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, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina Sandhills, NC Piedmont, NC Southern Blue Ridge, NC Triangle, Oklahoma, 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
- The Value of Forming a PBA (2016)
- Prescribed Burn Associations (2015)
Videos
The NC Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association has their own YouTube Channel.
Webinars
- Prescribed Burn Associations in the Southeast – A Conversation With Experts – April 28, 2021
- Potential Applications of Prescribed Burn Associations for Family Forest Landowners – March 24, 2021
- Prescribed Burn Associations: Different Models for Different Places – Webinar 12-10-20
- Prescribed Burn Associations: Land Owners Effectively Applying Fire to the Land – January 2017
- Prescribed Fire Techniques, Planning, and Precautions in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas – October 31, 2013
Podcasts
Ozark Prairie PBA – by Beaver Watershed Alliance on March 31, 2021
Brochures
Powerpoint Presentations
Example By-Laws
Example Equipment List/ Sign-out Sheets
- North Central Range Improvement Association PBA
- Video on kitting out a burn trailer (Talbot County in West Central Georgia)
- Building a burn trailer to support your community’s prescribed fire efforts
Sample Meeting Agendas
Template Agreements/MOUs
Example Newsletters
- North Florida PBA “Fire in the Pines” Newsletter:
Signs
Template Burn Plans
Checklists
- North Central Range Improvement Association PBA Preburn Safety Checklist
- NC Sandhills PBA Checklist for Private Landowners
Protocols & Miscellaneous
- Prescribed Burn Protocol North Central Range Improvement Association PBA
- Release Form North Central Range Improvement Association
- SO YOU WANT TO BURN YOUR PROPERTY? What to do as a North Central Range Improvement Association PBA Member
- NC Sandhills PBA Landowner Decision Tree
- The Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association White Paper
Liability
- Prescribed Fire Liability Report for the Southern United States: A Summary of Statutes & Cases (2024)
- Prescribed Fire: Understanding Liability, Laws and Risk (2020)
- Prescribed fire liability factsheet: standards of care by state (2016)
- Legal Liability for Prescribed Fire Accidents in the Southeast Webinar (2016)
Articles and Publications about PBAs
- A Guide For Wildlife Management Associations and Co-ops (2004)
- Prescribed Burning Cooperatives: Empowering and Equipping Ranchers to Manage Rangelands (2005)
- Prescribed Burning Associations: Landowners Effectively Applying Fire to the Land (2010)
- The rising Great Plains fire campaign: citizens’ response to woody plant encroachment (2013)
- The role of prescribed burn associations in the application of prescribed fires in rangeland ecosystems (2014)
- Prescribed burn association activity, needs, and safety record: A survey of the Great Plains (2015)
- From Grassroots to National Alliance: The Emerging Trajectory for Landowner Prescribed Burn Associations (2016)
- Great Plains Fire Tour Visits the Mid-Missouri River Prescribed Burn Association (2018)
- Prescribed Burn Associations in the United States: The Potential Application to Family Forest Landowners (2020)
- Linking Social Dynamics to Private Land Management: A Study of Prescribed Burn Associations in Northern California (2023)
- Private landowner interest in prescribed fire in California: findings from workshops in the Sierra Nevada (2024)
- The perceived barriers among Prescribed Burn Association members to burning on Kansas Grasslands and Conservation Reserve Program Lands (2024)
Success Stories about PBAs
Books/Chapters about PBAs
- Global Application of Prescribed Fire – Chapter 11: Prescribed Burn Associations (2022)
News/Media Stories
- Lumbee tribe returns fire to the soil to restore cultural and ecological heritage – July 29, 2024
- Burning the Forest for the Trees – June 27, 2024
- The tree’s truth: Once dominant, longleaf pines face the growing threat of climate change – May 9, 2024
- Prescribed burn associations ignite the future – May 27, 2024
- Rogue Valley PBA Helps Deliver Fire Education for Youth – February 15, 2024
- Fire Returned: Fire is for everyone – June 13, 2022
- How these neighbors use fire to revitalize their communities, and land – June 7, 2022
- Back From the Brink: Restoring Prairies With Fire – December 11, 2021
- New prescribed burn association forms in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties – October 4, 2021
- Local prescribed burn association established amid devastating wildfire season – August 24, 2021
- Regular people learn to do prescribed burns – May 22, 2021
- California’s first Prescribed Burn Association shows why we need more in the state – August 12, 2019
- Land Owners Get ‘How To’ Lesson on Controlled Burns – May 3, 2016
- Burn Association Hosts Annual Meeting And Rolls Out Website – August 13, 2009
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