Prescribed fires can only occur when vegetation, temperature, humidity, and wind fall within the prescribed fire’s specific requirements.

Kawishiwi Lake Units

• Located within the Kawishiwi Lake Roadless Area off the Sawbill Trail (Tofte Ranger District)
• Total 1,911 acres across two units
• Objectives: reduce hazardous fuels, reduce brush to invigorate tree growth, create mosaics of young and old forest, and improve moose habitat

Sunfish Unit

• 775 acres, located south of Greenwood Lake off the Gunflint Trail (Gunflint Ranger District)
• Includes both National Forest System lands and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources land
• Objectives: reduce hazardous fuels and create defensible space from wildfire around lake properties and other important landscape values; improve moose habitat, and reintroduce fire to the landscape

Tail Unit

• 465 acres located about 15 miles up the Sawbill Trail north of Tofte, MN.
• Objectives: Reduce hazardous fuels, improve growing conditions for conifer pines, reduce slash, prepare the seedbed for seeding and regeneration, reduce balsam fir and restore fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem.

Shack and Elixir Units

• Four Shack units plus the Elixir unit, totaling 142 on the Wanless Road, about eight miles east of Isabella, MN.
• Objectives: Burn post-harvest slash in pine conifer stands and reintroduce fire to reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfires.

Fact sheets, maps, and a Q&A document will be posted to forest’s  Inciweb prescribed fire page. Facts sheets and the Q&A are posted on the Announcements page.

Safety, Closures, and Smoke

Public and firefighter safety remain the top priority. No recreation or road closures are expected. During active burning:

• Travelers may see smoke or flames in the units
• Roadways will be posted with signs
• Smoke may settle in low areas during evening hours
• Visitors should use caution around dead or burned trees  

Why use prescribed burning?

Prescribed fires are wildland fires originating from a planned ignition in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regulations to meet specific objectives:

• Protect communities and infrastructure by reducing hazardous fuels and the risk of high intensity wildfires
• Improve habitat for species such as kestrel, woodcock, moose, white tail deer, black bear, meadow vole and the rare Nabokov blue butterfly
• Limit invasive plant species and support native ecosystems
• Promote growth of trees, plants, wildflowers, and blueberries
• Support indigenous Tribes’ long-standing cultural practice of fire use to maintain the boreal forest’s natural fire cycle

Drone

For safety of our pilots and firefighters, drones are prohibited near or over any fire area. in fire areas. When you fly, we can’t.

Additional Information

For prescribed fire information, visit the Superior National Forest website and sign up for email news. Follow the forest’s Facebook and Twitter/X for updates.
 
About the Forest Service: The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology– and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.


***This article was updated on May 25 to include additional units per the Superior National Forest.