Learn-N-Burn Trailer Makes Debut
Keep your eyes peeled across Indiana for the newly minted Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources
Extension Learn-N-Burn Trailer. The trailer, which will be utilized by Extension Prescribed Fire Specialist Danielle Howard, will be instrumental in training workshops throughout Indiana.
“"Getting access to equipment can be a big hurdle for private landowners who are just starting to use prescribed fire,” Howard explained. “The Learn-N-Burn trailer will allow new burners to safely get hands-on experience, which is the first step in making fire a more widely used tool across Indiana."
Learn-N-Burn workshops help train private landowners, conservation professionals and contractors to become certified prescribed burn managers. Howard and FNR aim to complete a minimum of three trainings per year with an expected audience of at least 25 people per event.
The trailer also will be used to assist future Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) with training burns on private lands. PBAs are collections of landowners who work together to help each other conduct prescribed burns. Currently there is one PBA in Indiana, however partners in Indiana from Purdue to the Sam Shine Foundation and the Indiana Prescribed Fire Council are making a concerted effort to establish PBAs in the state over the next few years.
The Learn-N-Burn trailer is modeled after similar burn trailers that have been created with National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) funding in other states and utilized for training and outreach. In Missouri, the trailers have been a vital component in helping with training and helping PBAs with local burns.
“Indiana falls within the heart of our Roots to Roost Regional hub,” said Ryan Boyer, NWTF Midwest Director of Conservation Operations. “Our initiative specifically outlines goals tied to expanding the implementation of prescribed fire in the region to incorporate the disturbance needed to set back succession and promote the vegetative response our birds need for nesting and brood rearing cover. The NWTF Roots to Roost region is more than 90% privately owned across eight states and providing support to help implement and promote more active management on private lands is vital to moving the needle for our beloved game bird. This work will also improve habitat for other ground nesting game birds and non-game species."
The state chapter of NWTF provided the primary funding for the trailer, while the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, The Nature Conservancy, Sam Shine Foundation and the Indiana Prescribed Fire Council also provided support.
“The NWTF State Board supports projects like the burn trailer because habitat management is so critical to the success of turkey and other game birds in the state of Indiana,” said Mike Bonin, president of the Indiana NWTF Board of Directors. “Controlled burning is a great tool and educating people to use it properly will continue growing a healthy population of turkeys in the future.”
The trailer, which will be housed and maintained by Purdue FNR, is outfitted with all necessary equipment
and personal protective equipment (PPE) to safely and properly conduct a prescribed fire. Equipment includes: drip torches, flappers, rakes and McCloeds, rogue hoes, water pumps, Nomex clothing and personal protective equipment, backpack leaf blowers, chainsaws, weather monitors, radios and road signs.
In addition, the trailer is easily recognizable by its brightly colored graphics featuring prescribed burns and the landscapes that benefit from them. It will be displayed at public events, such as a fire festival planned for southern Indiana in 2027.
“The Learn-N-Burn trailer will be a key tool for getting more good fire on the ground in Indiana,” Purdue extension wildlife specialist Jarred Brooke said. “We will be able to pull up to a site or training with everything needed to conduct a safe prescribed fire. It also will serve as a rolling billboard highlighting the ecological role of fire in Indiana’s ecosystems."
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