How many wildfires do you think Michigan has annually? One would think it wouldn’t be many for being a northern state but Michigan has more than 200 wildfires yearly, which totals out to almost 1,500 acres statewide. With the extensive amount of wildfires, the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) has to prepare to fight or prevent these fires.
One way the DNR prevents fires is by using a method called prescribed burning. Prescribed burning is when the DNR firefighters will have a controlled fire to burn acres of land to help get rid of the fuel for the fires. If they didn’t burn the land it would take them at least a few weeks to clear one acre of land of the dead leaves, grass, and trees. The prescribed burning doesn’t only just help the DNR control the spread of wildfires it also helps with the control of invasive species.
Partnerships also play a critical role in helping stop and prevent wildfires. The DNR is partnered with local fire departments and places like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Michigan is part of the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact. The U.S. Forest Service uses the story of Smokey the Bear to help make people aware of the threat of wildfires, by telling them how they themselves can prevent wildfires. The Bureau of Land Management promotes different types of wildlife articles. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an organization that at 200 years old protects the land of the Native American Reservations. Lastly, the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact was created to promote effective prevention and control of wildfires in the Great Lakes region.
Another way that the DNR uses to control wildfires is by pulling at people’s hearts with Smokey the Bear. Smokey was an orphan bear cub that was found wandering outside a wildfire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico in the spring of 1950. After he was rescued, it was later discovered that he was badly burned by the fire while he was trying to climb up a tree to try to escape the fire. When the story of the little bear got out to the rest of the U.S. it brought more awareness to the epidemic of wildfires. When the story got out, the DNR capitalized on the opportunity to make wildfires more preventable by starting the Smokey Bear Campaign with the catchphrase “Only You can prevent wildfires.” The words “Only You” empower people to take actions into their own hands to help prevent wildfires. They also list ways that people can help like cleaning up trash and carefully watching campfires and not leaving them unsupervised.
