So last week I was out at the public area and saw a hen turkey and the way she was running away pretending to be hurt I knew she was trying to draw me away from her nest. Yesterday I went out and they were doing a controlled burn. I told the Biologist that this stupid and that Turkeys were nesting and that the DNR should have done this back in February or March. Then today I went out and found three Turkey nests with a total of 25 eggs all destroyed. No wonder the DNR is claiming the Turkey numbers are down. They should quit killing the nests!!!

That reminds me of the time when one crew came to beaver dam lake and stocked fish in the morning and another crew came in the afternoon and sprayed rotenone and killed everything.

The DNR have no brains at times.

have the feds charge them, federal offence

They used to burn Thunder Marsh, an Oneida County waterfowl production area, every Spring during duck nesting period. They finally quit doing it after the Town got tired of putting out the flareups after they left. They usually waited until there were 20mph winds just to make it interesting. SMH

Corky ive seen same thing at the Mead Wildlife area. One wonders on the person that manages the refuge and the employees that follow stupid orders !

I could not get an answer when I asked why they did not do it in January thru March. Only reply was too wet. I would think that would stop all of the Flare ups

Burning is a critical part of proper grasslands management, especially with the push to use less chemicals to preserve native plants.
Many very good studies show a significant uptick in nesting in the 4-5 years following a burn, it’s just unfortunate that a year of nesting is lost, although it’s not uncommon here to find duck and pheasant nests in areas that were burned in the spring as the regrowth is fairly fast.
I’m not a burn expert but here I know it’s only a couple week window in the spring that they go, too dry before and to green later.

Go back and look at the area in 3-4 weeks and you will be amazed how fast it’s recovered.

Do it at a better time is all anyone is asking.

Doing that during any baby season seems cruel

If I remember right from class the temp of the fire is important, burn to early and fire burns to hot.

If it's any consolation, the birds will, likely, nest again if they escaped the flames. I've seen a load of small, fall turkeys in areas that were burned over. Pheasants, too.

I have done controlled burns and found Turkey nests after the burn.
Some times you can't burn for weeks at all and the only chance you may get is a late spring burn.
Timing is a big issue.
Has to be dry enough, the wind has to be right, humidity makes a big difference.
Burn in less than ideal conditions and it won't be a complete or hot enough to kill some of the brush and on and on.
Then add in the complexities of a large gov't agency planning and executing a burn.
Its one of those things, you have to pick your poison sometimes.
Overall the burn is determined to be of more importance than some turkey nests, I can see that.
There are many things one can manage land for. Most of the time competing goals conflict.

Anything the DNR gets their hands on they screw up. Ever increasing liscence fees and we have less game and fish than 20-30 years ago here. 30 years ago in this area there was and abundance of quail, pheasant, rabbits, and doves - not anymore. The smaller waterways were full of fish, mussels, large frogs , crayfish, turtles,ducks and muskrat - these are now nowhere near as plentiful as the used to be and every year there seems to be less sign of them - some places they are all but gone. The DNR is failing here.

Most of those fails are usually due to farming practices, development, etc.

as others have stated, the burn window is short in the northeast, if you even GET one.

most Rx burns are relatively small on the landscape, at least in the northeast.

the turkeys (as a species) will survive.

To do a good job on a burn, alot of elements have to come together.

Those windows are short.. a burn will help out in the long run way more then it destroyed.

Here in the Southern US many factors are in play related to prescribed fires.....seasonal timing, size of the burn, goals of the burn, conditions intensity, etc.

Obviously some turkey nests will be lost during March to May burns, but the benefits GREATLY outweigh the negatives.

You have to look at the longterm beneficial results...not the short term negatives.

Wildlife management works best as a long term plan....not a plan for the next hunting season.

https://talltimbers.org/articles/does-growing-season-prescribed-fire-affect-turkey-nesting/

DanN, be glad your state is investing in natural resources by raising license prices. Wisconsin resident prices have been mostly stagnant for 25 years and the DNR is going broke. Hard to attract and retain top talent with no money.

The feds burn wetland reserve land also, thy told me ducks and geese will renest.