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Prescribed Fire

Why Work with a Forester?

Managing your land is a big responsibility and the decisions you make today affect your timber value, wildlife habitat, water quality, and overall land health for decades. A consulting or registered forester is your go-to professional for making informed, profitable, and sustainable choices. Working with a forester ensures you’re not leaving money or stewardship opportunities on the table.

Foresters Can Help You:

  • Develop a customized forest or wildlife management plan
  • Understand your timber value and local markets
  • Coordinate harvesting, thinning, or replanting
  • Improve habitat, native species, and long-term forest health
  • Navigate tax programs, cost-share opportunities, and state services
  • Protect your property from invasive species, pests, and wildfire risks

Resources

  • Aunt Fanny Learns Forestry

    A concise, approachable book explaining the key responsibilities, risks, financial measures, and decisions involved in managing timberland as an investment.

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  • GFC BMP Manual

    A practical manual outlining Georgia’s forestry best management practices for protecting water quality during road construction, timber harvesting, site preparation, reforestation, and other forest management activities.

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  • GFC Burn Plan (Excel)

    A downloadable Georgia Forestry Commission workbook for documenting burn objectives, site conditions, weather parameters, smoke-sensitive areas, safety precautions, permits, and contingency plans before a prescribed burn.  

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  • GFC Forest Management 

    Georgia Forestry Commission resources and tools that help landowners plan, manage, and protect their forests through prescribed burning, timber harvesting, reforestation, pest control, and conservation.

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  • GFC Prescribed Burn

    Georgia Forestry Commission guidance on planning and conducting safe prescribed burns, including burn plans, permits, weather conditions, firebreaks, and available assistance.

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  • GFC Prescribed Burn Plan

    Provides a prescribed-burn planning resource for documenting objectives, weather conditions, firebreaks, and maps before a burn.

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  • GFC Water Quality and Best Management Practices

    Explains how landowners can protect streams and other sensitive areas by using forestry best management practices when planning roads, harvests, reforestation, and chemical applications.

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  • Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region (PDF)

    Guides Southern landowners through planning, preparing for, conducting, and evaluating prescribed burns, with checklists and explanations of weather, fuels, smoke, and fire behavior.

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  • Prescribed Burn Associations

    An interactive map and directory that helps landowners find prescribed burn associations and regional fire councils offering local connections, training, and support for conducting prescribed burns.

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  • Prescribed Burning: Using Fire Wisely (PDF)

    Introduces prescribed burning benefits, including reducing wildfire fuels, preparing planting sites, and improving wildlife habitat, and explains the importance of qualified assistance.

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  • UGA Prescribed Fire Guidebook

    A comprehensive, step-by-step guide for Southern landowners covering how to plan, conduct, and evaluate a prescribed burn, with practical guidance on weather, smoke, fuels, fire behavior, safety, and liability.

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  • USDA Prescribed Fire Guidebook

    An introductory USDA Forest Service guide to prescribed fire in Southern forests and grasslands, covering its uses, environmental effects, weather, firing techniques, smoke management, planning, execution, and evaluation.

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