Recap Response from RX Field Trip Event

Recap Response from RX Field Trip Event

Recap Response from RX Field Trip Event - By: Teresa Floberg

The field trip toured three unique sites in the Ely area (both public and private land) where prescribed fire was planned and implemented. Our forests are fire dependent and need periodic low intensity fire to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and promote a balanced ecosystem. Prescribed fire is an important part of forest management and a beneficial means of achieving cross-cultural stewardship objectives. Participants learned from fire professionals and educators about the role fire plays in our forest on this field trip!

The picture attached is a unit that is part of a Superior National Forest fuels treatment site. Piles were cut and burned in 2017, with a first underburn 2017 and a second burn in 2024. The adjacent land (pictured on the left side of the photo) offers the contrast of an untreated forest, thick with dead standing and down balsam. The federal property (right side of the photo) demonstrates what a healthy, open forest habitat looks like after low intensity fire has been introduced. The Forest Service treatments will help reduce the chances of a wildfire moving quickly out of the wilderness and impacting the Wildland Urban Interface adjacent to federal land.