Prescribed burns?

[broomeguy]

Was thinking of burning a couple acres of my woodlot. Are prescribed burns legal in NYS? Anyone have experience with the process?

[ZAG]

3 hours ago, broomeguy said:

Was thinking of burning a couple acres of my woodlot. Are prescribed burns legal in NYS? Anyone have experience with the process?

I know the dec does them. I think you can but id call your regional office.

[Mike103]

They have done several on LI recently. But on public land.

[G-man]

Yes you can do them need permit from Dec.  

[escpen]

17 minutes ago, G-man said:

Yes you can do them need permit from Dec.  

 I’ve been told by my local DEC and NRCS office that they won’t grant permits due to liability concerns. Very irritating because I’d really like to use it as a management tool.  Maybe other areas of the state are different.

[G-man]

5 minutes ago, escpen said:

 I’ve been told by my local DEC and NRCS office that they won’t grant permits due to liability concerns. Very irritating because I’d really like to use it as a management tool.  Maybe other areas of the state are different.

I'd go regional dec office  .  And  cornell cooperative extension.   As well as soil n  water district..  someone should be able to help you

[escpen]

8 hours ago, G-man said:

I'd go regional dec office  .  And  cornell cooperative extension.   As well as soil n  water district..  someone should be able to help you

I’ll try Cornell cooperative extension - I’ve tried the others already, but CCE is worth a shot. 

[Robhuntandfish]

ask your local fire dept.  They will know since they would have to be alerted anyway.  Hell they might even do it for you for training. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Robhuntandfish

[LET EM GROW]

Its not easily done here, Call your local FD. Ask them, I found these thigs out the hard way after a burn barrel caught back on fire after we left our camp years ago. Though times have changed drastically since then.. 

[riverrat]

I call the county fire management and tell them when I'm going to burn. Never had a problem.

[Gobbler Chaser]

You're playing with fire. You really need to know what your doing and have proper water source and personal on hand. The DEC does them. And no it's not legal to do land burns in NY. If you lose control and the fire moves to neighboring properties threatening people's homes and property you'll be held liable and have neighbors who want to kill you. You can burn brush piles on more than 5 acres but not longer than 24hrs. On less than 5 acres a fire has to be less than 4 foot in diameter and can not be left unattended and completely extinguished when left.

[Gobbler Chaser]

https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/32060.html

[riverrat]

21 minutes ago, Gobbler Chaser said:

You're playing with fire. You really need to know what your doing and have proper water source and personal on hand. The DEC does them. And no it's not legal to do land burns in NY. If you lose control and the fire moves to neighboring properties threatening people's homes and property you'll be held liable and have neighbors who want to kill you. You can burn brush piles on more than 5 acres but not longer than 24hrs. On less than 5 acres a fire has to be less than 4 foot in diameter and can not be left unattended and completely extinguished when left.

Gobbler, it common for local farmers to reclaim land due to advances in hybrid seed. See agricultural uses.

[broomeguy]

Thanks for the input. There's a small portion of my woodlot that is boxed in by logging roads and is near a creek. Seems like an ideal location to use fire to improve below canopy structure. I cut down some trees the last couple years to increase sun exposure but ground cover is mostly multiflora rose and leaf litter.