Prescribed Burn

Prescribed fire has long been utilized to manage the habitat of certain species of animals. In North America, for example, the aboriginal nations that lived in the Great Plains often set prairie fires to improve the habitat for the large animals that they hunted as food. This was especially important to people living in regions of tall-grass prairie which could otherwise revert to shrub- and tree-dominated ecosystems that were less suitable for their most important hunted animals such as buffalo (Bison bison).

Prescribed fires have also been used to enhance the habitat of some endangered species. For example, this practice is utilized in Michigan to develop stands of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) of a type required as habitat by the endangered Kirtland's warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii). This bird does best in even-aged stands of jack pine aged seven to 25 years old and about 6.6-19.7 ft (2-6 m) tall. Wildlife managers ensure a continuous availability of this kind of habitat by planting stands of jack pine and by deliberately burning older stands.