Burn management of nesting cover on D.U. Manitoba projects : D.B. Wark. a report on 1985 results and plans for future evaluation /

Controlled burns have long been employed as a means of maintaining good quality grassland nesting cover in the United States. Such techniques and their results are well documented by Duebbert et. al. 1981, Kirsch and Kruse 1973, Linne 1978, Anderson 1973. As a recent result of deterioration in nesting cover, Ducks Unlimited staff have taken remedial action on a number of dense nesting cover (D.N.C.) plots and islands associated with projects in Manitoba. The objectives of this program are to monitor changes in stand vigor on post burn cover and to develop guidelines for timing of managed burns. This will enable us to make our grassland management program efficient in the same manner as drawdown evaluation aided our marsh management (Wark and Sopuck 1984).Guidelines regarding timing and frequency of burns, desirable seed mixtures, staff requirements, etc. will be developed as a result of this work. Items directly related to nesting use over the short and long term will be monitored. U