Dry Side Dispatch • October 9th • Duane Lucia

We are proud to bring you our local radio show, The Dry Side Dispatch. All past episodoes of the radio show are available on the Sandhills Area Research Association You Tube channel. You can also listen live via the YouTube chanel on Friday's at Noon. All future episodes will now be included on this platform and the Sandhills Area Research Association's website.  The Dry Side Dispatch is a West Texas radio show and media project from the Sandhills Area Research Association broadcast live on KRFE 95.9 FM. Hosted by Tillery Timmons-Sims, Andy Timmons, and Dusty Timmons, the program focuses on regional agriculture, land conservation, hunting, oil and gas, and local news This episode of Dry Side Dispatch features U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Duane Lucia discussing wildfire response, prescribed fire, and land restoration across Texas and the Great Plains. The conversation covers current funding for fuel reduction, invasive-species removal, and post-fire recovery, along with Lucia’s work restoring areas affected by major fires such as Smokehouse Creek. A major theme is the ecological value of fire when it is used strategically. Lucia explains how prescribed burns can reduce dangerous woody fuel, control juniper encroachment, improve grassland and wildlife habitat, and help prevent more destructive fires later. The episode also explores cottonwood restoration, salt cedar control, satellite and remote-sensing technology, and the need for better public understanding of fire as both a management tool and a natural part of healthy grassland ecosystems.