Eastern Red Cedar: A Burning issue

Eastern red cedar trees have invaded as much as 30 percent of the grassland along the Missouri River in southern South Dakota, and are slowly invading grasslands to the north. This is not unique to the Missouri and we are seeing similar encroachment in other river valleys in South Dakota, including the James River. Fire is an ecological process and recognized control method, but many ranchers are hesitant to use it because of the fear of a runaway fire. As a result, the conversion of grassland to forest is equal in scale to the loss of grassland to row cropping.
In this video, we visit with Rod Voss (NRCS), Sean Kelly (SDSU) and Ranchers Rich Grim (Gregory Co., SD) and Doug Feltman (Brule Co., SD) to talk about the eastern red cedar and the use of fire to restore rangeland. In this video we summarize the spread of the tree in the last 40-50 years and what it has cost us in terms of grazing, we talk about the role of fire in natural prairie systems, fear versus respect of fire, creating a burn plan, the Mid Missouri River prescribed Burn Association (MMRPBA) - the only one of its kind in South Dakota, and its role in helping producers prepare and execute burn plan, how to prepare the land for a fire including mechanical treatments, ensuring a good fuel load, in small situations where trees are small or large. Finally, we discuss fire return interval as it relates to the eastern red cedar and why it is important to begin addressing this problem now.
In addition to this summary video, we provide more detailed videos (1-2 minutes) that address specific subjects including why we need action now, the role of fire and why mechanical treatment is not enough, more on the burn plan, more on the MMRPBA, more on land preparation fuel loads and ladder fuel, and the concept of a fire return interval. Also, we provide a small case study and the Feltman ranch that demonstrates some of the practical aspects of the burn.
Lastly, we take a deep dive through podcast interviews with Rod Voss who helps us look at the issue from a 30,000 ft level. We also talk about the nuts and bolts of the burn plan and safety with Sean Kelly who is an SDSU Extension agent, is on the MMRPBA board and is a volunteer in the Gregory Count (SD) fire department. The Voss podcast will be available after June 21 2021 and the Kelly podcast will be available after July 5, 2021 at www.growingres... or if you’d like to subscribe on your mobile phone to the Soil Health Labs podcast series under Apple Podcasts.
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