Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Kirby | Jonas Cothren, a biologist with Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife, creates a fire break...... read more read more
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The training areas here are routinely set a blaze, and usually it is done on purpose.
No, there is not a rouge arson running around the home of the Screaming Eagles. However, it normally is the Forestry Section of the Environmental Division doing their part to enhance the ecology on base.
Fort Campbell’s controlled burn takes place bi-annually from January to May, and October to December. Even during these time periods, controlled burns can only happen on days when the weather conditions permit.
Controlled fires are an important part of the Fort Campbell ecology, keeping invasive species under control and letting the native species grow better.
“I think it’s important for everyone to know that we are applying prescribed fire with a purpose and a direction,” said Scott Osborne, Supervisory Forester, and Wild land Fire Program Manager of Operations from Forestry Section, Conservation Branch, and Environmental Division. “We’re doing it as land managers because we want what’s best for the ecosystem.”
As the burning helps the ecosystem, the controlled part of the burn process comes from the ability to understand the components needed for fire to exist. Fire breaks are placed around the burn area so the fire doesn’t get out of control.
“Fires need three elements to burn, Oxygen, Fuel, and Heat. If we remove one of those three, the fires can’t happen,” said Osborne.
As the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is constantly training to fight and win our Nation’s wars, controlled burns are planned out for the year well in advance to allow soldiers time to plan training accordingly.
“Burning is a thought out, well planned process,” said Osborne. “A lot of planning and departments working together go into a burn. We take pride in the work we do, it’s hard work, but it’s a very rewarding work.”
This process also assists in the 101st mission of fight tonight, by lowering if not eliminating the chance of starting a fire on the ranges with the rounds sent downrange.
“We burn to support the mission,” said J.P. Hart, a Forest Technician from the Forestry Section, Conservation Branch, Environmental Division. “If we burn it off it won’t catch fire again, limiting the fuel build up, and there won’t be a catastrophe. If you burn a range off and we have bad weather it won’t catch on fire again.”
Burning is also cheap when it comes to maintaining the land. It’s much cheaper than mowing.
One of the things Fort Campbell is known for is the barrens, the largest in the United States, east of the Mississippi. These barrens need fire to maintain the native grasses and keep the invasive species out.
A barren grassland is a grassland area with soil too poor to produce much vegetation.
On average, 20,000 to 25,000 acres are burned on Fort Campbell every year.
“We’ve burned about 7,000 acres since January this year and we’ll probably burn 20-25k acres by December,” said Hart.
Fire is a natural part of forest and grassland ecology and Fort Campbell has both. The fires are beneficial for the local animals as well.
“This is a win-win, for training and the wildlife,” said Daniel Moss an Avian Ecologist, from Fort Campbell Fish and Wildlife. “Burning opens up the field for the training, helicopters can land easier, troops can maneuver easier, as well as improving the wildlife habitat… Also the hawks have really learned to hunt while we burn too.”
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.18.2018 21:03 |
| Story ID: | 273601 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 103 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, YOUR ENVIRONMENT: Using fire to sustain the ecosystem, by SSG Patrick Kirby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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