08/28/2026
🔥 LATE-SUMMER FIRE: ONE OF THE MOST UNDERUSED TOOLS IN WILDLIFE HABITAT MANAGEMENT 🔥
When most people think about prescribed fire, they picture smoke drifting across the landscape in late-Winter or early-Spring.
However, for deer, turkey, quail, and pollinators, growing-season fire can produce some major habitat benefits.
🔥 MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO BURN
One of the biggest advantages is simply having more burn days.
Weather patterns during late-Summer and early-Fall can provide substantially more opportunities for suitable conditions than other times of the year. More burn days means a better chance of actually getting your management plan accomplished.
🌾 NOT ALL FIRE DOES THE SAME THING
Timing matters.
Dormant-season fire is generally a good time with low humidity and low fuel moisture in dead fuels—but repeated dormant burns can also shift plant communities toward grasses.
Spring fire can be useful in certain situations, but vegetation is often carrying more moisture, and burning during nesting season can create concerns for ground-nesting wildlife.
🔥 GROWING-SEASON FIRE CAN HIT WOODY VEGETATION HARDER
One of the biggest advantages of growing-season fire is its impact on woody plants.
Research has shown substantially greater top-kill and mortality of some hardwood species—including sweetgum—when fire occurs during the growing season compared with dormant-season fire.
That can make late-summer fire a valuable tool for keeping early-successional habitat from becoming dominated by woody vegetation.
🌱 AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FIRE MATTERS
Late-summer and early-fall burns can create conditions that favor a diverse flush of forbs and other herbaceous vegetation.
That means more:
🦌 Deer forage
🦃 Turkey brood habitat
🐦 Quail habitat
🐝 Pollinator resources
🌱 Plant diversity
🔥
Sometimes, late-Summer or early-Fall is exactly what the habitat needs.
Have you used growing-season fire on your property?
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