Savanna / Woodland Discussion

-We need to educate people about forest and fires. Smokey Bear has been telling people for 50 years that forests and fire doesn’t mix – a message which leaves people with the impression that forests must never burn under any circumstances.

-Landowners may have the perception that we will "burn down the woods", they need to understand the fuels and how those fuels actually burn.

-Fire was a component of most landscapes in Iowa

-Need a spectrum of conditions - savanna, woodland, "Grey areas".

-Savannas generally greatly benefit edge species

-In areas you are burning to regenerate oak, do you need to regenerate oak yet?

-A burn in maple-basswood forests in the fall will work to kill understory where bottomlands don’t work as well.

-Invasive shrubs are hard to get rid of with fire, but thin-barked trees will die relatively quickly.

-Need good examples for foresters and land managers and the public to look at.

-GLO land records indicate pre-settlement vegetation, a lot of which was originally savanna, but may have been considered "forest" by later-day classifiers.

-Savanna is more that bur oak, thee are evidence and examples of white, red and black oak savannas.

-You won’t see true prairie spp. in a true woodland

-We need to better define savanna and woodland.

-We need more local experience and research on savanna

-We shouldn’t let lack of research stop us from experimentation, but document your activities

-Need to be careful where we experiment

-Potentially large amounts of restorable savanna out there.

-Iowa soils and climate work are more favorable to tree invasion with the lack of fire.

-Need to know what soil types are savanna.

-There seems to be not much effect on Garlic Mustard using fire. A torch can kill live plants, but is time consuming.

-Burn at all times of the year, but document it.

-Frequency - every year tens to favor grass. - every couple of years favors forbs, and gets rid of understory. - Every five years doesn’t do much to the understory.

-A dendrochronological study showed a history of fire every couple of years and a large fire every five years or so.

-Native Americans had a large influence on the landscape

-Forester’s are a good resource to use if you want to just kill understory first. They know what does and doesn’t work using mechanical and chemical means.

-Soil maps and the "old ones" (old wolf trees) are good indicators of savanna. Maps of original vegetation are available on the IA DNR website to download.

-You can use 40% Roundup to kill shrubs/trees if you don’t want to use Tordon.

-Invasive species are a major detriment. They will not be sold after 2001 at the state nursery. Noxious weed list needs to be longer.

-We need to keep control areas too, to notice changes.

-Need sources of native fire-tolerant shrubs for riparian buffer zones.

-Firebreaks in woodlands. don’t have to be very big. Can use a rake or a leaf blower. If mown, keep them green. Look at your woods and also remove fuel from large snags that can chimney.

-Smokey Bear says "Be careful with fire", not don’t burn. But the campaign it has a long-standing history of opposing any kind of wild fire, an impression which is hard to combat.

-Fire doesn’t belong everywhere. Choose your sites carefully.

-Chain saws and an ATV with a tank are useful tools in savanna restoration.