BMP Field Manual
Chapter 9 - Prescribed Burning and Wildfire
In forests, prescribed burning reduces unwanted vegetation and logging debris. It prepares sites for tree planting or direct seeding. And it reduces the potential for destructive wildfires by reducing fuel accumulations.
Low-intensity fires have little effect on water quality. However, fires that burn intensely are likely to consume forest floor litter and expose soil, which can lead to erosion and harm water quality.
Always rely on trained and experienced personnel to plan and implement prescribed burns: the BMPs in this chapter are designed to complement professional training. Contact the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for more information.
- Planning
- Before conducting a prescribed burn, apply for a burning permit from the Wisconsin DNR or your local municipal or township authorities.
- Carefully select fireline locations and consider weather, fuel, soil and topographic conditions in the burn area to minimize impacts on water quality.
- Implementation
- Avoid intense burns that remove forest floor litter which may expose soil in riparian management zones and on slopes where eroded soil may drain to surface water.
- Avoid burning piles of slash in riparian management zones.
- Use natural or existing barriers (e.g., roads, streams, lakes) where possible, or wet lines for firelines where bladed or plowed firelines will erode soil and degrade water quality.
- Avoid plowed and bladed firelines in riparian management zones except where necessary to control wildfire.
- Where possible, locate bladed firelines on the contour. Construct water bars as needed to direct surface water off firelines and into undisturbed forest cover. Recommended specifications for building water bars and their spacing can be found in the Drainage Structures section in Forest Roads.
- Avoid applying chemical fire retardants over surface water. Prevent chemical fire retardants from flowing into surface water.
Carefully plan all prescribed burns. Clearly identify your objectives.
Plan to control erosion after the burn to prevent sediment runoff to streams, lakes and wetlands (See the After-Fire Maintenance section of this chapter).
Note: When fighting wildfires, preventing harm to people and property should be your top priority. After containing the fire, you need to address land rehabilitation to prevent or minimize nonpoint source pollution of lakes, streams and wetlands.
- Whenever possible, avoid applying chemical fire retardants over surface water.
After-Fire Maintenance for Prescribed Burns and Wildfire
- Do not clean chemical-application equipment in surface water, or in locations that drain directly into surface water.
- Use erosion control measures for firelines that could erode soil into lakes, streams and wetlands. Erosion control measures include revegetation (Soil Stabilization section, Forest Roads), and installing water bars (Drainage Structures section, Forest Roads). Placing sod back into plowed furrows at appropriate intervals can act as water bars.
- Maintain soil stabilization practices until the site is fully revegetated and stabilized.
- Use mowing or other practices that do not expose soil as alternatives to blading or disking for maintaining firebreaks where erosion may degrade water quality.
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