Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources. Likewise, the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources does not guarantee the accuracy of information presented in these pieces. 

THE LAND THAT IS NOW the University’s Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC), a sprawling forest of red and white pine, didn’t always look that way. Before it was obtained by the University, the land was taken from the Fond du Lac Band and converted from lush fields of blueberries and juneberries to the pine forest we now see. This was done when timber harvesting was a main source of income for many settlers in Minnesota (Jeff Savage, personal correspondence, 2023). Since then, the Band has had little to no say in how the land is managed, until recently. Because of the lack of priority that prescribed burning has within the park service and forest service, these fire-dependent ecosystems do not thrive as much as they should.

The CFC has now made plans to move forward collaboratively with the Band, before restoring their ownership of the land. Additionally, in the spring of 2022 at the CFC, the University, the Fond du Lac Band, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs worked together and restored fire to the land in a 75 acre prescribed burn. This was the first time that fire had been on the landscape in twenty years, making it right that it was lit by Vern Northrup, an Ojibwe firefighter for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for twenty years (CFANS, 2022). This fire has brought value to both the Band and the University, says Kyle Gill, the CFC forest manager. This is just one example of how an organization is working with the Tribes to mend their relationship with the land and each other.

Other organizations, such as the Grand Portage Trust Lands and the Superior National Forest Kawishiwi Ranger Station, have started implementing fire whenever possible due to the many ecological benefits. “Even if the desired result isn’t there, we are still seeing positive results... it’s our most natural tool,” says Tim Miller, a reservation forester for the Grand Portage Trust Lands. They are wanting to begin broadcast burning on the land, but have a lack of resources such as time, money, equipment, and staff. Due to this, they are only doing small fires to prune the blueberries and increase the amount of juneberries. Tim says that if they hadn’t started prescribed burning, there would be no grounds for new research. So far, they have discovered that the fire has an impact on tick and spotted wing drosophila populations, both of which negatively impact the other wildlife in the area.

The forest service has also utilized fire for smaller projects, such as hazard fuel reduction, as they lack many resources for controlled burning as well. Chris Maher, a ranger at the Kawishiwi Ranger Station, says that they let naturally occurring fires burn to natural boundaries before putting them out, as this has less public opposition and doesn’t cost the Forest Service anything extra to manage. When they are able to implement a prescribed fire, they work closely with the local Tribes and follow their techniques.

Prescribed burns can also be used to aid moose populations, which have slowly been declining in recent years (Giudice, 2022). Moose prefer a disturbed habitat, which used to naturally occur with seasonal fires in a rotation of around 100 years (Moose Habitat Manager, personal correspondence, 2023). In addition to providing a food source and a habitat, a disturbed environment also deters deer from coming into the area. Deer can carry a brain worm that is lethal to moose, so this keeps the two populations separated. The moose habitat managers simulate an area that has been disturbed by fire by a rotating timber harvest, since they have concerns with containing the fire and a lack of staff during the time window. This way, they are able to make money rather than spend it, but they do have future fires planned for the area.

Overall, prescribed fires have a positive impact on the land, plants, animals, and people that reside in the area. They also provide grounds for new research in these fire-dependent environments, as well as a chance to work collaboratively with local Tribes who historically managed these lands with fire. Looking at the collaboration with the CFC, many other parks and protected areas should be implementing prescribed burns in the same way and involving Tribes in their land management. This would not only provide job opportunities for Band members, but also restore their historical connection to both fire and the land. The issue is lack of staff and other resources, which need to be made a priority for the sake of the fire-dependent ecosystems in Minnesota. Without prescribed fire, these ecosystems are not at their best at a time that they desperately need to be.

~Kylee Gregory

References

Aerial Moose Survey. Giudice. (2022) From hand-out. 

Background on intentions for Cloquet Forestry Center. University of Minnesota. (2023, February 3). https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/background-intentions-cloquet-forestry-center#: ~:text=These%20conversations%20have%20led%20to,house%20the%20Cloquet%20F orestry%20

Center Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (n.d.-a). Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province, fire-dependent forest/woodland https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/natural_resources/npc/fire_dependent_forest/ebf_fd_system. pdf 

Ojibwe firefighters restore fire to the Cloquet Forestry Center. University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. (2022, November 15). https://cfans.umn.edu/news/restoring-fire