Private Forestry Update By: Eric H. Hoyer, C.F. and C.B.M. Legacy Forestry Services, A Division of Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc. 1

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Background How is prescribed burning used by private foresters? Why they burn? How much do they burn? Who do they burn for? 3

Survey Not an official survey… wanted to include other opinions & perspectives Focuses on Rx burning for forestry purposes only (in central FL) Sent out to approx. 8 foresters Private consulting companies Own a business Work for private landowners 4 respondents (50 % response rate) Historical questions: last 5 years 4

Location 5 Source: Florida Forestry Service

Historical Average No. of Rx Burns / Year 6 Respondents

Avg. Number Burns/Year Historically: # 1: 10 # 2: 66 # 3: 3-5 # 4: 5 Last Year: # 1: 2 # 2: 84 # 3: 5 # 4: 10 7

Average Number of Acres/Burn Respondent # 1: 25 Respondent # 2: 223 Respondent # 3: 50 Respondent # 4: 30 8

Client Types Historically: – government entities % – Private landowners % Currently: – government entities % -One respondent listed current governmental burns as 10 % -Private landowners % -Same respondent consequently listed current private burns as 90 % 9

Do You Reduce Your Burning Costs for Governmental Entities? Yes – 1 No

Demand Is demand for prescribed burning on forestry land increasing, decreasing or remaining the same? – Increasing (half of respondents) – Same (other half) 11

Equipment Ownership Varies Greatly – Owned all equipment & do not rely on others (25 %) – Primarily owned, but sometimes will contract out for standby (25 %) – Uses a combination of both owned & contracted equipment (25 %) – Primarily uses contracted equipment for standby (25 %) 12

Night Time Burning Three respondents said they do not do any night time burning One respondent does do night time burning 13

Purpose of Burns Purposes Varied: – Fuel Reduction – Habitat Enhancement – Ecological Restoration – Hazard Removal 2 most common reasons: – Fuel Reduction – Ecological Restoration 14

Concerns / Issues Availability of suppression resources Weather (esp. during droughty conditions). - Difficulty meeting burning goals. Increased urbanization & smoke management Increased $ to conduct burns (esp. for 100 % mop up) Safety to crew and to the public - Government entities should consider if they want to close areas when prescribed burns are in progress/active Some public landowners and local fire rescue entities requiring “next day” patrolling for ANY residual smoke 15

Additional Comments Enjoy what we do. Positive impact - making urban areas safer As demand increases, $ becomes increasingly competitive despite increased safety concerns – Esp. as Florida becomes more developed Contract burns are typically the “problem burns” Some local fire rescue entities feel they have authority over wildland burning. – put pressure on landowners. 16

Questions? Thank you! Eric Hoyer Legacy Forestry Services, A Division of Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc. P.O. Box 564 San Antonio, FL (352)