Prescribed Fire

About Burning in Saint Paul

1. History of Prescribed Fire

   Native American Burning Practices

    Sign upBefore European settlement, the Dakota people and many other tribes set fires to the land for a variety of reasons: improving hunting grounds, promoting the growth of fire-dependent plants for food and medicine like wild blueberries, facilitating travel by reducing underbrush, using fire itself as weapon of war against neighboring tribes, and sanctifying religious or spiritual ceremonies. These types of burns are often categorized as "cultural burning", and, as colonization and the genocide of Native Americans progressed in the 19th and 20th centuries, these practices were dismissed and explicitly outlawed by the United States government.

   The suppression of fire on the landscape transformed the American landscape and had devastating consequences across the country. The effects are perhaps most pronounced in the western United States, where buildup of unburned fuels (along with climate change) has caused larger, more intense, and more frequent wildfires in the last century. Here in Minnesota, fire suppression has not only contributed to devastating wildfires but has also allowed invasive species and fast-growing native trees to invade and degrade prairies and savannas. This reduces biodiversity and overall ecosystem resiliency.

   Modern Prescribed Fire

   Federal, state and local governments continued to discourage any controlled burning practices in most of the country until around the middle of the 20th century.  In the 1960's researchers at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve here in the north metro began studying the effects of fire on prairie and oak savanna restoration, making it one of the longest running scientific fire experiments in the world. 

   As land managers began to understand the benefits of prescribed burning and the risks of a 100% fire suppression policy, prescribed fires became more common. Improvements in weather forecasting, mapping, and communications have made prescribed burning more routine and effective. 

   Modern burn practitioners draw on scientific research like the experiments at Cedar Creek, earlier prescribed burning practices common in the southeastern United States, and traditional indigenous ecological knowledge to plan and execute burns. 

2. Why Burn?

   Benefits of Prescribed Burning

   For the Landscape

   The Minnesota DNR lists the following as benefits of prescribed burning: 

   • Combats trees and shrubs that shade out prairie and other shade-intolerant plants
   • Removes old vegetation to make room for new growth
   • Shifts soil nutrients to a state more favorable to prairie species
   • Helps reduce the spread of invasive and pest species
   • Consumes excess fuel, such as dead and downed trees, reducing dangerous and intense wildfires
   • Burning in patches creates a mosaic of habitats for a variety of plants and animals.

   For You

   Prescribed fire is one of many land management tools in the toolbox. Alternatives like grazing, mowing, and manually removing brush are used when prescribed fire is not possible, but prescribed burning is often a more efficient way to manage certain landscapes. With a robust prescribed fire program, Saint Paul's Environmental Services unit is able to manage larger areas more effectively than with mechanical or chemical methods.

3. Saint Paul's Burn Program

   For over 20 years, Saint Paul's natural resources program has been conducting prescribed burns in Saint Paul to manage the city's parkland. Of the 2,300 acres of natural areas in Saint Paul, over 150 acres are prescribed burn areas. Many of these "burn units" are in large parks and nature preserves like Phalen Regional Park and Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, but sometimes we execute controlled burns in neighborhood parks, rain gardens, and boulevards/parkways. 

   

4. Safety

   Be Firewise

   Seeing fire on the landscape can elicit many emotions in people. Fire can be beautiful and awe-inspiring but can also raise anxieties in some people. Saint Paul Natural Resources meticulously train and plan for each burn, but there are a few things that members of the public can do to be "firewise" and protect themselves and staff from unexpected hazards.

   Keep a safe distance.

   For your safety and to ensure that our crews can focus on safely executing the burn, stay away from active flames and equipment. Feel free to observe burning operations from a safe distance, but make sure to stay aware of your surroundings and always listen to directions from burn personnel. 

   Stay on the trails.

   Regardless of whether we're burning, walking off-trail is discouraged because it can hinder our restoration work. Prescribed burns often take place near park trails, but visitors should never go off-trail to avoid smoke or heat from prescribed fire because they might accidentally enter the burn area and put themselves and park staff in danger. They should either turn around and walk back the way they came or continue down the trail.

   Eyes on the road.

   Even if weather conditions are perfect for prescribed burning, fire or smoke may occasionally be visible from roads. In most cases, the most visible aspect of the burns will be a plume of smoke rising up. Burns may be fascinating to watch, but please stay focused on driving.

   Be smoke ready.

   For most people, limited exposure to the short-duration smoke created by our burns won't do anything other than cause some redness and burning in the eyes and maybe a cough. However, smoke from prescribed fires can be harmful to people and pets with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Also, in recent years hazardous air quality due to wildfire smoke in the atmosphere has become more common. Repeated exposure to poor air quality can cause health complications, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself, such as wearing tight fitting mask and avoiding smoke from prescribed burns. 

   Check the air filters in your homes yearly, and consider purchasing or making a DIY air filter to prepare for air quality events, regardless of whether or not you live near a park where prescribed burns take place. 

   Check out the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Smoke Ready Resources for more info on how to protect yourself from poor air quality resulting from wildfires or prescribed fires.