The purpose of the South Central Texas Prescribed Burn Association (SCTPBA) is to promote the common good and general welfare of the people in South Central Texas through education, training, and practice of safe prescribed burn techniques. The application of prescribed fire reduces or eliminates fuel load build-up in open spaces, reducing fire intensity and/or preventing wild or unexpected fires in and near these burned open spaces. Prescribed burning is a useful tool for reducing hazardous fuel loads, improving wildlife and livestock habitat and improving vegetation quality.
We are a neighbor helping neighbor educational organization. We learn and train to apply fire to the landscape for public safety, ecological restoration, and habitat improvement. We are not an organization that performs prescribed burning for the general public. Our members assist other members with prescribed fire.
Our goals are to teach competence in conducting all burns safely, provide an economical method for small acreage landowners to have prescribed burning as a tool to meet their goals and objectives, and provide public awareness of the benefits of prescribed burning. Organized and incorporated in 2011, the SCTPBA obtained its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status with the IRS in 2012. Membership has grown rapidly from members of the previous South Central Texas Prescribed Burn Co-op, an unofficial organization with similar goals and practices. Currently, the SCTPBA has around 50 dues paying members. Many of those are family memberships, so they represent nearly 100 individuals.