vegetation recovery and visual impact that lasted for shorter duration.
• Plowed lines were generally not required, wet lines sufficed.
• The success of burns was correlated more with aspect than slope. The best aspects (i.e., those that resulted in most top-kill of shrubs) were southeast to west.
• Fire intensity appeared to be correlated to the abundance of blackberry canes that served as fuel.