Private landowner perceptions of prescribed fire near the Dakota Prairie Grasslands

A survey examining perceptions of prescribed fire use was distributed to landowners in 18 counties (13 in North Dakota and 5 in South Dakota) that include or are adjacent to management units of the USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairies National Grasslands. Surveys, mailed in 2021, consisted principally of a five-point Likert scale format in which respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements. Questions were asked about agency relationships, management decision-making, attitudes towards public grazing lands, and attitudes towards prescribed fire. This data publication includes the summary data (mid-point and upper and lower 95% confidence interval points) for the 199 surveys that were returned.
Although fire has long been an ecological process in rangeland ecosystems, its use in modern land management can be controversial, especially in the northern Great Plains. Understanding the prescribed fire perspectives of private landowners can be important to understanding the barriers to its use in the northern Great Plains.
For more information about this survey and these data, see Boland et al. (2025).