MANHATTAN Konza Prairie researcher Gene Townes final day at Kansas State University falls three months after public release of a research study suggesting ranchers could burn grassland outside the April time frame that served as university agronomy department gospel for decades.

He hadnt anticipated a 26-year career would flame out Oct. 31, but a supervisor decided his annual contract wouldnt be renewed. Biology division administrator John Blair said in an interview there were budget issues, that Towne lacked technical skills and his handling of the research project was below par.

Blair shared additional thoughts, much more, in emails to Towne.

In Townes view, the final straw was the paper on range burning that stood in conflict with the historical outlook at Kansas State. The university has held spring, especially late April, to be the sweet spot for eradicating unwanted plant growth. Towne thinks there is convincing evidence fall and winter are viable as well.

It raises controversy that some people want to avoid, Towne said. Any time you question it, you're tampering with heresy.

The land-grant university has offered advice to ranchers on the controversial subject of controlled prairie fire dating back to the 1930s. For more than two decades, the Konza Prairie has served as a laboratory for Kansas States examination of methods of managing fire, which has been a natural change agent for centuries.

Towne, research associate and Konza Prairie biological station fire chief, and Joseph Craine, research assistant in biology, published the paper examining consequences of burning Flint Hills prairie at different times. Their work was placed in the peer-reviewed journal PLOSONE and the university issued a lengthy news release July 31. Stories appeared on radio and in print, including The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Burning native prairie in Kansas and Oklahoma is acknowledged as integral to reducing the abundance of undesirable trees and shrubs while promoting growth of nutritionally rich grass for grazing cattle.

Towne and Craine concluded fall or winter burning didnt negatively influence grass composition and production compared to spring clearing. It is a compelling perspective for ranch managers as well as urban centers grappling with smog fomented by torching of thousands of acres in April.

They also speculated burning earlier in the year would make better forage available to cattle and that fall or winter burns would reduce fire death among snakes, turtles and nesting birds.

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KSU severs ties to author of controversial prairie-burn research article

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