Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds multi-park prescribed fire and fuels management work in National Park Service’s Great Lakes Fire Management Zone

In 2024, fire management staff from the National Park Service’s Great Lakes Fire Management Zone, based at Indiana Dunes National Park, completed prescribed fires and fuels management projects across six different parks in four states using approximately $800,000 in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding. Projects consisted of prescribed fires, mechanical fuels reduction, pile burning, ecological surveys, and natural resource monitoring.

At Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, fire crews reduced the threat of wildfires to the park headquarters by thinning and removing vegetation. A three-acre area around the historic park headquarters was treated to create defensible space and enhance the cultural landscape. BIL funding also supported endangered species and archeological surveys to ensure the park’s compliance for future prescribed fires.

Left image
Vegetation surrounding a structure at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore's South Manitou Island prior to fuel reduction work taking place in June 2024.
Credit: NPS/J JAMES

Right image
The same area after thinning has taken place.
Credit: NPS/J JAMES

On South Manitou Island, within Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, fire crews treated 22 acres around historic structures and along essential trails and accessways. Located sixteen miles off the mainland, it takes crews extended time to respond to a wildfire, which means the island’s structures need to be able to survive a wildfire with a delayed response from fire crews.

Along the mainland of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, NPS personnel conducted three prescribed fires, totaling over 950 acres. These prescribed fires will help reduce the threat of wildfire, while also rejuvenating Red Pine and Jack Pine habitat. Additionally, BIL funds were used by fire ecology staff to conduct fire effects monitoring, evaluating how well the prescribed fire’s objectives are being met.

At the Ice Age National Scenic Trail near Madison, Wisconsin, BIL funding provided for mechanical fuels reduction and restoration work.

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area benefited from BIL funds with a prescribed fire near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. This fire helped to improve oak savanna restoration efforts on NPS lands.

Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, flowing along the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota, also benefited from BIL-funded prescribed fire and fuels management work. Three prescribed fires, several pile burns, multiple mechanical thinning projects, and fire effects monitoring occurred along the riverway. More than 400 acres of NPS lands were treated.

The Nelson House Pile Burn met goals of historic structure defensible space and cultural landscape management at Indiana Dunes National Park.

NPS/M BELL

At Indiana Dunes National Park, firefighters treated more than 780 acres of land using BIL funding. Six different prescribed fires, two pile burns, and twenty different thinning projects were completed. Thinning projects included maintenance of shaded fuel breaks, and the creation of defensible space around historic park structures.

Using $300,000 in BIL funding, more than 50 projects on 2400 acres of land were completed at six different parks in the Great Lakes Fire Management Zone. The projects have resulted in fuels reduction, natural resources rehabilitation, cultural landscape enhancement and the creation of defensible space to preserve and protect some of America’s greatest places.