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As the name implies, prescribed fires are those based on a prescription-a carefully
written plan that incorporates many factors such as weather conditions, topography, fuel type and desired
goals into a very specific strategy using fire. For the Water Quality Protection Lands, where the
management goal is to return the land to an oak-juniper savannah, prescribed fires are a method to
reduce brush and control invasive Ashe juniper, mesquite, and prickly pear. They have also been
shown to invigorate native grasses and retard the dominance of a non-native range grass, KR Bluestem.
On Balcones Canyonlands Preserve properties, prescribed fire is being used as a tool for creation and
maintenance of habitat for the endangered black-capped vireo, which requires a fire-successional
"scrub-oak" community. The alternative to prescribed fire is using mechanical or hand clearing
to reduce the brush height which is expensive, takes significantly more time, and is labor-intensive.
It also results in disturbance to the soil and ground cover from repeated vehicle access and leaves
piles of cut and shredded tree and shrub material.
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