Farm producers need to burn pastureland in the Flint Hills.

But a group of Geary County producers heard from state officials Tuesday night about the need to work together or they could lose the right to burn their pastures.

Doug Watson of the Kansas Department of Health & Environment noted 13 counties in the Flint Hills are covered by a smoke management plan. At times smoke from the fires in the Flint Hills can float to regional cities such as Lincoln, Nebraska, creating health complaints from residents. He cited an example where outdoor examples had to be cancelled in Omaha, Nebraska and showed a slide of smoke hovering over the city of Wichita.

The state of Kansas developed a voluntary management plan and made it available to producers. Watson also made it clear the state understands the importance of the Flint Hills and the reason why people burn in the Flint Hills.

Burning in the Flint Hills caused ozone excedances in six of the last eight years. In Geary County alone in 2016, more than 50,000 acres were burned.

In Geary County you must receive permission to burn prior to lighting the fire, winds need to be predicted at or below 15 miles per hour, and do not leave a fire unattended.

KDOT spokesman Clay Adams informed the audience of nearly 80 people at the Geary County 4-H / Senior Center that burning is not allowed on KDOT right-of-way.  There would be safety issues since the fire would be too close to the highway, utility markers and telephone junction boxes could be damaged and there could be destruction of guardrail with wood posts.

With other speakers there was concern that if ozone regulations are exceeded that could lead to regulations that would be expensive to implement, and could at times cause health issues. So the public was encouraged to use the smoke management plan.

Producers were encouraged to try and get through 2017 without causing a lot of smoke in Lincoln, Nebraska and Wichita, Kansas.

Questions posed to a panel of speakers from the audience ranged from how many fires were out of control in Geary County in 2016 to how can the public be educated on why producers burn. One key reason is to keep the growth of cedar trees down.