Using fire as a restoration tool at Sleeping Bear Dunes

In late May 2023, fire staff from the Great Lakes Fire Management Zone based at Indiana Dunes National Park, as well as firefighters from Sleeping Bear Dunes, the Michigan DNR, and the National Park Service Black Hills Wildland Fire Module came together at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to conduct the Good Harbor Prescribed Fires.

A wildland firefighter lights the south side of the Good Harbor Trail Prescribed Fire. Walking along the road, using a drip torch to ignite the leaf litter and other surface fuels, the firefighter is being followed by a Type 4 wildland fire engine monitoring the fire.

NPS/M. Bell

Nestled along Lake Michigan in Good Harbor Bay, the Good Harbor prescribed fire units contain unique fire-dependent plant communities consisting of a Dry-mesic Northern Forest and wooded swale. The swales contain a variety of wildflowers wetlands and other plants important to the diversity of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Objectives of these burns were to reduce surface fuels, rejuvenate blueberries and huckleberries in the area, reduce seedlings and saplings (to open understory), protect the red and white pines, and burn the area in the Mosaic pattern consistent with the topography and fuels.

Throughout multiple trips in the spring, crews from the Great Lakes Fire Management Zone traveled to Sleeping Bear Dunes to scout out prescribed fire line locations, build fire breaks, set up weather monitoring stations, meet with park management, and then eventually traveled up to complete the treatment by putting fire on the ground.

Due to the nature of these burn units and having limited fire history going back over 100 years, the dense forest was expected to provide for low fire intensity and limited opportunities for the fire to cause issues adjacent to neighboring homes. Predictions were realized when some areas of the fire burned well while others barely burned at all. For a first-entry burn, managers were pleased with the results they saw.

Local homeowners were initially concerned about the idea of a prescribed fire occurring across the street from their homes. After seeing the techniques used to keep the fire manageable and keep smoke away from their homes, homeowners had a better understanding of the importance of prescribed fire and its role in restoring "their" local forest.

Over several weeks, through May and June 2023, fire staff and park rangers regularly checked the interior sections of the burns, monitoring areas that still put up smoke. Mimicking a natural wildfire, such as those that burned through the area 170 years prior, smoldering logs well inside the perimeter smoldered for several weeks until burning into nothing but ash. This process puts needed nutrients from the burned materials back into the ground to be available for other plants.

Both park staff and Great Lakes Fire Management Zone staff look forward to continuing prescribed fire operations on the other burn units in the Good Harbor area over the years to come.

Celebrate Success!

Read our success stories to learn more about the NPS Wildland Fire Program.