Management
Science has changed the way we think about wildland fire and the way we manage it. We still suppress fires, especially if they threaten people and communities. But we understand that fire has a role in nature – one that can lead to healthy ecosystems. So, we look for ways to manage it to play its role, for instance, by igniting prescribed fires
Fuels Management
The Mark Twain National Forest fuels management program is designed to reduce wildfire risk, improve ecosystem health, and maintain fire-adapted landscapes through multiple treatment methods.
Key strategies to do this include prescribed burning and mechanical treatments to manage fuel loads and promote biodiversity.
Used in conjunction prescribed burning and mechanical treatments can:
- Enhance wildfire resilience by reducing fuel loads. And,
- Support habitat restoration for native grass, shrub, and tree species.
Wildfire Response
Catching fires before they grow large continues to be a priority on the Mark Twain National Forest, and restoration and fire prevention work helps make that possible.
Current Decade
From 2015 to 2025 there were 1,241 wildfires that burned 70,156 acres on the Mark Twain National Forest.
Wildfires from the last decade - 2015 to 2025.
(USDA Forest Service)Historic Information
Since the Forests creation in the 1930's, fire crews have responded to over 15,000 wildfires:
| Decade | # of Wildfires | Acres Burned |
| 2020 - Present | 798 | 49,358 |
| 2010 - 2019 | 1,123 | 69,467 |
| 2000 - 2009 | 1,649 | 49,910 |
| 1990 - 1999 | 1,834 | 52,890 |
| 1980 - 1989 | 2,375 | 63,847 |
| 1970 - 1979 | 3,066 | 29,531 |
Wildfire Records
- Most Wildfires (to date) - 1976 with 633 fires
- Least Wildfires (to date) - 2013 with 45 fires
- Most Acres Burned (to date) - 2011 with 20,252 acres
- Least Acres Burned - 1985 with 1,033 acres
Off-forest Wildfire Support
In 2025, firefighters and other resources dispatched through the Missouri-Iowa Communication Center include to support off-Forest assignments include:
- 774 individuals with resource orders, including 329 overhead assignments (incident management roles)
- Four Type-2 handcrews with twenty people each
- Six suppression modules (SMODs) with fourteen people each
- Three camp crews with ten people each
- 25 orders for Type-6 engine crews, with seven of those including crew swaps
- Thirteen dozer assignments
- Supported an interagency national task force, a Forest Service task force, and an Eastern Region task force with multiple personnel each.
Prescribed Fire Operations
Prescribed fire is a planned fire. Sometimes called a “controlled burn” or “prescribed burn,” the Forest Service manages prescribed fires to benefit natural resources and reduce the risk of unwanted wildfires in the future.
Types of Management Burns
- Broadcast burn
- Open-slope burn
- Piles
- Maintenance burn
- Aerial ignitions
Site-specific burn plans are developed for each prescribed burn. Burn plans must be developed according to national standards.
During the planning phase, specialists conduct resource surveys to identify areas with cultural or natural resources that could be affected and need to be protected during burns. The burn plan includes measures to protect sensitive resources including threatened, endangered, or sensitive species.
For example, if an eagle’s nest is present near or within a prescribed fire area, vegetation may be cleared around the nest and sprinkler systems may be set up to protect the nest.
Specialists also evaluate fuel characteristics, topography, the location of buildings, and ways to mitigate undesirable impacts such as smoke. Ideal weather conditions are also identified. A step-by-step plan to light the fire and then hold the control line by reinforcing it with, for instance, water from hose lines or water dropped from helicopters. Burn plans are finalized with reviews from other resource specialists and line officers.
Part of the preparation for a prescribed burn may include
- clearing control lines,
- establishing helispots (temporary landing places for helicopters),
- and scheduling back-up crews and equipment.
Public notification and coordination with other agencies is also part of preparation.
Prescribed Fire Plans identify weather and fuel conditions appropriate for conducting prescribed fire. These conditions are a balance of the fire behavior need to meet objectives and the ability for holding resources to control the fire. Fire behavior modeling programs are used to identify the weather and fuel conditions that produce the fire behavior necessary to meet those conditions.
There are a limited number of days each year that meet the conditions appropriate to conduct prescribed burning.
In early spring, fuel conditions are drier because vegetation is coming out of dormancy. Once green-up occurs, vegetation is at full water content and holds moistures making it difficult to burn.
In the fall, vegetation is beginning to go into dormancy and water content is beginning to drop off. Also in the fall time, the shorter days create condition which do not support high intensity fire or prolonged burning which can be problematic from a control stand point.
Prescribed burns are usually ignited by either hand crews on the ground with drip torches or explosives or by air with a helicopter or airplane or a combination of these methods.
Following ignition, fire crews monitor the progress of the burn, patrol to observe behavior of the fire and take actions, when needed, to make sure that the fire stays within the predetermined unit boundaries.
After the unit has burned, fire crews mop-up (put out hot spots) and patrol the area to make sure the fire is out.
Priority Burn Acres
Approximately a quarter million acres (16% of total Forest acres) are designated as priority burn acres.
These acres are managed with both prescribed burning and mechanical treatments. The goal is to create and maintain sustainable, healthy, woodland and glade natural communities.
- Prescribed fire helps with that by reducing fuel accumulation, helps control invasive species, and enhances native ecosystems.
- Mechanical treatments, such as mowing and/or thinning, reduce hazardous fuels and maintain open areas needed by wildlife.
Each burn unit is on a schedule to be burned approximately every 2-5 years at the beginning of treatment, and approximately every 3-10 years in the maintenance phase. Most have already had at least one, and probably several, prescribed burn treatments over the past two decades.
Organization
Mark Twain National Forest' fire organization includes:
- 70 personnel
- A multi-state Dispatch Coordination Center (MOCC), which dispatches an average of seven 20-person crews and 250 overhead personnel each year.
- A wildland fire training program at Mingo Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center
- Type III Helicopter (seasonal exclusive use, also provides multi-Forest support)
- Ten Bulldozers & Transports
- Six Type-6 Engines
It takes everyone on the Forest working together to improve the diversity, structure and function of Ozark ecosystems across the Forest. This professional organization works closely with other Forest management program areas and with personnel from across the nation to best utilize good fire, and prevent bad fire, to achieve Forest restoration goals.