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Smokey the bear got it wrong with, “only you can prevent forest fires!” While he is right about campfires and accidental burns, we shouldn't prevent all fire, we should encourage controlled fires because the land evolved with fire for hundreds of thousands of years.. our role as humans is to burn the land. Our society is just now rediscovering the fire as a tool to maintain and restore natural landscapes with prescribed or controlled burns. These intentional, carefully managed fires mimic wildfire cycles that many ecosystems depended on prior to colonization. Indigenous peoples have long used fire as a form of land stewardship— promoting biodiversity, encouraging hunting or berry production, preventing larger wildfires, and supporting the health of prairies and forests. Today, as we care for the remnant and often fragmented natural areas, prescribed burns offer a way to reconnect with that ancient knowledge right here in Rouge Park.  A quick aside; the interruption of fire as a consistent presence in ecosystems has resulted in the “mesophication” (or making moist/wet) of forests and savannah ecosystems, resulting in the proliferation of fire-intolerant, shade-tolerant tree species (mesophytes like Red maple, sugar maple, beech, and tulip poplar) and the decline of fire-adapted, sun-loving species (xerophytes like oak, pine and hickory). Simultaneously, the development of every last wetland, forest, and prairie makes even these mesic ecosystems rare in certain contexts, like lake plain prairies specific to the seasonally wet ground of glacial lake plains in the southern Great Lakes region.  In spring of 2022, I witnessed my first prescribed burn. This effort was made possible through a partnership between the Huron-Clinton Metroparks and the City of Detroit. 15 acres of prairie were burned under the supervision of Restoring Nature with Fire LLC. The burn helped reduce invasive species, recycle nutrients into the soil, and promote the growth of native plants in our wildflower prairie. The city of Detroit depends on the Metroparks for this activity. Our Rouge Park Prairies and forests are overdue for more fire!
Most recently, on May 9, 2024, another prescribed burn was conducted within Rouge Park as part of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s stormwater infrastructure project (that giant whole they’ve been digging the last 2 years) near Warren and Joy along Parkland Street. The storm water retention basins have been planted with prairie species and fire is part of the management plan for establishing those areas. These incomplete stormwater infrastructure projects deserve an article themselves as DSWD will be connected them to the neighborhoods west of Rouge Park before they're fully online. While I am very grateful for our partnerships with the Metroparks and DSWD for bringing fire back to Rouge Park. I hope that the city can build the capacity to employ this natural areas management tool on its own, more expansively throughout the park, and on a more consistent basis. While there has been burning in the prairie, some of Rouge park’s forested lands would also benefit enormously from fire. As the city and local parks organizations familiarize the citizens of this ancient practice and park stewards grow in the sophistication of their management, a stronger city-wide Natural Areas Management Program could really benefit these few precious ecosystems by employing restoration by fire. Through investing in the health of our urban ecosystems, Detroit can cultivate more vibrant, resilient, and deeply rooted green spaces for all. Fire has always been a part of this land’s story—let’s ensure it has a place in Detroit’s future, too.
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