Anybody ever done a controlled burn on their property? [acreage question]

[Sea Six]

I've got 40 acres in a FL panhandle county about two hours' drive away. It's acreage that was part of the 100+ acre tobacco farm where my Mom grew up. For the first ten years of her life they had no indoor plumbing and no electricity.

It's got a mixture of hardwoods and pines. Basically nothing has been done to the property for many decades. There are several inches of pine straw, pine cones and other junk all over the ground. The mosquitoes are thick as thieves.

I'd like to get a forester out there to do a controlled burn to get rid of the debris, skeeters and help promote some new growth to encourage more deer and other flora/fauna to come to the property.

Eventually I'd like to get someone with a bulldozer to make a little campsite for my fifth wheel so I'll have a private spot to get away from it all for a few days / weeks / months.

Any ideas on cost? Do you have to stage firetrucks nearby to keep from starting a wildfire? What about neighbors having to put up with living in thick smoke for the duration of the burn? How long does it take?

:waiting:

[Norm]

You have a myriad of agencies to go through to get that accomplished, local, state, and maybe even federal, most likely all tied in with the EPA, forestry service, animal control, Dept of Ag., DNR's, etc..............or not.

Good luck with that, or course there is the other option...........might involve jail time.

[Rob]

might involve jail time.

:iagree: I like option 2 better. New friends, new social circles, possible nefarious business opportunities, no need to research candidates in upcoming elections.

[Sea Six]

:iagree: I like option 2 better. New friends, new social circles, possible nefarious business opportunities, no need to research candidates in upcoming elections.

:funnier:

Plus I won't have to do all that gun cleaning. :hurray:



Where's OddBall? Seems like he has some acreage.

[mrvette]

Are there any paper mills/tree cutting operations in your region?? 40 acres, they may come in and cut it for the pulp, at least the trees would be felled/gone down the coast a ways is Rayoneer sp? a large paper mill, a buddy does lots of welding down there, they own thousands of acres of trees they harvest for the mill......so I wood expect some similar operation in your region too.....

maybe just a local logging company selling wood to the BBQ joints, like they did a large oak in my front yard.....

[Sea Six]

That is an option, mrvette. We get letters on occasion asking us if we'd like the pines to be harvested.

[Norm]

That is an option, mrvette. We get letters on occasion asking us if we'd like the pines to be harvested.

Well there you go, problem solved, and you can make some $$$.

[Sea Six]

It still won't get the pine straw off the forest floor, which is where the mosquitos are breeding.

[Norm]

It still won't get the pine straw off the forest floor, which is where the mosquitos are breeding.

Negotiate with the company cutting down the wood, see if they can do what you want, give them a percentage of your take, of course there is the other option..........:D

[Sea Six]

Negotiate with the company cutting down the wood, see if they can do what you want, give them a percentage of your take, of course there is the other option..........:D

I see where you're headed.

:seasix:

[DAB]

It still won't get the pine straw off the forest floor, which is where the mosquitos are breeding.

start raking.

it's really good exercise, and the faster you go, the less time you'll be eaten by the skeeters.

if you are really talented, you can use a rake in each hand. :dance:

[StaticCling]

Pornography companies are always looking for outdoor locations to film, maybe negotiate with one of them? Florida has a pornography industry I think? Then you can laugh when one of the 'stars' gets a tick or bit by a skeeter. :island14:

[NCC-1701]

start raking.

it's really good exercise, and the faster you go, the less time you'll be eaten by the skeeters.

if you are really talented, you can use a rake in each hand. :dance:


and watch out for the hornets nests...:seasix:

[MrPeabody]

I would contact the local fire department, they will have the answer to the questions in the OP.

[Rob]

I would contact the local fire department, they will have the answer to the questions in the OP.

:iagree: but you might wait until the fire has been going for a little while or your efforts would end up getting snuffed out, and on top of that you could end up with more puddling seeing that the fire dept loves to drown anything they come up against

[lspencer534]

The correct term is "Prescribed Burning", and it's not likely something you want to do with just 40 acres. One gust of wind, and the fire immediately becomes uncontrollable. Remember that about 40 homes were lost not long ago in Florida during a Prescribed Burning.

[SubZero]

https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1639781&postcount=10

:shots:

[Grey Ghost]

We usually make numerous piles of limbs, debris, brush, etc...and then burn them individually.

Have someone come in and scrape it into multiple piles.

If that's not an option. You will have to look at doing numerous small sections over time.

[NEED-A-VETTE]

https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Wildland-Fire/Fire-Prevention/Fire-Management-Services

Fire Management Services
Introduction

The Florida Forest Service recognizes the need for certain Fire Management Services which in many cases can only be performed by an experienced forestry technician.

It is the policy of the Florida Forest Service to encourage maximum prescribed burning consistent with good forest management practices utilizing the Florida Forest Service's personnel and equipment while complementing activities of the private sector.

If a landowner does not have the necessary manpower or other resources needed, and no private contractors are available, then the Florida Forest Service may provide fire management assistance. Certain minimum charges may apply to fire management services.

Prescribed Fire Burning

Assistance may be given to a landowner as prescribed in a burning plan for purposes related to Silviculture, wildlife habitat management, grazing, fire hazard reduction, etc. This assistance may be as follows:

Burning Assistance

The Florida Forest Service may provide personnel and equipment at designated hourly rates to assist a landowner while the landowner or their agent burns their land. The landowner or their agent assumes full responsibility for control of their fire and is present during the burn. The Florida Forest Service reserves the right to leave the scene, after securing the fire, to respond to wildfires or other emergencies. The Florida Forest Service may provide burning assistance up to 250 acres per landowner in any fiscal year.

Contract Burning

The Florida Forest Service may contract with a landowner to carry out prescribed burning as prescribed in a land management plan. There is no acreage limit for contract burning.

Designated rates will apply to all contract burning. All prescriptions and burning must be done by a Florida certified burner. Burning will only be conducted under the supervision of a certified burner having completed the Interagency Basic Prescribed Fire Course. The FFS will be responsible for obtaining the burning authorization.

Prevention Burning

Florida Statutes allow the Florida Forest Service to conduct wildfire hazard reduction treatments on private property, if the landowner does not object, and the area is reasonable determined to be a wildfire hazard area by the FFS. These treatments can be:

Wildfire hazard reduction burning which is the application of prescribed burning to reduce vegetative fuels as a hazard.
Wildfire hazard mitigation which can be either the application of prescribed burning or other alternative fuel treatment methods to reduce vegetative fuels as a hazard.
Fire Line Plowing

Pre-suppression fire lines will be plowed only at the request of, the landowner or his/her agent on property owned in fee simple or in lawful possession of the landowner, and the property boundaries are properly identified by the landowner or his agent. Normally fire line plowing will be limited to eight hours per landowner, per county, per year. All plowing time will be charged at the designated rate.

Search the Forest Services Vendor Database to see if there is a private contractor in your local area or contact your local Florida Forest Service office if you would like to discuss one of these services.

[markids77]

Here in Georgia pine straw is a cash crop. Call a local who advertises pine mulch and ask if they want to harvest your area. They will likely send out a crew of illeg...um... undocumented workers to bale the stuff. You win twice; the nuisance goes away and you will probably get paid for the trouble.

BTW, your mosquitoes are not breeding in your pine straw unless it is floating... skeeters lay their eggs in standing water only.

[Black94lt1]

I do one every year, mind you it is only about 1000 sq ft :D. We do them at work too, much larger and it does require permits and vendors who have their own fire fighting gear just in case.

[Sea Six]

Thanks everyone!

[Black94lt1]

Here in Georgia pine straw is a cash crop. Call a local who advertises pine mulch and ask if they want to harvest your area. They will likely send out a crew of illeg...um... undocumented workers to bale the stuff. You win twice; the nuisance goes away and you will probably get paid for the trouble.

BTW, your mosquitoes are not breeding in your pine straw unless it is floating... skeeters lay their eggs in standing water only.

I buy it up here, $6/bale which is a 1/3 the size of a straw bale. It’s hard to find though as the trucking costs from GA discourage most places from carrying it