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St. Olaf College is home to the Natural Lands, more than 400 acres of woodlands, prairies, and wetlands. The Natural Lands are managed and cared for using a variety of methods, including prescribed burns. Prescribed burns help strengthen existing habitats by providing regular disturbances that native plants and animals benefit from.

Natural Lands Manager Wesley Braker ‘18 further explains the purpose and process of prescribed fire in the Natural Lands: 

Why are prescribed burns necessary, and what impacts do they have on native habitats? 
Humans have used fire in North America for tens of thousands of years, molding the landscape into what Europeans found during Westward Expansion. In Minnesota, most of our ecosystems have some relationship with fire, typically differing in intensity and time interval between burns. In the Natural Lands, we are heavily focused on building habitats and ecosystem services that resemble those that existed 200 hundred years ago while also accounting for the modern realities of climate change and human development. Many of the native plants that we foster have evolved with fire. In some cases, the physical structures that many of these plants form do so under the pressure of fire. This can create niche opportunities for other species. For example, a burned-out log used as a home by a chipmunk or a push of new vegetation providing forage to deer. We use prescribed fire to promote modern, functional habitats under continued historic disturbance regimes.

What goes into planning a prescribed burn?
Deciding to use fire as a management tool is not something we decide in the moment; most of our fire planning is years in the making. When we think about managing a specific area, we look at all the tools at our disposal. In many cases, fire is a tool that would yield desirable results, but the area must undergo preparations, which can take years. This prep work includes brush reduction and protecting desirable trees. Once an area has been properly prepared for fire, we build a plan for how we will burn it by taking as many variables as we can into consideration, such as impacts to people, time of year, weather conditions, personnel and equipment requirements, and more. This plan must be approved by state and local fire agencies before we are allowed to proceed. Once we have an approved plan and have received our burn permits from local fire agencies, we watch weather forecasts and the college calendar looking for what we call “burn windows.” If the stars align on all these moving pieces, we have a chance to conduct a prescribed burn within the Natural Lands.

Besides prescribed burns, what other methods of land management do you use?
Stewarding a piece of land with such diverse habitats and uses requires novel approaches to many challenges, and in many cases fire is not the solution. We use weed whips and mowers to cut down invasive plants and make room for native species to grow. We collect seeds of many native species, which we spread in areas where we have removed invasive plants to add desirable species and competition. We raise and lower the water in Big Pond to mimic high and low water cycles. We selectively use herbicides on plant species that are more challenging to remove, such as the invasive buckthorn. All these approaches use the idea of disturbance to create positive change in the environment, which is similar to how we view our use of prescribed fire.

How do you encourage native species in the Natural Lands?
Habitat management is really a “if you build it, they will come” game in Minnesota. With landowner permission, we collect seed from native, local plant populations and sow them into appropriate locations within the Natural Lands. In some cases, we grow these seeds into mature plants in the RNS Greenhouse before planting them out. In most cases, we need thriving native plant populations to have successful prescribed fire. Really, prescribed fire and native species promote each other in positive ways.

How does your work help St. Olaf become more environmentally conscious? How can members of the St. Olaf community get involved in this process? 
In my work, I am fortunate to have staff and faculty partners that work with us to create and host events, classes, and meetings that immerse the campus community in the Natural Lands. To many people nature is separate from humans. I hope that our focus on being intentional and engaged in our stewardship shows that there is no separation if we are to care for our environment. We welcome members of the St. Olaf community to explore the Natural Lands, plan their next class with the natural environment in mind, and reach out to us for collaboration. We welcome volunteers, and interested folks can sign up for information on prescribed fire training opportunities on our website, where you can also learn more about our current prescribed fire plans.

About Wesley Braker
Wesley Braker, Ph.D. ‘18 is the St. Olaf College Natural Lands Manager. He is involved in hands-on work to manage the Natural Lands, oversees the activities of student workers, and collaborates with faculty and staff in developing projects involving the Natural Lands. Braker is particularly interested in protecting local populations of plants through seed collection, plant propagation, and public awareness. He is inspired by students as they explore what it means to be good stewards to the land that we are fortunate to work with.