Louisiana Prescribed Burning Law for Wildfire Fuel Reduction

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry runs the certified prescribed burn manager program through the LSU AgCenter. Under R.S. 3:17, a prescribed burn qualifies for the rebuttable presumption of nonnegligence only when at least one certified manager is present on site from ignition until the fire is declared safe. A separate 2024 statute, R.S. 3:17.1, lets non-certified managers burn only after notifying the office of forestry of the location, date, and time and agreeing to the department's smoke management guidelines; those burns carry no presumption and expose violators to civil penalties.

Non-certified burns done without notifying the office of forestry draw a civil penalty up to $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second or subsequent offense, assessed by the commissioner after an adjudicatory hearing.