Oakland Township Parks and Recreation regularly conducts prescribed burns for habitat management, such as encouraging native plant species and discouraging invasive plants. We use prescribed burns to help restore ecological function to natural communities. At times we use prescribed burning to remove Phragmites thatch in the areas that we previously treated.

Prescribed burn at Beark Creek Nature Park, Spring 2016

Prescribed burns follow a careful plan, and are done with permission from the local fire department. We consult the weather forecast in the morning before making the decision to burn on a specific day. The wind speed and direction, relative humidity, temperature, cloud cover, and other factors must fall within specified ranges to meet our burn prescriptions. Because of these limitations, we cannot schedule burns in advance.

If you have questions or special needs that require you to be contacted the day of the burn, please contact Ben VanderWeide, the Natural Areas Stewardship Manager.

Prescribed Ecological Burn Public Meeting

When: Annually in February

Where: Paint Creek Cider Mill, 4480 Orion Rd, Rochester, MI 48306

Description: Regular prescribed fire benefits many of our forests, meadows, and wetlands. Learn more about reasons for using controlled fire in our natural areas, preparations for controlled fire, and how a controlled fire crew conducts a burn. We will also review the Oakland Township parks scheduled for controlled fire in 2016.

Prescribed Fire Volunteer Crew Training

When: Annually in February

Where: Paint Creek Cider Mill, 4480 Orion Road, Rochester, MI 48306

Description: If you are interested in joining our volunteer prescribed fire crew, or would like to learn more about using prescribed fire as a land management tool, join us for this training workshop. We will cover reasons for using prescribed fire, preparations for conducting a fire, necessary tools, roles of each burn crew member, and ignition patterns. Snacks will be provided, but participants should bring their own lunch. Weather permitting we will do a small demonstration burn after lunch.

RSVP required to bvanderweide@oaklandtownship.org or 248-651-7810 ext. 401