In order to restore habitat for grassland birds on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 200 acres of low-production agricultural land was entered into the Conservation Reserve Program in 1999. Fields on the scale of 20-30 acres were seeded to various mixtures of warm season grasses. Prescribed burning of the fields is conducted to manage growth of the grasses. One objective of the study is to determine the impact of the prescribed burns on the soil chemistry of the highly weathered nutrient-poor soils in this region. Soil cores were collected at 25 sites in a one-acre plot 12 days and 6 months after the third prescribed burn. Each core was sectioned at 2.5 or 5 cm intervals to a depth of 20 cm from the soil surface. The soils were analyzed for total organic matter by loss-on-ignition, for pH, and for Mehlich 3 extractable cations. Soil pH, extractable Ca, Mg, and K and soil organic matter were higher 12 days after the third burn, as compared to values before the initiation of burning. The primary changes were found in the layers 10 to 20 cm below the soil surface, suggesting the impact of residual ash from previous burns, as the rainfall after the burn was not sufficient to cause infiltration of ash from the recent burn to this depth. Hydrolysis of the basic salts in ash produced from the burns raises soil pH and releases cations. Organic matter can increase due the presence of black carbon, as well as due to increases in natural organic matter. Prescribed burning impacts the soil chemistry of the grassland fields through the ash from new burns and through the residual effects of previous burns.