Fire is a naturally occurring process in the Great Plains and was anthropologically applied first by Native Americans and now by a diverse group of landholder types. Fire is a critical tool to help restore historical fire regimes in the region and maintain and grow benefits for agricultural outputs, risk reduction, and ecosystem maintenance. With the Great Plains dominated by private landholdings, lowering barriers to adoption of prescribed burning is important for increasing its use. Costs are a crucial decision element in adoption and regular use of prescribed burning. Using the responses from an Internet-based survey of prescribed burn professionals in the Great Plains, multivariate regression analysis based on cost can identify critical factors and behaviors. The average cost for a prescribed burn in this study is $11.37 per acre, which is comparatively less expensive than numbers reported elsewhere. Seven significant associated variables emerged including number of burns and acreage, firebreak type, and fuel characteristics. The results suggest that economies of scale play an important role in the cost of prescribed burning. Through the identification of the cost of prescribed burning and the factors that influence it, landowners, environmental managers, prescribed burn professionals, and government agencies in the Great Plains will be able to better understand and implement prescribed burns as part of their land management plans.

火灾是大平原自然发生的过程，首先由美洲原住民在人类学上应用，现在由不同类型的土地所有者群体应用。火灾是帮助恢复该地区历史火灾状况、维持和增加农业产出、降低风险和生态系统效益的重要工具。由于大平原以私人土地为主，降低采用规定燃烧的障碍对于增加其使用非常重要。成本是采用和定期使用规定燃烧的关键决策因素。利用对大平原处方烧伤专业人员进行的互联网调查的答复，基于成本的多元回归分析可以识别关键因素和行为。本研究中规定烧伤的平均成本为每英亩 11.37 美元，比其他地方报告的数字相对便宜。出现了七个重要的相关变量，包括燃烧次数和面积、防火带类型和燃料特性。结果表明，规模经济在规定燃烧的成本中发挥着重要作用。通过确定规定燃烧的成本及其影响因素，大平原的土地所有者、环境管理者、规定燃烧专业人员和政府机构将能够更好地理解和实施规定燃烧，作为其土地管理计划的一部分。