Prescribed burns take significant planning and coordination. The strong partnerships found in the Puget Sound Ecological Burn Program make ones like this burn on Johnson Prairie possible.

A Puget Sound Ecological Burn Program crew establishes a blackline at Johnson Prairie. A blackline is a control line established using fire to strengthen containment of the main prescribed burn.

The crew listens as the Burn Boss gives the pre-burn briefing. These briefings include crew organization and assignment, current and future weather conditions, and objectives and plan for the upcoming burn.

The federally endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly is found only on limited prairie sites through Washington and Oregon. These butterflies rely on prairie flowers as larvae and nectar sources. The Puget balsamroot seen here is one such nectar source. 

Prairie flowers are adapted to frequent fire and responded well after this burn on Glacial Heritage Preserve in Thurston County.

Oak woodlands like this were once much more abundant in the Puget Sound region. Land conversion and fire suppression have reduced the extent of these important and diverse ecosystems.

Crews apply fire to the understory of these oak woodlands to open up the canopy, promote native plant growth, and reduce invasives.

The streaked horned lark is a federally threatened bird that prefers open landscapes like the prairies and fields of the south Puget Sound region. Prescribed burning is used to maintain these prairies and keep plants relatively low and sparse, important habitat characteristics for larks.

Puget Sound Ecological Burn Program crew members maintain the fire line on a burn in a recently released oak savannah at Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve.

A Puget Sound Ecological Burn Program crew member burns part of the prairie that has been set aside as a research plot to answer questions about how variations in fire intensity affect butterfly habitat. Research such as this increases our understanding of how fire can help improve future management.