Southeast Virginia
Prescribed Burn Association
The Southeast Virginia Prescribed Burn Association (SEVA PBA) promotes and supports the safe and responsible use of
prescribed fire (Rx fire) by private landowners to meet their land management objectives.
Private landowners own 80% of the timberland in Virginia. Privately held lands present the greatest challenge to, but
also the greatest opportunity for, restoring the use of Rx fire as a valuable forest management tool. Most private
landowners have excluded the use of Rx fire on their land because of a number of valid concerns and risks, including:
potential liability, lack of training, experience, manpower, or needed equipment. Additionally, private landowners do not
feel they have support of their neighbors and community concerning prescribed fire use. Creation of a Prescribed Burn
Association can help overcome these barriers.
The SEVA PBA supports the following counties: Isle of Wight, Greensville, Prince George, Southampton, Suffolk, Surry, and Sussex.
There are no fees to join the PBA. Click here to become a member!
Meet the Co-Chairs
Kyle Mallas
Hunting and fishing has been my passion since I was a child roaming the woods and waters of the Eastern Shore of VA to climbing and camping in the mountains of Virginia’s National and State Forests. So much so that I went west to Colorado State University wanting to explore the Rockies and get my BS in Forestry. Fire management was a huge component of my education to the point that I trained and joined the Yellow Jackets Fire Crew for a summer season. Fortunately, it was a slow fire season, but unfortunately for me I was never called to action that summer. The fire training was great, but I didn’t follow through after that summer to gain additional experience. I moved back to Virginia to work as a consulting forester for a number of years where I was involved in a few fires but not enough to fully say I was “experienced” with Rx Burning.
I have always known the importance of fire in our landscapes and the exclusion of it was not healthy for our forests and wildlife, but had limited opportunities to engage. I had owned properties with others over the years but never felt like I could practice what I preached. After some career changes and getting sidetracked from my outdoor enthusiastic mindset for several years, I have regained my enthusiasm by purchasing a tract of timber for myself and family and to put my passion back into managing with my goals in mind. I completed the Certified Burn Manager Course and been on several prescribed burns here and there over recent years trying to gain more experience. Now my passion and enthusiasm has exploded with options to manage my farm and put fire to good use. I realized experience and training is very difficult for us private landowners who want to do the right thing.
Well fate would have it that Lee Jones and I crossed paths and found that we both share the same passion for getting fire on the ground for the good of our environment. From there we both have volunteered to do what we can to help others who share the same passion by forming the SEVA PBA. This is where we private landowners can share, gain knowledge and labor to help each other out by getting controlled fire to the ground to improve our forests and wildlife.
Lee Jones
Fire is a tool I was exposed to early on in life. Whether burning off the garden in late winter to prepare for spring planting, burning off the neighbors' fields to keep the vegetation in check as a child growing up in Southeast VA, to burning the fields on my first farm, I have always known the value of fire as a tool when used responsibly.
When my family finally had the opportunity to invest in timberland on a large scale I knew fire was going to be an invaluable tool that had to be put back on the landscape. Despite my background in wildlife conservation I found it hard to harness the resources and get “boots on the ground” training needed to implement fire on a large scale. Even with my military background and all the planning and execution skills I gleaned as an Army Officer the best laid burn plans still cannot be executed without sufficient crew to “man the firebreaks” on burn days.
Thus the need to found the first Prescribed Burn Association in VA. Most Southeastern US states have PBAs that help private landowners put fire on the ground. My co-founder and I believe a PBA is the best way for private landowners to access the resources and “boots on the ground” training needed for them to put fire on the ground.
SEVA PBA Flyer
