“It’s a dance, choreographed by the wind,

conducted by Amanda …

Fire artisans wield drip torches, and dry grasses bow to the flames.

Lyrics are the radio chatter: ‘copy that’ and ‘I see your smoke’ and ‘winds are changing’ and ‘flames are coming your way’ and ‘spot fire’ and ‘I need water” and ‘tie it off.’

Guardians of the line two-step with water cans,

dodge and breathe smoke.

Rhythms of fast-moving heat and twirling fire devils excite ——-

Then, as quickly,

…it all fades to black.” Blogger poem March, 2024 (S.S.)

We completed all of our 2024 prescribed burns over four long days in March, beginning on the 6th in the north and south units of Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie. The Pleasant Valley burns concluded on March 13. Generally, conditions were very dry and windy, making for challenging, but complete, burns. Smoke movement was predictable, so I was able to avoid it. On March 12 the Wisconsin DNR issued a county-wide burn ban due to “extreme fire danger.” The east sections of the property were burned this year (East Basin, Ridge Prairie, Toby’s Prairie and adjacent sections of woods and savanna, and half of the Pocket Prairie), as well as the Valley and Cabin Prairies (which included the Barn Prairie). We’ve been alternating east and west burns for several years now, with the goal of increasing species diversity (plant, insect, and everything else).

A “prescribed burn” means “to burn on purpose” for the management of fire-dependent communities such as oak savanna’s, prairies, and wetlands. It is medicine for the prairie. Native species are favored, invasives are discouraged. The blackened earth soaks up warm sun and provides nutrients. Deep-rooted and thick-barked native plants thrive, excess dry vegetation is removed. Brush and early-emerging weeds are killed or set back. There is no perfect time of year to burn. We try to burn in spring before the birds begin to nest. But, have the weeds emerged far enough to be set back? Are their shallow roots more susceptible to fire damage than the deep-rooted prairie species? Because of all the variables involved, burning in alternate years, in the spring, fall or in between all are good options, and we have done fall burns when conditions are favorable. I don’t remember a summer burn. Winter fires have targeted brush piles only. A winter marsh fire, anyone?

The crew (Integrated Restoration, Pleasant Valley people and volunteers) put in firebreaks and cleared around trees prior to the burns, as usual. Strong winds this year (15-20 mph) mandated extra careful lighting. That care, ironically, reduced the need to douse lots of woody embers at the end of the day, so-called “mop up.” Every controlled burn is first lit downwind, and the initial backing fire creates a wide, safe black line that separates embers from neighboring units. That black line can be widened more quickly by lighting short (3-6 foot) parallel head fires, ahead of the backing fire. These are fast and intense, but short-lived, low and controlled. And they move quickly past tree trunks. In addition, fires lit directly into the wind (flanking fires) avoid the danger of a head fire, but are more intense and move faster than a backing fire. Wildlife diversity benefits over time from both fast-moving (head) and slow-moving, lower intensity (backing) fires.

Kathie Brock and I re-suppled the crew with water and torch fuel throughout the burns. In addition, we watched for spot fires outside the units and took pictures. Two pairs of red-headed woodpeckers also surveyed our work as they flew back and forth above the smoke at Pleasant Valley.

The last part of a typical burn is called the “tie off.” Two crews finally meet at the upwind end of the unit. The resulting head fire can be wild and intense.

After writing my poem comparing prairie fires to a dance, I asked my new AI friend, Copilot, to write one too. The following erasure poem is the result. To clarify, it is mostly erasure.

”Flames pirouette,

a tango of heat and smoke,

a tempestuous duet.

A dance of life,

fierce and wild.”