Session to tell Ozark Fire History, current uses of fire

Landowners who are considering using controlled burns but are wondering if it can be done safely, or if it is worthwhile, are invited to attend an upcoming panel discussion, “Fire benefits Ozark landscapes.” 

The session will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Hammond Mill Camp, during the 43rd annual Ozark Area Community Congress (OACC, aka ‘oak’).

Panelists will cover scientific underpinnings of fire ecology and share practical know-how that could help landowners and future fire workers to use fire safely.

“We’ve assembled a topnotch panel of fire professionals,” said event organizer Denise Henderson Vaughn. “We’re especially honored that pioneer fire science researcher Rich Guyette will join us.” 

In the 1990s, Guyette, a University of Missouri forestry professor, now retired, conducted groundbreaking research, studying growth rings in ancient pine tree stumps. Observing fire scars, he documented the extent and frequency of wildfires in forests within the Current River Watershed during the past 400 years.

“Rich Guyette and other scientists have shown us that for hundreds of years before settlement, many species in Ozark landscapes had adapted to frequent fires,” said Vaughn. These fires occurred in part because Native Americans burned to enhance forage for the grazing animals they hunted. Today, prescribed fire can still promote forage growth, and it can improve habitat for rare plant and animals in fire-adapted places, like glades and woodlands. Plus, prescribed fire reduces forest fuels and lowers risk of catastrophic wildfire, she said.

Panelists also include a forest ecologist, a prescribed fire boss, landowners who burn, a fire ecologist, and a wildland firefighter.

Rose-Marie Muzika co-authored several scientific research papers with Guyette while she was a forest ecology professor at the University of Missouri. She is currently Director of Science, Research and Collections at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA.

Dan Drees is fire ecologist for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and the National Parks in Arkansas. He has over 30 years experience with prescribed fire. 

Susan Farrington, with her husband Dan Drees, owns 218 acres near the Current River, which they regularly burn. Susan is a natural history biologist and prescribed fire burn boss with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Ozark Region.

Robert Langellier is a former wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service who now conducts prescribed fires for Missouri State Parks. Also a writer, he is author of “Into the Fire,” published October 2021 in Esquire, which recounts a brutal year on a hotshot firefighting crew.

Educational handouts about fire science and prescribed fire will be available free, courtesy of the panelists and the Oak Woodlands and Forests Fire Consortium, an organization devoted to providing fire science information.

Cooperation among landowners to conduct controlled burns has led to the formation of five Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) in other parts of Missouri, and Vaughn said she wonders if residents in south central Missouri might band together to help each other burn safely. Attendees can sign up to participate in a PBA, if one forms locally. If not attending, contact Vaughn at dhvaughn@socket.net to be put on a list to receive information as it develops. 

Cost for attending the 1:30 p.m. prescribed fire panel discussion is $20. For the whole day, cost is $35, which includes lunch and dinner. 

Since 1980, OACC has been a forum for discussions on the natural and economic characteristics in the Ozarks, and a place to become informed about significant environmental issues affecting residents, said organizers.

For more information about the fire panel or other activities at OACC, visit Ozarkareacommunitycongress.org. Register online for the panel discussion at this link, or pay cash at the door (no cards). The camp is located at 138 Hammond Mill Drive, Pottersville, MO, 65790.