Can and Should we Commit to Returning Good Fire to Wisconsin at Ecologically Meaningful Scales?

media release: UW Center for Sustainability & the Global Environment Weston Roundtable lecture, Room 1163.

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?

The Weston Roundtable is made possible by a generous donation from Roy F. Weston, a highly accomplished UW-Madison alumnus. Designed to promote a robust understanding of sustainability science, engineering, and policy, these interactive lectures are co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability.