Wildland Fire

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is home to a great variety of habitat types, including some unique, fire-dependent plant communities. Although there is a relatively low risk of wildland fires compared to some western states, many of our early successional ecosystems rely on regular natural disturbance (e.g. wind, fire, water) to persist within the landscape. Many of our systems here in the park have their own fire regime – the natural pattern of fire recurrence and intensity. This means that certain plants and animals are well-adapted and resilient to fire, but also that they are reliant on the natural disturbance that fire provides. Within these systems, some species, such as adult jack pines, even rely on fire to open their cones in order to have germination of seedlings.

Recognizing that the park was established to protect and preserve these fire-dependent species and ecosystems, we have a wildland fire and prescribed fire programs. These programs are responsible to manage fuel loads and respond to incidents within the park. We also plan activities that use fire as a tool to manage natural resources similar to how naturally occurring fires or other disturbances would have historically.

Public and scientific opinion of wildfire and prescribed fire has changed over recent history. At times fire was only though of negatively and we prioritized suppressing all fires, naturally occurring or otherwise. However, today, based on scientific research, the benefits of fire are better understood by natural resource management agencies. At our park, the prescribed fire program aims to use fire to reduce fuel loads in a controlled way, as well as restore fire-dependent ecosystems thereby allowing visitors to continue to experience ecosystems that represent a bygone, wild component of Michigan’s history.

In May of 2019, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service staff conducted the first ever broadcast prescribed fire over a wide area at Sleeping Bear Dunes. This prescribed fire was carried out in the Platte Plains, an area in the southern part of the park that has fire-adapted species such as Jack Pines. Learn more and see some great photos about the past, present, and future role of fire at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the story map below.