The proper and careful use of fire in managing woodlands is a time-honored practice.
Native Americans routinely burned the forests around them to aid farming, improve hunting and protect villages from uncontrolled wildfire.
Early settlers copied the practice, continuing to use fire as a tool for managing woodlands.
But the role of fire in maintaining Ohio’s clean, healthy forests was largely lost in the 1900s. The result was a buildup of dead, woody materials that fuel more than 800 wildfires in the state yearly and threaten dozens of homes and other structures.
Even more telling, the absence of fire allowed invasive plants to flourish and fostered the decline of the mighty oak as Ohio’s dominant tree species.
Oak trees are the keystone species of the forest ecosystem within Ohio. And when deer, squirrel, wild turkey and other forest wildlife are at a loss for acorns – an important food source – their populations suffer. Oak is also highly valued by woodworkers and the state’s $15 billion forest products industry.