{"id":5823,"date":"2026-06-29T11:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/?page_id=5823"},"modified":"2026-09-09T08:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:36:24","slug":"fire","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Prescribed Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"667\" data-attachment-id=\"5843\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/fire1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/files\/2026\/08\/fire1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2268,1478\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.89&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Pixel 7a&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1775752520&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.43&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;40&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001027&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"fire1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/files\/2026\/08\/fire1-1024x667.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/files\/2026\/08\/fire1-1024x667.jpg\" alt=\"Prescribed fire on prairie in the Natural Lands. A fire rig moves along the right side of the panel with a line of fire from the foreground to the background\" class=\"wp-image-5843\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Wes Braker &#8217;18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Current Burn Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This fall 2026 we are planning to burn 6 units: 2 in the prairie, 2 in the upper campus woods, and 2 in lower heath creek. Our burn season will likely start in early October. Most burns are done during weekdays in the afternoon, between 12pm and 5 pm. Please see the map below for specifics, as well details for if a unit is being burned today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Daily Burn Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/arcg.is\/1yPGuG0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600px\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Want to receive emails when we burn?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/groups.google.com\/a\/stolaf.edu\/g\/natural-lands-community-fire-notice\/\">Join the Natural Lands Community Fire Notice listserv here!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Why we do Prescribed Fire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On campus, prescribed burns allow us to maintain healthy, regenerative ecosystems in our restored prairies, forests, and wetlands. This disturbance plays a critical role in the health of the Natural Lands, when carried out in cycles that allow the landscape to rest for several years between burns. As fire moves across a prairie, it removes built-up dead grasses, returns nutrients to the soil, awakens dormant seeds, and revitalizes the landscape. Grasses often grow back thicker and more nutrient-rich, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/wica\/learn\/management\/creating-a-relationship-with-fire.htm.\">attracting a wider range of wildlife<\/a>. Prescribed fire also reduces forest density, increases plant diversity, decreases tree competition, improves wildlife habitat, helps control invasive species, and supports species that rely on fire-stimulated seed germination, such as jack pines whose cones <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.foreco.2020.118163\">require heat to open and release seeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Brief History <\/strong><strong><br \/><\/strong>Prescribed burns are a conservation method with a strong history in the U.S.; used by local Indigenous Nations before settlers arrived and later by conservationists to restore and maintain natural ecosystems. According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/subjects\/fire\/indigenous-fire-practices-shape-our-land.htm.\">U.S. National Park Service<\/a>, Indigenous people have used fire to modify eco-cultural systems for millennia. Traditional ecological knowledge of burns promotes ecosystem structure, modifying vegetation to <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fevo.2019.00436\">improve ecosystem productivity<\/a> and manipulate herbivore herds. Indigenous communities used prescribed burns to promote ecological diversity and limit encroaching woody vegetation to preserve the composition of open prairies. This reduced the risk of serious wildfires, and enhanced harvestable resources to support specific vegetation used for food and medicine. We know that prescribed burns reduce vegetation in an overgrown undergrowth, making the woods cleaner and easier to travel through. Prescribed fire was also used in the North American grasslands as a part of <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1805259115\">herding bison <\/a>to hunt by removing bison\u2019s grazing forage in particular areas. Later, those burned areas provided a rejuvenated grazing and, therefore, hunting location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Interested in Joining the Burn Crew?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSc4voADDphsLs2a_Dc1YBiXdsBFBDuFM_ggtAqe8zCj0L2iCQ\/viewform?usp=publish-editor\">Fill out this form<\/a> to receive notification of training opportunities as they occur. We typically host 2-3 trainings per year (Fall, Winter, Spring\/Summer)<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Current Burn Schedule This fall 2026 we are planning to burn 6 units: 2 in the prairie, 2 in the upper campus woods, and 2 in lower heath creek. Our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7307,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5823","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5823"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5936,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5823\/revisions\/5936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}