CCCWC members practice fire supression at the Coon Valley Conservation Club, as part of a training lead by the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council.
Sydney here, Watershed Coordinator with the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council.
I’m still coming down from the absolute thrill of my first prescribed burn on Sunday, and am so grateful for the wonderful crew who turned out at the Coon Valley Conservation Club to pick up some prescribed burn basics with the CCCWC, and put good fire on the ground. I wanted to say an especially big thank you to the Conservation Club for trusting us with their prairies, and to the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council for leading such a thoughtful and thorough introduction to this critical landscape process.
Our 17 person crew included seven first time burners and four excellent leaders from the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council. It was a steep and windy (and snowy!) introduction to fire.
Together, we burnt over 3 acres at the Conservation Club to help the club reach their goals of supporting flourishing prairie, promoting soil health and water retention, and protecting wildlife habitat. Along the way, we got familiar with fire behavior, tried our hands at different ignition techniques, and had plenty of practice with fire suppression. But maybe the most rewarding part of the day was getting to know and work alongside Coon Creek neighbors, and build connections around fire that we’ll take beyond this training and on to the lands where we live and work.
Our 17 person crew of first time burners and restoration professionals burnt over 3 acres of prairie at the Coon Valley Conservation Club on April 14 .
I hope Sunday’s training will also ignite future efforts to establish a Prescribed Burn Association in our watershed and the surrounding area, and I look forward to the role our watershed council might play in connecting neighbors with each other and with resources to safely bring more fire to more places in the Driftless. Prescribed Burn Associations are community networks that facilitate the learning, equipment sharing, and volunteer coordination necessary to make prescribed fire an accessible option for average private land owners. Associations are becoming more common in the Western and Southeastern U.S., but despite the long ecologic and cultural history of fire in the Midwest, burn associations are less prevalent here
The Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council is working to address that gap through trainings like yesterday’s, which give communities the experience they need to participate in and organize their own burns. Learn more about the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council at the Coon Creek Confluence, happening 11-5 Saturday May 2nd, at the Chaseburg Ball Park. And stay tuned for more burn trainings this summer!
The CCCWC is able to organize educational oppertunites like this one through generous support from the WI Department of Ariculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection’s Producer-led Watershed Protection Grant, and the Rural Climate Partnership.
