A new National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) video attesting to the validity and value of prescribed burning in the Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska rangeland is eliciting positive reviews in pre-release screenings by range management groups.
“This impactful video provides an inside look into the perspectives of ranchers and researchers that are practicing advanced and pioneering land stewardship for the betterment of the land and resources, and ultimately their livestock production,” said the Society for Range Management.
The video, Fire Up Your Beef Production, draws on the experiences of cattle producers in the region and is but one tactic in NBCI’s “reconnecting cattle with quail” strategy to restore wild bobwhite quail on a landscape scale across 25 states.
“NBCI’s driving purpose is bobwhite quail, long known as the ‘fire bird,’” said NBCI Grasslands Coordinator Jef Hodges. “But a healthy rangeland is fundamental to healthy bobwhite habitat. As it so happens, there are solid economic reasons beyond wildlife habitat that ranchers should embrace prescribed fire on a regular basis to achieve a healthy rangeland. We identified a group of ranchers to tell their stories because ranchers listen to other ranchers.”
The video, in both long and short versions, is available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/user/BringBackBobwhites/videos. Entities interested in obtaining copies for group screenings may contact Alyssa Merka at amerka@utk.edu for copies on DVDs or flash drives.
What They’re Saying About “Fire Up Your Beef Production”
“This impactful video provides an inside look into the perspectives of ranchers and researchers that are practicing advanced and pioneering land stewardship for the betterment of the land and resources, and ultimately their livestock production. We, as a society, support increased awareness of the practices of prescribed burning to improve rangelands and encourage promotion of education that provides expertise in climate-soil-plant-animal complex in relation to human needs and uses of resources such as this.”
Society for Range Management
Our ecosystem in the Southern Great Plains naturally developed with fire and grazing. It needs both fire and grazing to be healthy. Therefore, fire and grazing are processes that must be used correctly. We must use science-based information, practical knowledge, and common sense when prescribing and implementing fire and grazing. This video does a nice job of communicating and demonstrating the importance of these two processes that are absolutely essential to managing plant communities in Southern Great Plains.
Russell Stevens, Range & Wildlife Consultant, Noble Research Institute LLC
… a great job … It is good to see private landowners express their prescribed fire management views and understanding of the ecological processes at work by bringing fire back into the system.
Chuck Stanley, Rangeland Management Specialist, Central National Technology Support Center, Natural Resources Conservation Service
“Why burn prairie grasslands? Ranchers clearly state the benefits in this National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative video. Increased livestock gains, better biodiversity, more wildlife- prescribed fire is the one practice that delivers all of these.”
Carol Baldwin, Ph.D., Great Plains Fire Science Exchange
