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Prescribed Range Burning in the Coastal Prairie and Eastern Rio Grande Plains of Texas The Texas A&l University System Daniel c. Pfamstii. Diector U Texas Cdege Station. Texas Agricultural Extension Service - Partial cost of this publication was provided by a grant from the Monsanto Wildfire Retardant Center, Ontario, California. Cover Photos: Front - Prescribed burn in previously herbicide treated mesquite-whitebrush near Cotulla, Texas, February 26, 1979. Back - Vegetation response May 1979 following the prescribed burn of February 26, 1979, near Cotulla, Texas. Note the openness of brush and excellent response of California cottontop (Digitaria californica). PRESCRIBED RANGE BURNING IN THE COASTAL PRAIRIE AND EASTERN RIO GRANDE PLAINS OF TEXAS Proceedings of a Symposium held October 16, 1980 at Kingsville, Texas Edited by C. Wayne Hanselka September 1980 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF PRESCRIBED RANGE BURNING ON THE COASTAL PRAIRIE AND EASTERN RIO GRANDE PLAINS by Stephen J. Kleberg . 1 THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF FIRE ON SOUTH TEXAS RANGELANDS by C. Wayne Hanselka . 2 RANGE AND RANCH MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROPER USE OF PRESCRIBED BURNING by Wayne T. Hamilton . 19 PRINCIPLES, REQUIREMENTS, AND TECHNIQUES FOR PRESCRIBED RANGE BURNING by Larry D. White . 30 INTEGRATION OF PRESCRIBED BURNING WITH OTHER PRACTICES IN BRUSH MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS byC.J.Scifres . ...65 RANGE BURNING AND WILDLIFE HABITAT byBillKiel.............................72 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS AND REGULATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH RANGE BURNING by Gary I. Wallin . 77 GULF CORDGRASS: DISTRIBUTION, ECOLOGY, AND RESPONSES TO PRESCRIBED BURNING by C. J. Scifres and D. L. Drawe . 83 FIRE EFFECTS ON DEEP SAND RANGE SITES IN SOUTH TEXAS byJ.L.Mutz............................93 THE ROLE OF FIRE IN THE COASTAL PRAIRIE by D. Lynn Drawe. 101 PRESCRIBED BURNING OF IMPROVED PASTURES by Wayne T. Hamilton. 114 AUTHORS Dr. D. Lynn Drawe, Assistant Director, Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Founda- tion, Sinton. Mr. Wayne Hamilton, Lecturer, Department of Range Science, Texas A&M Univer- sity, College Station. Dr. C. Wayne Hanselka, Area Range Specialist, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Corpus Christi. ilr. Bill Kiel, Wildlife Biologist, King Ranch, Inc., Kingsville. Mr. Stephen J. Kleberg, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer, King Ranch, Inc., Kingsville. Mr. James L. Mutz, Assistant Range Scientist, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Corpus Christi. Dr. Charles Scifres, Professor, Department of Range Science, Texas A&M Uni- versity, College Station. Mr. Gary Wallin, Agricultural Engineer, Texas Air Control Board, Austin. Dr. Larry D. White, Area Range Specialist, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Uvalde. EQUIVALENT MEASURES Metric English Unit EquivaZent Centimeter 0.394 inch Hectare 2.47 acres Kilogram 2.205 pounds Kilogram per hectare 0.893 pounds per acre Kilometer 0.62 statute mile Kilometer per hour 0.62 miles per hour Liter 0.264 gallons Meter 3.28 feet Square meter 10.758 square feet (Degrees centigrade x 9/5) Degrees fahrenheit + 32 INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF PRESCRIBED RANGE BURNING ON THE COASTAL PRAIRIE AND EASTERN RIO GRANDE PLAINS Stephen J. Kleberg Today's Symposium on Prescribed Range Burning is one of several that will be presented periodically throughout the state by the Texas Agricul- tural Extension Service. The main objective of today's Symposium is to provide an atmosphere in which there will be a free exchange of ideas and experiences on the topic of prescribed burning. We have some of the fore- most speakers and researchers in this respective field here today to present the most up-to-date and pertinent information on the uses of prescribed burning as a range management tool. Range managers should take this oppor- tunity to benefit from the exchange of ideas and experiences to be prey sented.and hopefully, they will be able to take some of the techniques on the uses of prescribed burning and apply them to their own unique situations. The potential use of fire as a range management tool is becoming of increasing interest to range managers due to the ever escalating costs of alternative control methods. Fire is by no means a cure-all but if used wisely and with proper execution it can be a very useful tool. If used improperly, it can also have tremendously disastrous effects on rangelands. There is still much to be learned about the use and application of fire as a range management tool. Whether a prescribed burn can be recom- mended for a particular situation depends on the site, composition of the vegetation, and the objectives of management. The application of prescribed burning should be integrated into an overall management plan with the pri- mary reasons for the use of fire being to increase herbage yields, increase availability of forages, improve utilization of coarse grasses, control various parasites (such as ticks and liver flukes), stimulate early growth of grasses, removal of old growth, and improve wildlife habitat. Most of these objectives can be achieved simultaneously at a reasonable cost with a well planned burn. Today's papers will help you develop a basis pro or con on the use of prescribed burning in the Coastal Prairie and Eastern Rio Grande Plains. Those of you interested in the uses of prescribed burning should try to extract as much information as possible from the wealth of knowledge to be presented and apply it to your particular situation. We are very pleased with your attendance at this Symposium, and we are sure that you will leave today with many thought provoking ideas on pre- scribed burning. Please feel free to ask questions of the speakers, researchers, and ranchers here today, and be sure to avail yourself to the personal experiences of the ranchers on our panel this afternoon. We are all here to learn!! THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF FIRE ON SOUTH TEXAS RANGELANDS C. Wayne Hanselka INTRODUCTION The human species developed and evolved in a fire environment - the grasslands and savannahs of Africa and Asia (Komarek 1967). Early man learned to use fire (Sauer 1950) but yet feared, revered, and even worshipped it. Modern man retains many of these conflicting emotions as conditioned by experi- ence and tradition. Fire is thought of today as a useful servant but, at the same time, is still considered an agent of destruction. Pastoral peoples have historically used fire as a tool in clearing lands or otherwise improving pasturelands for their livestock. The advent of a more intensified agriculture and the need for more grass on smaller acreages coupled with the destructive aspects of wild fires has forced a change in philosophy away from the use of fire in land management. Increased technology in mechanical and chemical brush control techniques reinforced the attitude that fire was unnecessary and undesirable. Currently, however, a combination of factors are forcing yet another shift in attitudes back toward a reexamina- tion of fire's potential on rangelands. Scifres (1980) lists several of these factors including economics, additional benefits, compatability with wildlife needs, and our improved understanding of fire ecology. There is an increased awareness of the vast difference between controlled, prescribed burning and wild uncontrolled fire. Research over the past 20 years has increased our understanding of both the rewards and penalties of the use of prescribed fire. Techniques of prescribed burning have been developed and tested. Many land managers are now much more amenable to burning than in the recent past. This renewed interest, however, should be tempered with caution and understanding. The state of the art should be examined and all possible knowledge obtained before "striking a match". The use of fire in range management may be examined on the basis of the historical record. As Malin (1953) stated, "The first task is to ascertain and classify the historical evidence; and not until that has been done can biolog- ical investigation proceed with much profit." With this in mind, the purposes of this paper are four-fold. They are: (1) to explore the past and present aspect of south Texas ranges and explain changes that have occurred through time; (2) to trace historical events that have had a bearing on the present vegetation; (3) to develop a theoretical and conceptual framework on the role that fire has had in shaping the ranges of south Texas; and (4) to develop a foundation for materials to be presented in succeed- ing papers. 2 The area under consideration is generally bounded by Interstate 35 on the west and northwest, U.S. 90 on the north, the Gulf of Mexico on the-east, and the Rio Grande on the south. This area encompasses the eastern portions of the Rio Grande Plains,the central and southern Coastal Prairies, and exten- sions of the Blackland Prairie vegetation regions. PAST AND PRESENT GRASSLANDS IN SOUTH TEXAS In order to analyze the influence a factor may have in ecological relationships, one must be able to isolate that factor and to measure any stimulus a change in factor intensity may have. Fortunately, we do have a historical record of fire in the south Texas area. We also have a record of general aspects of the vegetation over different portions of the area from 1580 to the present. In spite of inherent differences in observations and reporting by early travelers, a trend was established in vegetative change (Inglis 1964). Originally, the Rio Grande Plain was largely prairie that gradually was replaced by brush by the end of the 19th century. However, brush species have always been inhabitants of the area during historic times. Pollen analysis from sites near Del Rio indicate that southwest Texas was relatively more moist around 8000 B.C. (Johnson 1963), but a drying trend had occurred by 2000 B.C. - 1000 A.D. Arid land trees and shrubs, such as mesquite, began to increase (Hester 1980).

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