Sponsors: Ruffed Grouse Society & the American Woodcock Society, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida

Presenter: Nick Biemiller, Forest Conservation Director, Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society

Webinar Description:
Prescribed burn associations (PBAs) are cooperative units of private landowners that pool resources to achieve scale that allows them to overcome barriers to prescribed burning. PBAs are currently most common among ranchers in the Great Plains to manage grasslands, however there is growing interest in the replication of PBAs to the application of family forest landowners in the eastern and western United States.

This study identified major structural themes associated with PBAs in the United States and analyzed interactions between those themes using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis framework. The interactions between PBA structural themes were contextualized based on biophysical, socioeconomic, and demographic differences between ranchers in the Midwest and family forest landowners elsewhere in the country, providing insight for practitioners and policy-makers to improve strategic planning for PBA expansion and replication.