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Prescribed Burn Associations

What is a PBA? A Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) is a group of landowners and other interested citizens that collaborate to conduct prescribed burns. Association members pool their knowledge, time, resources and equipment to help other people in their association conduct prescribed burns. No two PBAs operate or function exactly the same, but a main goal is to use fire safely and effectively. Similarly, a Cultural Burn Association (CBA) is a group of Tribal members (and sometimes other interested citizens) that collaborate to conduct cultural burns.

*For clarity and consistency on this website, we’ll be referring to collaborative burn groups, including CBAs and others like Prescribed Fire Cooperatives, as PBAs.

Where are PBAs found? More than 130 PBAs/CBAs are now found in 22 states across the U.S., most of which are depicted on this map. Don’t see your PBA or the coverage area needs updating? Click here to add or update a PBA.

Some states and individual PBAs have their own websites, such as:  Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida’s Northwest Florida and  North Florida, Georgia’s Chattahoochee Fall Line Prescribed Fire Cooperative and Southwest Georgia, IllinoisKansasMissouri, NebraskaNorth Carolina Sandhills, NC Piedmont, NC Southern Blue Ridge, NC TriangleOklahoma, Texas, and Washington.

In addition to the information provided on the above PBA websites, numerous resources and opportunities are available. Some of these have been compiled and are provided below.

Resources for PBA Coordinators/Leadership:

An informal group of PBA Coordinators from around the country has been developed. The group meets online three times per year to provide information on prescribed fire, updates from PBAs in different parts of the country, and the national PBA survey work, in addition to networking opportunities with other Coordinators. Please contact Jennifer Fawcett at jennifer_fawcett@ncsu.edu if you would like to be added to the email list.

Resources for PBAs:

Educational Opportunities

  • e-FIRE – An interactive video course designed for landowners and those new to prescribed fire to learn how to plan, conduct, and evaluate a burn.
  • Online courses – The online “Introduction to Southeast Prescribed Fire” course can be found at http://campus.extension.org (search term: prescribed fire).
  • Certified Burner Courses – If your state provides a Certified Prescribed Burn Manager course, look for upcoming dates in your area!

Burn Demonstration Resources

  • A South Central Texas PBA member developed this small-scale demonstration method for reaching school children and 4-H members, but it could also be used to teach landowners who are new to burning.

Mobile Apps

  • GroupMe App (useful to connect with many people about the burn by only sending a single message)
  • RxBurn Tracker (helps you monitor the long-term effects of burning by storing basic information about a prescribed fire and take pre- and post-burn photos from exactly the same spot over time)
  • Smoke Management Pocket Guide (has 12 basic smoke management guidelines to keep in mind, and a fuel calculator to determine how much available fuel is in your burn unit)

Capture Your Burn Data

John Weir (Oklahoma PBA) is interested in collecting information on all prescribed burns being conducted around the country, especially those from PBAs. Take a few minutes and log your burn into the OPBA burn entry form, or on the OPBA website at www.ok-pba.org under burn entry form.

Fact Sheets

Videos

The NC Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association has their own YouTube Channel.

Webinars

Podcasts

Ozark Prairie PBA – by Beaver Watershed Alliance on March 31, 2021

Brochures

Powerpoint Presentations

Example By-Laws

Example Equipment List/ Sign-out Sheets

Sample Meeting Agendas

Template Agreements/MOUs

Example Newsletters

Signs

Template Burn Plans

Checklists

Protocols & Miscellaneous

Liability 

Articles and Publications about PBAs

Success Stories about PBAs

Books/Chapters about PBAs

News/Media Stories

Do you know of a resource that should be included on this page? If so, please contact jennifer_fawcett@ncsu.edu

By: Jennifer Fawcett, Extension Specialist, NC State Extension

Last updated: August 16, 2024, 2024