The Benefits of Prescribed Fires to Michigan’s Farmlands and Forests

Forestry and ag experts use prescribed fires—or controlled burning—to clear vegetation and prevent wildfires. However, there are many more benefits of having these prescribed fires.

Lenya N. Quinn-Davidson, Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network Director at the University of California, says there is a lot of interest in prescribed fires throughout the Midwest.

“I recommend that if people are interested in learning more, then look into your statewide prescribed fire councils,” says Quinn-Davidson. “This is definitely something that’s there’s a lot of interest, a lot of movement, and a lot of policy work going on. Plus, there are opportunities for people to get involved.”

She touts the benefits of prescribed fire and says it gets back to nature.

“Many of our ecosystems are adapted to frequent fires,” she says. Historically, fires would have burned in some of these places—like many parts of California—every five to ten years. For so long, we have removed fire from these places. We took it out of the system. I liken it to removing rain or removing sunshine—removing a really important natural process that regenerates plants, releases nutrients into the soil, and maintains healthy forest density.

“By taking that out, we’ve had so many problems including increased wildfire risks, but also a lot of ecological impacts. Bringing fire back in restores a lot of those benefits to the landscape.”

Click HERE to find information about prescribed burning from the Michigan Prescribed Fire Council.