Tallahassee, Fla.– This week, Agriculture Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried and the Florida Forest Service are highlighting prescribed fire and its role in public safety as well as maintaining the health of Florida’s agriculture and natural lands during Florida’s Prescribed Fire Awareness Week, January 26 – February 1.
“Prescribed fire is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensuring the health of our natural habitats and protecting Florida’s residents and visitors by reducing the risk of wildfire,” stated Commissioner Fried. “These controlled burns reduce life-threatening wildfires, increasing public safety and the safety of our wildland firefighters.”
Prescribed fires, or controlled burns, use slow-moving, low-grade fire to reduce brush and overgrowth that would otherwise serve as fuel for a dangerous wildfire. By using prescribed fire in an area that poses a high wildfire risk, a future wildfire in the same area will be less intense, less dangerous and easier to extinguish. In addition to reducing wildfire risk, prescribed fires return nutrients to the soil, provide better forage for wildlife and livestock, and help control certain plant and tree diseases.
“Prescribed fire is one of the most valuable land management tools to reduce wildfire threats and to restore forest health, which maintains the balance of Florida’s fire-dependent ecosystems,” said Jim Karels, State Forester and Director of the Florida Forest Service. “With a long-term, sustained approach, we can reduce the impact of potential catastrophic wildfires such as those taking place in Australia and California.”
The Florida Forest Service oversees the largest prescribed burning program in the United States. The state agency also administers Florida’s Certified Prescribed Burn Manager program, a course designed to train individuals in public and private agencies and organizations that are charged with the responsibility of performing prescribed fires.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire on more than 26 million acres.
