Season of Burning

Till Farm Longleaf - Mark Musselman

This year, the late winter/early spring weather provided us the opportunity to conduct several prescribed fires at the Francis Beidler Forest and the Till Farm west of Walterboro in Colleton County. With the exception of one 12-acre loblolly pine stand, all of the burns were conducted to reduce fuels and enhance the health of the longleaf pine tracts we have planted. In all, we burned 76 acres in 7 burns at Beidler Forest and 84 acres in 2 burns at the Till Farm.

Post-fire Till Farm - Mark Musselman

Due to concerns over smoke possibly lingering into the night, several of the tracts at Beidler Forest were burned in smaller pieces due to the logging debris, including some substantial piles, still on the sites. Now that the tracts have been burned and the debris reduced, future burns can be conducted for these tracts on a single day.

We have planted longleaf pine in order to restore the native pine ecosystem of the southeastern United States. Read more...previous posts

Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Mizzel tract - Joe Cockrell

Although it appears apocalyptic after a fire, the habitat rapidly rebounds. Nutrients from the burned material are made available and new vegetation can be seen within days. Additionally, longleaf pine competition (hardwoods and loblolly pines) are not adapted to fire and fare poorly as younger trees. Finally, fuels are reduced thereby preventing a catastrophic fire in the future that even longleaf pine might be unable to survive.

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

The majority of the browned trees in the above image are young loblolly pines killed by the fire. Below are images showing how the fire-adapted longleaf pines survive.

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

The loblolly pine in the foreground is likely dead, while the longleaf pines in the background survived with one less competing neighbor. Although the needles that shielded the terminal bud of the longleaf pine were killed by the fire's heat and have dropped to the ground, the new growth "candle" can be seen emerging. Farther in the background, a longleaf pine only had needles scorched on its left side.

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Above, a longleaf pine's terminal bud was protected from heat by its long needles, which folded up as fire arrived. Fresh needles will emerge from the new growth "candle". More examples are shown below.

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

As noted earlier, logging debris was a smoke concern, but it was also a concern due to the intense and sustained heat it could generate. Longleaf pine seedlings that were planted in or near such debris would face fire conditions beyond the protective capability of their needles. Even so,  despite appearing to be all but incinerated, many are pushing out new needles.

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

Post-fire Mizzel tract - Mark Musselman

These necessary prescribed fires could not have been conducted safely and efficiently without the help of volunteers. This year we have had 12 volunteers (several at more than one burn) log 126 hours in support of the 110 staff hours, which included planning and site preparation work.  Additionally, while the Mizzou students were here on their alternative spring break, they cleared felled oaks from the original longleaf pine tract, which we converted for use as firewood for wintertime visitors to our log cabin.

Removing oak - Mark Musselman

Mizzou students also removed loblolly pines from a longleaf pine tract planted by fellow Mizzou students on their January 2015 alternative winter break. In both cases, removing the non-longleaf pines helps to eliminate competition for resources in addition to keeping the canopy relatively open to allow in sunlight for longleaf-obligate understory vegetation.