Pheasants Forever and their regional partners are hosting four informational meetings for landowners to discuss the benefits of forming a local Prescribed Burn Association (PBA). Prescribed Burn Associations are landowner-led cooperatives that bring people together to assist each other with prescribed burns in rangeland and CRP. This allows individual landowners to overcome obstacles to safe burning, such as a lack of experience, equipment, or manpower. Safer burns mean reduced liability risks to landowners, less risk of wildfire outbreak, and greater community safety. Partners assisting with the meetings are: USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, local county Conservation Districts, Rice County Fire Districts, Kansas Prescribed Burn Association, Kansas Prescribed Fire Council, Kansas Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Reno County Extension Office.
Meetings will be held in four towns, and each meeting should not last longer than two hours. They are free to attend and open to the public. Meetings will start by explaining, in more depth, what PBAs are and how they work. Then the president of the first Association in the state (the Kansas Prescribed Burn Association) will speak about how their PBA has helped her family and others safely add prescribed burning as a management tool that they can employ in their operation. Following that we will open up the floor for questions from the audience.
Meetings will be held in Ellinwood and Raymond on March 21 and in Hutchinson and Stafford on March 28. The Ellinwood meeting will start at 2 p.m. at the Ellinwood District Hospitals meeting room. That evening will be at Raymond City Hall starting at 7 p.m. A week later, on March 28, an afternoon meeting will held in the meeting room at the Reno County Extension office. That meeting will start at 3 p.m. The final meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 28 at the Gathering Place Cafe in Stafford. Attend any meeting that fits into your schedule.
PBAs are truly landowner-led cooperatives that function independently. Although these meetings are being organized by governmental agencies and other conservation organizations, their role is only to facilitate PBA formation and the spread of information. They will not have a role in overseeing the established Association. However, these organizations will be happy to assist the established Association by answering technical questions and providing training or information at the Associations request.
If you are interested in attending or would like more information, contact the local Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist, Zac Eddy, at (620)338-7132 or zeddy@pheasantsforever.org, or Dusty Tacha, NRCS Rangeland Management Specialist, at (620)669-0168 ext. 1331 or dusty.tacha@ks.usda.gov.
Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists are specialized consultants in conservation programs and habitat planning. The purpose of Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists is to assist landowners in designing, developing, and funding habitat improvements on private lands. Farm Bill Biologists possess the knowledge of federal, state, and local programs to assist landowners in finding the right program to meet their personal habitat and land use goals. Through a unique partnership, Farm Bill Biologists are located in local USDA Service Centers in priority habitat areas throughout the pheasant range. The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service is an equal opportunity provider and employer.