News Release

First Ever Prescribed Fire at Sleeping Bear Dunes is a Success

News Release Date: June 11, 2019 On Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 25 firefighters and natural resources staff from the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Forest Service made history by conducting the first ever broadcast (wide area) prescribed fire at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore). After several years of planning and preparation, crews successfully burned 917 acres in the Platte Plains area of the National Lakeshore; the first in a planned series of such fires.

In addition to being the first ever broadcast burn at the National Lakeshore, crews had to plan for unique conditions by managing piping plover habitat, two campgrounds in or near the burn area, a Michigan scenic byway running along the burn units, and multiple private property inholdings. Working diligently since the burn plan was approved, National Lakeshore and NPS Great Lakes Fire Management Zone staff prepared control lines, contingency plans, and public education and outreach to ensure a successful first-ever prescribed fire.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) provided funding for this prescribed fire as part of its mission to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world – the Great Lakes. The Platte Plains prescribed fire supported GLRI’s goals of protecting imperiled native plant and animal habitats, and controlling of invasive plant species around the Great Lakes.

Prescribed fire is used to maintain healthy ecosystems, replenish fire dependent ecosystems, reduce available fuels in the event of wildfire, and assist with the management of invasive species. The Platte Plains area contains unique, fire-dependent plant communities known as dry northern forest and wooded swales (low areas between post-glacial ridges). Logging and suppression of naturally occurring wildfires led to the decline of these forest types in the Great Lakes region. Red and jack pine - common trees in these communities - usually rely on fire to regenerate, and many of the plants found within wooded swales need openings in the canopy for access to sunlight. Without fire as a disturbance, hardwood species and shrubs eventually out compete the pines, altering community composition and canopy structure. Conserving these high-quality remnants through prescribed fires will allow National Lakeshore visitors to continue to experience an ecosystem that represents a bygone, wild component of Michigan’s natural history.

Future plans for using prescribed fires to restore similar plant communities in the National Lakeshore include two additional units in the Platte Plains area and three units in the Good Harbor Bay area. Fire effects monitoring plots that were established prior to this prescribed fire will be resampled and analyzed to provide scientific information on the effects of the fire on the plant community. Findings from this and ongoing research into the fire history of the area will be used by management staff in planning future prescribed fires and other restoration actions of these unique ecosystems. NPS natural resources staff will continue to monitor the units to document changes over time through surveys and photo monitoring.

The area is re-opened to the public; the NPS encourages visitors to come hike the Platte Plains Trail, which takes you through burn units where you will see the areas regenerate. Keep an eye out for future interpretive programs highlighting these activities.

Updates regarding burning activities, as well as other concerns, will be posted as “alerts” on the park website. For those alerts and more in-depth information about the National Lakeshore, please go to www.nps.gov/slbe. Also, check out the park’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sbdnl and Twitter site at www.twitter.com/sleepingbearnps. For more information on NPS’ Wildland Fire Program, please visit https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1965/index.htm or https://www.nps.gov/articles/what-is-a-prescribed-fire.htm.