OKMULGEE, Okla.- The Oklahoma State University Okmulgee County and the College of the Muscogee Nation extension programs have made a call-out to landowners interested in learning about prescribed burns. There is currently no set date for the workshop, however they are looking for landowners that are willing to do a prescribed burn on their property. Landowner applications are due May 15.
To be eligible for the workshop, landowner property needs to be within MCN Reservation, preferably in Okmulgee County. The property needs to be up to 10 acres of burnable land such as brush, woods, or similar vegetation and a property area that can be burned safely regardless of wind direction.
Selected landowners will receive a free demonstration with trained professionals. John Weir, the Oklahoma State University Senior Extension Specialist in Natural Resource Ecology and Management, will be conducting the workshop. Shelby Lofton (Cherokee) works as the Agriculture and 4H Federally-Recognized Tribe Extension Program (FRTEP) extension educator for OSU Okmulgee County and CMN. Lofton is partnering with CMN Extension Coordinator Chris Azbell on the workshop event.
“Prescribed burning is a valuable land management tool that significantly improves wildlife habitats, controls invasive species, reduces wildfire risks, promotes ecosystem health, and enhances soil and forage quality,” Lofton said.
“It’s a really beneficial natural tool that we can use to improve our landscapes.”
The selection process begins after the May 15 deadline, and the partners are hoping to select 3-5 landowners.
“We’ll select those people and we’ll conduct land visits to go see them. We’ll double check that the property is what we’re looking for and would be safe to conduct an educational workshop on and burn. Then we’ll make our official selection after we’ve done our land visits from that list, “ Lofton said.
Lofton’s goal by the end of this workshop is to bring information to the Tribe and to people within the MCN Reservation. She also hopes that it will inspire people to want to learn more about prescribed fire.
“In hosting this workshop, our goal is to educate landowners on the benefits of prescribed fire and to inspire and encourage them to learn more about how they can conduct their own prescribed burns on their own properties in the future,” Lofton explained. “Many people do not know how to safely perform a prescribed burn, they do not have enough training/experience, and depending on the size of the land they are trying to burn, they may not have enough people or equipment to help them conduct the burn safely.”
Another goal of the workshop is to help build a network of knowledge on prescribed burns for landowners. Lofton stated, “We want to encourage people to form their own Prescribed Burn Association, which is a partnership between a group of landowners and other local citizens to conduct prescribed fires, within their community so that that they can share resources, build local capacity, and create a network of trained individuals who can support one another in safely and effectively implementing prescribed burns on private lands.”
For information contact Lofton through email at shelby.lofton@okstate.edu or 918-756-1958.
Would like more detailed information, please