Sleeping Bear Dunes to conduct prescribed burn near Bass Lake
From staff reports
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore plans to conduct a prescribed fire this October near Bass Lake in Benzie County. The fire is a tool intended to restore habitat in forested ecosystems in the park. The 467-acre burn unit is within the National Lakeshore’s Platte River District in Benzie County, between Esch and Peterson Roads and west of M-22. For safety, the White Pine backcountry campground and some of the small roads and trails in the park will be closed to visitors during the active burning period.
The area to be burned contains unique, fire-dependent plant communities known as dry northern forest and wooded swale. Dry northern forest is typically dominated by a mix of hardwoods and jack pine or red pine. Wooded swales are low areas between post-glacial ridges that support forested wetlands and a variety of wildflowers and other herbaceous plants. Both are important to the diversity of the Sleeping Bear Dunes ecosystem.
To ensure safe execution of the prescribed fire, and effective conservation of the dry northern forest and wooded swales, the burn will be conducted only under a specific set of weather and fuel conditions, or “prescription.” The actual burn date will depend upon National Park fire staff monitoring weather forecasts and fuel moisture to determine if and when prescription conditions are met in October. In addition to safety, smoke dispersal is a primary concern, and wind direction and speed will be monitored prior to ignition to minimize smoke drifting into developed areas and roadways from the remote fire location. Trained and experienced federal fire personnel will conduct the prescribed fire.
Prior to European settlement approximately 180 years ago, majestic dry northern forests were common in northern lower Michigan. Logging and suppression of naturally-occurring wildfires led to the decline of this forest type in the Great Lakes region. Red and jack pine usually rely on fire to regenerate and many of the species found within wooded swales need openings in the canopy for access to sunlight. Without fire as a disturbance, the slow encroachment of hardwood species and shrubs eventually outcompetes the pines, altering community composition and canopy structure. Conserving these remnants of high quality dry northern forests and wooded swales through prescribed burns will allow visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes to continue to experience an ecosystem that represents a bygone, wild component of Michigan’s natural history. In addition, burning under controlled conditions will reduce fuel loads and reduce the risk of uncontrolled wildfire in the future.
Updates regarding burning activities will be posted as “alerts” on the park website. For those alerts and more in-depth information about the National Lakeshore, please visit NPS.gov/slbe.
