Prescribed Burn Association
"Neighbors helping neighbors put good fire on the ground": that's what the Butte Prescribed Burn Association is all about! When we learn to use fire in a good way, we build community and heal from the wildfire traumas of our past.
Fire at the right time and place keeps forests and pastures healthy. Everyone deserves a good relationship with fire! We are hill people and flatlanders, experienced fire professionals and total beginners, from all walks of life, ages 9 to 92. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone has something to learn.
Do you want to put good fire on your land? You don't have to go it alone -- for those who don't have fire experience or a fire mentor in their family or community, you can get help from the Butte RCD. We can help you with burn planning, navigating permitting, and moral support and we can lend you handy equipment. Just email goodfire@bcrcd.org with questions and someone can visit your land and help you decide whether fire can help you meet your objectives and how to do it.
What kind of permits will I need? WELL... we have created this flow chart to help you answer this complex and sometimes pretty confusing question! By the way, until May 20,2023, we can REIMBURSE you for your Air Quality permit costs. Email goodfire@bcrcd.org to take advantage of this!
Download the Good Fire Permits flow chart! (Updated 2/15/23)"Air Quality Demystified" webinar with Ursula Parker of the Butte County Air Quality Management District is available to watch here
How can I know when fire weather -- or good burn weather -- is coming? Check out this great weather and forecasting primer developed by meteorologist Bryant Nagelson when he joined #ButteTREX 2021 as our Incident Meteorologist (IMET). (After you explore the resources Bryant shared, maybe you'll be so fascinated by weather you'll want to come train as #ButteTREX's next IMET!)
Summer won't be here forever, so community burns and trainings will start up again in fall-winter 2022-23, so don't miss out! To make sure you hear about every burn opportunity, please sign up for Good Fire Newsletters here. To watch a great 12-minute video about what a landowner burn is like, click here. Or, learn how we're helping to build a capable workforce of local fire practitioners with TREX - the festival of fire learning that comes to Butte County every year.
2021-22 was a super successful first season of burning for our PBA. Over 14 months, we held 11 training burns (plus 3 prep days), providing hands-on good fire experience to 100 local Butte County residents who contributed a collective 1,700 hours of volunteer time to reduce fuels on 58 strategic acres around the communities of Cohasset and Forest Ranch. We also got amazing training through #ButteTREX in fall 2021 and 2 subsequent burn planning workshops. For 2022-23, we will continue to put on great burn planning trainings, fire weather classes, and field tours, plus buy equipment we all can share... with the help of four grants we were awarded in spring 2022 (hooray!). We will continue to partner with CAL FIRE, the Fire Safe Councils, Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, the Plumas Underburn Co-operative , the CA Department of Conservation, and anyone else who wants to help us revitalize a rural culture of fire!
Do you want good fire on your land? Email goodfire@bcrcd.org and we'll help you get there.
More about prescribed fire....
Burning your own lands is legal and it has many benefits for your livestock, for wildlife habitat, and for your family's safety. It's your right as a landowner. If you need help getting that first burn pulled together, the RCD is here to make it easier for you. Because if more people in Butte County knew how to burn their lands and did it regularly, we'd all be safer and better off.
What a PBA can do for you
- Help you figure out what permits you need and how to get them
- Serve as neighborhood hub for tips and tricks
- Offer a trailer full of burn tools and gear you can borrow
- Offer training opportunities suited to your needs, whether it's the basics or an elite course.
- Have a schedule of work parties, tours, and workshops
- Connect you with neighbors who can help you burn (and do the prep work) -- Many hands make light work!
What a PBA can't do A PBA doesn't take away your liability. That always rests with the landowner -- as it should, since the landowner is the one getting the biggest benefit from the burn. A PBA is also not a full-service burn outfit: although we connect you with educators and mentors, the landowner still needs to hire a burn boss if they want one. However, we're just getting started, and who knows what we'll come up with together in the future to make burning easier and safer in our communities!
RESOURCES FOR LANDOWNERS
Check out the California PBA page, calpba.org - lots of inspiration and resources here!
Download a simple burn plan that works for most landowners. The PBA can help you develop your map, burn prescription, etc. , or you can work directly with CAL FIRE and do it on your own.Download a longer burn plan template that works for more complex burns"Liability Explainer": What Happens If Something Goes Wrong During A Burn or Burn Prep
If you're not an experienced burner, planning your first burn can seem almost impossible. But the PBA is here to help. In a year or two or three, you'll be a seasoned burner giving advice to newcomers.
Thanks to our funders...
Aug 2019-Feb 2022 The Butte PBA was started in 2019 thanks to funding through a Forest Health Watershed Coordinator Program grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation
June 2021-May 2022 Thanks to Butte County Air Quality Management District for the Community Air Protection grant that helped us buy radios, Kestrel weather monitors and hose lay equipment!
May 2022 - July 2024 Supported by Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) funding awarded by the California Department of Conservation, through a block grant to the Watershed Research and Training Center.
May 2022-May 2023 Supported by the CoCo-AIM program (Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc.: Action, Implementation, and Mitigation).
The AIM program is supported by a cooperative agreement with the USDA Forest Service. In accordance with federal law and the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call toll free voice (866) 632-9992, TDD (800) 877-8339, or voice relay (866) 377-8642. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.