#18: Prescribed Burn Associations: Community-led Conservation, September 30, 2026
For this Minnesota Women in Conservation Welcoming Wednesday Webinar on September 30, 2026, we heard from three conservation professionals who shared their knowledge and experience with Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs). PBAs are grassroots organizations where members share information, labor, and equipment to implement prescribed fires. Learn how PBAs empower private landowners and volunteers to conduct safe and effective burns.
September 30, 2026
Webinar Topic:
Prescribed Burn Associations: Community-led Conservation
Webinar Hosts:
Maddy Bartsch, MNWiC Digital Communications Associate
Conservation Professionals:
Karin Jokela, Pollinator Conservation Specialist and NRCS Partner Biologist, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Maura Curry, Southeast Area Wildlife Biologist, Pheasants Forever
Tracy Heim, President, Root River Prescribed Burn Association (RR PBA)
Bios:
Karin is a pollinator conservation specialist with the Xerces Society. She and her husband also steward land near Cannon Falls, MN, where they have managed a variety of enterprises, including organic vegetables, a native plant nursery, Kernza, a hazelnut orchard, and small ruminant livestock, among others. They actively use prescribed fire to restore and maintain their farm’s prairie and oak savanna ecosystems, a practice central to their long-term ecological stewardship. Karin is also spearheading the development of a Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) in Goodhue and Rice Counties to help build community capacity for safe, effective, and ecologically grounded use of fire on the landscape.
Maura Curry is the Southeast Area Wildlife Biologist with Pheasants Forever. She leads a team of six biologists in Southeast Minnesota to help enroll farmers in federal conservation programs like the Conservation Reserve Program. Maura is a member of the Goodhue County Pheasants Forever Prescribed Burn crew and has been burning with them for the last three years. Maura spends her free time gardening, reading, and making sure buckthorn and garlic mustard fear her in her family’s woods.
Tracy Heim is the president of the Root River Prescribed Burn Association (RR PBA), which works with landowners in and around Houston County in southeastern Minnesota. She is a founding board member of the RR PBA, which has assisted with three burns since forming last year. Tracy lives outside Brownsville where she and her mom steward over 200 acres of native tall grass prairie and woodlands. In addition to her work with the RR PBA, she works full-time as an intelligence analyst and spends her free time gardening, walking with her dogs, and volunteering in her community.
Links to Resources Shared in the Webinar:
Forgotten Fires Book: https://www.oupress.com/9780806140377/forgotten-fires/
Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire: https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/23175
Ishkode: A Story of Fire: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517922719/ishkode/
Good Fire Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/7yZg2Nb0cvY4EktzyeRz3i
Good Sky Guidance: https://www.goodskyguidance.com/
Native Land Digital: https://native-land.ca/
Minnesota Fire Needs Assessment: https://www.mnprescribedfire.org/mnfireneedsassessment
Minnesota Prescribed Burn Association: https://www.minnesotapba.org/
Find a Prescribed Burn Association: https://www.minnesotapba.org/find
Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council: https://prescribedfire.org/
Minnesota Prescribed Fire Council: https://www.mnprescribedfire.org/
The Prairie Enthusiasts: https://theprairieenthusiasts.org/
PF Prescribed Fire Trainings: https://minnesotapf.net/fire/training/
RRPB: https://rootrivercurrent.org/community-unites-to-form-prescribed-burn-association/ ; rootriver@minnesotapba.org
RRPBA burn plan template, guidelines, equipment inventory: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18bu8DetAujPkY7FfznX9ENd2SDurMoPB?usp=sharing
Prairie Smoke: https://www.prairiesmokemn.org
Want to form a PBA? : https://www.minnesotapba.org/form
Barriers to Prescribed Fire in the US Great Plains, Part I: Systematic Review of Socio-Ecological Research: https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_journals/2022/rmrs_2022_clark_a001.pdf ; https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/9/1524
Burning from the ground up: The structure and impact of Prescribed Burn Associations in the United States
Contacts:
Karin Jokela: karin.jokela@xerces.org
Maura Curry: mcurry@pheasantsforever.org
Tracy Heim: heimtracylynn@gmail.com
About Minnesota Women in Conservation
Minnesota Women in Conservation (MNWiC) is a project of Renewing the Countryside in partnership with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). MNWiC's mission is to engage women in conservation conversations, connecting them with the tools and resources needed to develop their own goals. We facilitate Regional Networks to help all women of every experience level to learn and to implement practices in their own spaces, both urban and rural. We are here to nurture land and community. Join us!
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