Speaker: Jeb Barzen, chair, Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council
Most ecosystems native to Wisconsin are fire-dependent, with fire return intervals ranging from yearly to decadal. Indigenous peoples utilized fire as a central component of their stewardship for millennia. With European colonization, fires were suppressed, and Wisconsin’s ecosystems changed dramatically, but this change was asynchronous, and some remnant ecosystems persist.
Currently, estimates suggest that Wisconsin needs the implementation of prescribed fire, often called “good fire,” across 1 million acres per year to maintain and restore existing remnant ecosystems. In contrast, in Wisconsin, we currently burn approximately 75,000 acres per year. More importantly, the rapid decline of ecosystems due to the absence of good fire continues. So, the choice is ours, and time matters. Can we restore these systems? Should we try? If yes, how do we succeed?