Good Fire is Catching

On Wisconsin Point along Lake Superior, land stewards recently did something that, for some, would have been unthinkable decades ago: they set a fire. Carefully planned and closely monitored, the burn was designed to restore native habitat, reduce wildfire risk, and bring the long-standing Ojibwe practice of Ishkode (fire) back to heal people and the landscape.

The project was a collaboration of the Lake Superior Reserve, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe Wildland Fire program, the City of Superior, the Superior Fire Department, and The Nature Conservancy. Each partner brought different expertise, including Indigenous knowledge of fire as a spirit that restores, ecological research, on-the-ground fire operations, and public safety planning. 

“As a municipal fire department, we are the experts at suppressing fires and not so much at starting them,” says Cam Vollbrecht, Superior Fire Chief. “When the City of Superior began to explore utilizing prescribed fire on our landscape, we needed partners to build a coalition of experts on prescribed fire. The Reserve provided essential expertise on the effects of prescribed fire on water quality, soil conditions, and plant and animal communities in and around our burn areas. They also provided leadership and communications that were instrumental to the success of this endeavor.”

“Fire is not just a threat; it can help us take care of the land and protect the community at the same time,” says Vollbrecht. “It improves safety today and makes us better prepared for the future, and it can only happen through partnerships like these.”

By clearing invasive plants, recycling nutrients into the soil, and reducing the buildup of natural “fuels” that can lead to catastrophic wildfires, prescribed burns can support both healthy ecosystems and safer communities. On Wisconsin Point, the hope is that native red pine, blueberries, and other culturally and ecologically plants and animals will respond to the return of fire and reaffirm practices that shaped this landscape for generations.

Photos courtesy Lake Superior Reserve.

“My heart has been in the prescribed fires on the reservation and helping younger folks with fire programs, and I can see the results of it in plants like blueberries,” says Vern Northrup, an Elder of the Anishinaabe, who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a wildland fire operations specialist. “Blueberries have a five-year cycle that starts with fire. The Anishinaabe would burn different places so they would have a good plot of blueberries every year nearby. Our stewardship is about reciprocity with the earth; everything we had came from the earth, including the knowledge that we get from it.”

The idea of using fire for stewardship is catching around the Reserve System. Not as a single solution, but as a flexible practice shaped by people and place. Around the coasts, Reserve staff are working with many partners and communities to better understand how fire fits into the land management toolkit. One of the big challenges is the association of fire only with disaster.

“When I first started working with fire, I realized I didn’t really have a relationship with it,” says Callie Grones, the community outreach coordinator at the Reserve and an AmeriCorps volunteer. “After a burn, I walked through the site and stopped because the green was unlike anything I had ever seen. The plants were so lush and vibrant. Seeing how quickly the land responded changed the way I understand what fire can do when it’s used with care.”

In the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast, Reserves have long used prescribed fire to maintain pine savannas and reduce wildfire risk near growing communities. In the Great Lakes and the Northeast, fire has been absent from many landscapes for generations, so Reserves like Waquoit Bay in Massachusetts are working with partners to reintroduce it thoughtfully and at smaller scales. In the Pacific Northwest, fire is being used selectively by Padilla Bay Reserve and partners to restore grasslands, coastal bluffs, and forest understories, while the South Slough Reserve is exploring re-introduction of fire to local landscapes. Each place requires a different approach shaped by local ecology, history, and community priorities.

“The strength of the System is its ability to facilitate the sharing of practices and resources so Reserves can deliver services in a cost effective way,” said Rebecca Roth, Executive Director of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association. “Every Reserve operates in a different coastal environment and works closely with local communities and partners to help care for it. What they learn about fire stewardship locally, they share across the national network. In the end, more coastal communities will be able to use fire safely and effectively.”

Indigenous partners—for whom fire is not a new approach, but cultural heritage passed down through generations—are central to this work at many Reserves. At the Lake Superior Reserve, for example, research was co-led by an Indigenous scholar and community members helped document historical fire use and opened the door to returning fire to Wisconsin Point after more than 150 years of absence.

“We were lucky enough to have a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers uncover the long legacy of Ojibwe cultural fire within the Reserve and help us understand what’s missing,” says Deanna Erickson, manager of the Lake Superior Reserve. “That fire we helped ignite was one of the best days I’ve ever had. It was healing for people and the land.”

This work also depends on strong partnerships with Tribal Nations, local fire departments and state agencies who help plan burns safely, provide training opportunities, and ensure public safety remains the top priority. In the process, firefighters gain valuable experience and communities benefit from reduced fuel loads near homes and infrastructure. Prescribed burns also create hands-on learning opportunities for students and early-career professionals, helping train the next generation of land managers, fire practitioners, and researchers.

At the Padilla Bay Reserve in Washington, prescribed fire is being used at a test site to convert old pastures into native prairie habitat which had almost disappeared from the watershed.

“What really stands out to me is how critical the tribal practice of fire is to the long-term recovery of our prairie habitats,” said Roger Fuller, stewardship coordinator at the Padilla Bay Reserve. “In the few places left where fire is still a stewardship practice in prairies, you see an incredible diversity and abundance of plants and pollinators.”

“Fire is also so practical! It’s more cost effective, less labor-intensive, and more sustainable than trying to manage the land with only chainsaws, tractors, and herbicide year after year. It’s great to see western science finally catching up with what our local Indigenous partners have known for centuries.”

As wildfires grow more severe nationwide, coastal communities, including many that have not traditionally experienced fire, are facing new risks. By learning from partners and supporting communities as they reconnect with the spirit of fire in thoughtful ways, the Reserve System is helping steward coastal lands today while reducing the risk of catastrophic fires tomorrow.