The Florida Department of Agriculture is celebrating a record year for prescribed fires in state forests around the state

The Florida Department of Agriculture is celebrating a record year for prescribed fires in state forests around the state.

 

Over the past year the Florida Forest Service applied prescribed fire to more than 227,000 acres on state forests across Florida.

 

That’s more than double from the year before.

 

Prescribed fire uses slow-moving, low-grade fire to reduce the brush and overgrowth that would otherwise serve as fuel for a dangerous wildfire.

 

Besides cutting down on hazardous ground fuels, prescribed fires return nutrients to the soil, provide better forage for wildlife and livestock, and help control certain plant and tree diseases.

 

People who own forest land and are interested in adding prescribed fire to their land management practices can get state assistance in doing so.

 

In an average year, the Florida Forest Service issues more than 88,000 prescribed burning authorizations.

 

In addition, there are currently more than 1,600 certified prescribed burn managers in Florida that manage more than 2.3 million acres of agricultural and natural lands annually with prescribed fire.

 

You can find out much more information about prescribed burns and find numerous tools to help you with controlled burns on-line at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website.

 

https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Wildland-Fire/Prescribed-Fire/Prescribed-Fire-Tools-and-Information

 

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