Episode 74: Prescribed Burn Associations

Oregon State University’s In the Woods podcast host Jacob Putney interviews OSU Extension regional fire specialists Chris Adlam (southwest Oregon) and Micah Schmidt (northeast Oregon) about Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) and their role in expanding prescribed fire on non-federal lands. They describe how fire suppression became dominant over the past century despite long Indigenous burning traditions, and how PBAs re-emerged in the 1990s in the Great Plains and later spread to California and Oregon. PBAs are community networks where neighbors and partner organizations share labor, equipment, planning, and training to conduct safe burns, often with volunteers and sometimes paid coordination. Guests discuss Oregon PBAs’ growth and accomplishments, benefits like changing public attitudes and building social license, and barriers including capacity, permitting, funding, liability concerns, and limited region-specific research. They share ways to get involved via OSU’s Extension Fire Program resources, trainings, and documentaries.

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:32 Meet The Hosts

01:21 Chris Fire Ecology Path

02:22 Micah Prescribed Fire Work

03:32 What PBAs Are

03:52 Prescribed Fire History

05:11 PBA Origins And Growth

06:47 How PBAs Form Operate

09:49 Who Can Participate

12:58 Oregon PBAs Impact

17:22 Changing Fire Relationships

20:48 Extension Role In PBAs

24:01 Barriers And Challenges

26:14 Prescribed Fire Roadblocks

26:27 Landowner Research Gaps

27:39 Permits And Capacity Fixes

28:36 Future Of PBAs

30:34 More Fire And Youth Training

31:39 How To Join Or Start

35:39 Volunteer Skills Needed

37:20 Parting Thoughts And Tribal Roots

38:57 Training And Broad Support

41:45 Lightning Round Micah

45:33 Lightning Round Chris

50:00 Wrap Up And Credits