What happens when a community burns together?

We heard directly from landowners who have used prescribed fire on their properties, what they hoped to accomplish, how the PBA helped, and what happened afterward. Plus, we heard from the volunteers who have become the backbone of this community effort and why they keep on coming back!

It takes all kinds of neighbors to build a thriving community-supported prescribed fire network!

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Post Burns Report

We've been monitoring the recovery of the sites of the three burns we completed since October and we're very happy with the results! In October 2024 we burned 1 acre that had lots of dead branches on the ground and old stumps. We had a good mosaic of some areas that burned very hot and others very lightly. October 26, 2024 Admittedly, that unit didn't look as good as we were hoping in the early spring. While the adjacent unburned units were very lush, the burned one was slow to get started with quite a bit of bare ground showing. May 10, 2025 But arnica eventually started popping up and we had thrown some yarrow seeds on the most severely burned patches (mainly from large stumps) and that's what you can see on the right side of the photos. June 21, 2025 The yarrow is now growing abundantly and the arnica is still blooming despite having gone to seed weeks ago in the unburned units. We definitely overseeded the yarrow and some of it is starting to dry ou...

John Marshall Presentation

We were thrilled to host photographer John Marshall last Monday night for an incredible presentation on the essential role of prescribed fire in land stewardship. Through his powerful photography, John highlighted the stark contrast between areas that had been thinned and prescribed burned versus those left unmanaged when wildfire came through. The difference was striking! A huge thank you to everyone who attended—we hope you left inspired and empowered to take action on your land. As John reminded us, fire will come to our communities one way or another. We can either wait for a wildfire to take its course, or we can be proactive by reducing fuels and helping your forests withstand fire through intentional, low-intensity prescribed burns. You can see more of John’s incredible work at his website: https://www.jfmarshall.com

Spring 2025 Learn to Burn Event

We had a great day of learning despite the cold wind! Tom Leuschen talked about the different factors that impact fuel moisture and fire behavior. We then moved around to warm up a little and Xavier gave a tour of the unit that was burned last Fall, leading to a great conversation of what landowners have to do to prepare their property to receive a prescribed fire. After a great lunch provided by the PBA and the landowner, we learned how to set up a proper hose lay around a burn unit and Tom demonstrated the patterns of ignition that can be used during a burn. Participants gained a greater appreciation and understanding for prescribed fire and most of them came back the next day for the Demonstration Burn!

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