Wildland Fire Management

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is home to a great variety of habitat types, including some unique, fire-dependent plant communities. Although there is a relatively low risk of wildland fires compared to some western states, many of our early successional ecosystems rely on regular natural disturbance (e.g. wind, fire, water) to persist within the landscape. Many of our systems here in the park have their own fire regime – the natural pattern of fire recurrence and intensity. This means that certain plants and animals are well-adapted and resilient to fire, but also that they are reliant on the natural disturbance that fire provides. Within these systems, some species, such as adult jack pines, even rely on fire to open their cones in order to have germination of seedlings.

Recognizing that the park was established to protect and preserve these fire-dependent species and ecosystems, we have a wildland fire and prescribed fire programs. These programs are responsible to manage fuel loads and respond to incidents within the park. We also plan activities that use fire as a tool to manage natural resources similar to how naturally occurring fires or other disturbances would have historically.

Public and scientific opinion of wildfire and prescribed fire has changed over recent history. At times fire was only though of negatively and we prioritized suppressing all fires, naturally occurring or otherwise. However, today, based on scientific research, the benefits of fire are better understood by natural resource management agencies. At our park, the prescribed fire program aims to use fire to reduce fuel loads in a controlled way, as well as restore fire-dependent ecosystems thereby allowing visitors to continue to experience ecosystems that represent a bygone, wild component of Michigan’s history.

News and Media

News updates about wildland fire at Sleeping Bear Dunes can be found on the park's news releases page.

Great Lakes Fire Management Zone

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is also part of the Great Lakes Fire Management Zone. The Great Lakes program oversees fire operations at 12 other National Park Service sites in the Midwest. Use the interactive story map to learn more about the different parks that the program services.

These park units include: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, St Croix National Scenic Riverway, George Rogers Clark National Historic Park, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site, Pullman National Monument, River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, North Country National Scenic Trail, and the Mississippi National River Recreation Area.