Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn
Association
Prescribed Burning for Wildlife
Clifford Carter Ranch Consultant
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• The two most important management
practices needed for optimum Wildlife
Habitat Management and Improvement
are:
• 1. A good grazing management
program that includes periods of
total livestock rest
• 2. Prescribed burning
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
•
Cattle
• You can manage wildlife without cattle but it is much
more difficult in this area because of the amount of grass
we grow each year which must be reduced for optimum
wildlife habitat
• Ungrazed grass grows tall then falls over shading new
plants and seeds needed by wildlife
• Cattle have very selective grazing habits – they eat what
they like best first – usually until that forage species is
gone then they go to the second best species until it is
gone. Often the 4th or 5th plant preferred is a forb or
weed that may be the first choice plant for deer or quail.
Cattle will eat this if 1, 2, and 3 are gone until it too is
gone
•
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• Rest from cattle grazing allows the better
grass species to recover and provide food
for cattle the next time they are in the
pasture
• Periodic rest from cattle grazing assures
you of having a good mix of grass and
forbs for both cattle and wildlife
• Proper stocking rate and a good grazing
management program will provide the
highest quality forage for both cattle and
wildlife
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• With a good grazing management program with
the proper stocking rate Cattle seldom compete
with wildlife for food
• With a good grazing management program,
forage composition in native pastures will
improve that is, the better more desirable and
more competitive species will increase in
number. This natural improvement process is
called “secondary plant succession”
• Continuous grazing and/or overstocking in a
pasture causes lots of competition between
cattle and wildlife and cattle will always get more
than their share
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
•
Prescribed Burning
• Prescribed burning is another method that
promotes “secondary plant succession”
Burning burns the taller ungrazed less
desirable plants as well as the desirable
species. By resting the pasture, all plants
then have an equal chance to compete for
sunlight, moisture and soil nutrients. The
more dominant plants then begin to
increase. These more dominant native
plants are the desirable grasses and forbs.
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• Burning is a natural historic occurrence for
native prairies and grasslands. Natural
wildfires occurred in the coastal prairie
about every 4 to 5 years
• Burning kills 1 and 2 year old brush
seedlings such as huisache and mesquite.
This is why we have prairies. Once a new
seedling reaches 3 years of age we only
kill about 5 to 10 percent of these older
plants, although we will top-kill these
younger plants
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• Kirk and I burned a pasture one winter and
when we were going around the pasture
one final time in our wrap-up, we counted
10 coveys of quail flying into the 600 plus
acre pasture we had just burned. The fire
was still burning out in the middle of the
pasture
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• Sometimes some hunters are nervous
about burning a pasture and losing the
cover for deer and quail. Burning a
pasture is better than planting a food plot.
The plants that come up first after a burn
are readily consumed by deer. Quail will
usually not nest in a pasture that was
burned the previous winter but it becomes
a prime brood rearing pasture for quail and
their young chicks
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
• It is our hope that this type of
workshop helps to give you a better
understanding of prescribed burning
and what is involved in prescribed
burning. The Coastal Bend
Prescribed Burn Association hopes
you will join us in our efforts to get
this conservation practice more
widespread
Coastal Bend Prescribed Burn Association
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End