Call for Basic Burn Workshops

Call for Basic Burn Workshops

Winter 2013-2014

Is there an interest in prescribed burning in your area?  Are you concerned that producers burn safely and achieve their goals?  The Kansas Joint-Agency Prescribed Burn Workshops will be offered this fall/winter, providing expert instruction in burning techniques , reasons for burning, weather considerations, planning a burn, and related topics.

These workshops bring together presenters from state and federal agencies, including the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Kansas Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, county conservation districts, local fire departments and emergency management staff, and Kansas State University.  The goal of the workshops is to provide producers and landowners with the information they need to use prescribed burning as a management technique for rangelands and Conservation Reserve Program units.

Who can host a workshop?  Any agency or NGO can request a burn workshop anywhere in Kansas.  It’s often helpful from both a planning and logistics standpoint for counties to work together to put on a single workshop.  The workshops all use a similar agenda.  There is no cost for presenters, but there may be meeting costs that are the responsibility of the host.  A list of items to be considered when hosting a workshop is attached.

Workshops generally take 4.5-5 hours to present.  This allows time for discussion and working with landowners at the sand tables to discuss specific prescribed burning situations.

Many workshops include lunch, supper and/or a break at which food is provided.  The host is responsible for arranging all catering and its associated expense.  Expenses can be covered by registration fees or donations.

A notebook containing a wealth of prescribed burning information will be provided for a cost of $5 per attendee.  Agency staff receive a copy free.

The first item a host will need to do is to select a date.  The host is STRONGLY encouraged to work with all the agency staff in the county in selecting the workshop date to avoid conflicts with agency meetings or other events that result in agency staff being unable to attend.  Please select a date between Nov. 11, 2013 and Feb. 28, 2014.

Based on previous experience, here are a few things to consider when selecting times and dates.  Harvest activities can impact attendance.  It is difficult for me to find wildlife presenters on the opening days of hunting seasons.  Sufficient time needs to be allowed for burn plans to be written and firebreaks constructed after the workshop and prior to burn season, taking into account winter weather.  Many producers need to feed cattle before attending a workshop, which can impact starting time.  The weeks just before Christmas can have numerous scheduling conflicts for both presenters and workshop attendees.

Dates to avoid (but work-arounds may be possible):

Nov. 30-Dec. 8: firearms deer season begins

Jan. 26-29: Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference

Jan. 30-31: Kansas Natural Resource Conference

Feb. 8-13: Society for Range Management Conference

If you are interested in hosting a workshop and would like the assistance of the joint-agency team, please contact me at: blocksom@ksu.edu  . We will find speakers for each topic area other that those covered by local agency staff.  If you’d like your workshop to be promoted state-wide, I will need to have it scheduled by Nov. 5, 2013 (date and city needed).

If you are interested in hosting a demonstration burn, where landowners can actually take part in a burn, it will need to be scheduled separately.

An advanced burn workshop has been planned for Nov. 5, 2013 in Coldwater, KS.  A flyer is attached to this email.

For more information, or to schedule a workshop, please contact me.

Things to Do Before the Burn Workshop 2013-2014

Things to Do After the Burn Workshop 2013-2014

Intermediate Prescribed Burning Workshop Flyer Fall 2013

Carol