Fact Sheet

Prescribed burning is often an underutilized tool by land managers, but its use could drastically improve timber lands in the southeast. Baker County is made up of 377,000 acres, 86% of which is devoted to timber production. The North Florida Prescribed Burn Association and the Baker County Landowners group have recently been founded and are aiming at increasing the use of prescribed burning in the county to manage private and public timber lands. The Tools for the Toolbox: Prescribed Fire fact sheet was developed in order to be distributed to attendees of the Learn & Burn program, members of the North Florida Prescribed Burn Association and the Baker County Landowners group. The objective of the fact sheet was to introduce basic concepts of prescribed burning, its uses in pine stand management, and provide further resources from other agencies. Not only is the fact sheet intended to educate land managers, but also to attract managers to the idea of implementing fire on their lands. The use of high quality, attractive photos from burns done in Baker County help highlight the concepts and get readers excited about burning. To date, 50 copies were distributed to attendees of a Learn & Burn program and 300 individuals received the fact sheet electronically. Future use of the fact sheet will include distributions to the general public to improve the acceptance of prescribed burning as a useful tool and not a hinderance to community life.