October 2016

N RANCHING

atural Resources

Black Burned Land Leads to Greener Pastures

By Nicole Lane Erceg T

HE AFTERMATH OF A FIRE, EITHER PRESCRIBED OR WILD, can appear devastating to the untrained eye. Once the fl ames die down and the smoke clears,

the land previously abundant with plant life appears to be nothing more than a mass of burned black soil. This depiction of destruction is far from accurate, because the land has simply been wiped clean and given a fresh start; the soil is teeming with plant life beneath the surface. Jeff Goodwin, range and pasture consultant for

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, has nearly 20 years of range management experience under his belt, and previously served as a range management special- ist for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas. He says, “Once the smoke has lifted, the healing process has already begun.” It’s a regenerating cycle natural for the rangelands

of Texas and the Southwest. The native plants evolved under fi re. In the last 150 years, the landscape of Texas has changed through urban sprawl, modern farming techniques and the division of land, interrupting the

98 The Cattleman October 2016

natural cycle of relief fi re previously brought to the landscape. “All of the state of Texas and every square inch of

the state of Oklahoma evolved under fi re frequency,” says Goodwin. “We’ve changed that by plowing up ground, introducing grasses and treating the landscape like farms. The plants that grow here are still the same plants that evolved when the bison were roaming across the prairies and those plants are resistant to fi re and evolved under being burned.” Using prescribed fire, landowners can manage

invasive and native plant species by ridding the land of problematic plant life and speeding the return of nutrients to the soil. This management practice treats the rangeland and plant species using their natural adaptation to fi re. To some, setting a pasture of grass on fi re may seem like the act of a madman. Instead, when used correctly, prescribed fi re is the tool of a smart range manager. While the landscape post-burn appears bleak, with a little bit of time, the results are surpris- ing. The black soil holds promise that the plants will

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