On Saturday, eight volunteers, including me, spent 5-1/2 hours learning to do controlled ecological burns. We got classroom and hands-on instruction from Dr. Ben VanderWeide, OTPR Natural Areas Stewardship Manager, assisted by Grant VanderLaan, Stewardship Specialist. The program of prescribed burns is in its twentieth year. Volunteers do the smaller burns while contractors do the larger ones. I observed a large burn last spring at Charles Isley Park. The volunteer program started in 2015, after Dr. Ben was hired in 2014 with extensive experience with such burns.

According to our training materals the reason for such burns is:

“To reintroduce fire into fire-adapted ecosystems to stimulate native plant and animal populations and give them a competitive advantage over invasive, fire-sensitive species.”

One of the volunteers was Pat Falle. He and his wife have purchased the former Iafrate property that borders Paint Creek Trail, Paint Creek, and Gunn Road. You may recall this property as the one with the large pond, large home with a lot of large glass windows and many fenced-in exotic animals. The large house had been removed before the property was sold to the Falle’s. They will be doing ecological restoration to the property, making it a private ecological park. The plan to build a house and barn. Please don’t trespass.

According to pages 2 and 6 of Dr. Ben’s recently approved (by Parks and Recreation Commission) “2022 Field Work Plan” , burns will be in March and April if wind and atmsopheric conditions cooperate. October will be used to complete what could not be done in the spring. See the full “2022 Field Work Plan” for this and other Stewardship work in the 2/23/22 PRC meeting packet starting on page 14. https://ecode360.com/documents/OA3183/public/646332345.pdf

Volunteer Crew Prescribed burns

Bear Creek Nature Park

Paint Creek Heritage Area – Wet Prairie

Nicholson Prairie

Paint Creek Trail Art Project

Lost Lake Nature Park parking lot planting

Gallagher Creek Park plantings

Contractor Prescribed Burns

Charles Isley Park

Draper Twin Lake Park

Lost Lake Nature Park

This page on the township website describes more details about prescribed burns. http://www.oaklandtownship.org/boards_and_commissions/parks_and_recreation/prescribed_ecological_burns.php I arrived at that page by this route – Township Departments/Parks and Recreation/Stewardship/Prescribed Ecological Burns

Even more comments about reasons for prescribed burns and their strategy are contained in this two page “Dave’s Fire Creed” written by Dave Borneman, Ann Arbor Natural Areas Preservation Burn Boss. Ann Arbor was the first in the state to use prescribed burns.

You can get a further idea of the complexity of planning for and safely doing a burn from the 25 page manual we received at the volunteer training. It was supplemented by Dr. Ben’s many, many slides and video clips and of course answering our many questions.