Happy Summer Solstice! On this the longest day of the year, let’s take a look back at some photos of a spring burn in Richland County! This burn was led by Jeb Barzen and features students from UW-Madison’s prescribed fire ecology course.
“The burn was a 4-year-old planting that had not burned previously and was heavy on Indian grass. The landowner called me late in the spring to urgently request assistance, so I said okay, but we may need to burn in conditions that were marginal for most sites but would be okay for prairie (i.e. heavy fuel) on sands (i.e. would dry quickly). We had such weather on April 25 – so much so that none of us were entirely sure if the unit would even burn. The weather was cold (41 F, 69% Rh, 8-foot wind 9 mph), but the burn actually went well and nearly 100% of the planting burned completely. The actual Rh on the sand was probably 55-60%.”
-WPFC Chair, Jeb Barzen
P.C. Marci Getto
