Controlled Burns, Wild Benefits: Restoring Midwest Ecosystems with Fire

Prescribed fire is also a proven and highly beneficial land management and restoration tool. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been using prescribed fire for more than 60 years—with excellent results. Soon after our highly trained crews set fire to the land, the burned landscapes respond with a flush of native plants that attract birds, pollinators and other wildlife. Meanwhile, invasives and undesirable woody shrubs are suppressed, allowing for natural grasslands or mature forests to thrive. Plus, prescribed fire can help reduce tick populations and the leafy ground matter they like to live in.

A Landscape Shaped by Fire—and People

Indigenous Peoples have been using fire across what is now referred to as the Americas since time immemorial. These intentional fires have been and continue to be used to support agricultural and hunting practices, as well as to support plant communities with medicinal, food and cultural significance. It's safe to say that the landscapes of the Americas have been shaped and supported by people and fire for generations.

Turns out these frequent fires were critical to shaping and maintaining most Midwest landscapes. Take prairies as an example. When Midwest prairies go without fire for too long, shrubs and trees start moving in and taking over. This natural succession process, known as the “green glacier” effect, slowly erases grasslands. Invasive species, like buckthorn and bush honeysuckle, speed up and intensify the process, pushing out native plants that many birds, insects and other wildlife need to survive.

Without fire, a prairie that was once alive with colorful flowers and bird song becomes a dense shrubland clogged with exotic species within a decade or two. This is how we lost most of the remaining prairies in the Midwest that were not already cleared for agriculture or development.

By the late 1800s, fire suppression had become the norm—and the law—as a way to prevent and control wildfires. This mindset lasted until the mid- to late-20th century when scientists, Indigenous Peoples and land guardians like TNC helped demonstrate the essential role of prescribed fire in restoration as well as wildfire containment.

Fire-Adapted Species

After living with periodic fires over thousands of years, many Midwest species have evolved to rely on regular fires to thrive or even survive. Many native wildflowers and grasses have deep root systems that can extend 15-16 feet or more into the soil. Fire may burn the plants above ground, but they will resprout from their roots after the burn. And some plants like wild lupine or trees like jack pines require heat from fire or sunlight to open up and release seeds.

Pollinators like native, ground-nesting bees also benefit from fire. Bee research in natural areas in southeastern Wisconsin found that these pollinators—and the plants they prefer—were more abundant in areas where prescribed fire was regularly applied, including TNC’s Lulu Lake Preserve. For instance, the rare Andrena uvulariae  bee is attracted to bellwort, a small, yellow woodland flower that responds well to fire.

Preventing Harm to Wildlife

As a long-time steward of nature, TNC always considers how wildlife—including birds, animals and plants—will be affected by prescribed fires and tries to minimize any harm to these creatures.

For instance, our fire practitioners schedule burns to avoid mating and nesting seasons and to ensure that smaller reptiles, such as snakes and turtles, are dormant and safely burrowed underground or beneath rocks or logs. Research conducted at TNC’s Nachusa’s Grasslands, in northern Illinois, found that ornate box turtles at that location are almost guaranteed to be underground from Nov. 1 through April 1. Our fire crews use research findings like this to determine the best times to burn habitats where sensitive species of wildlife are living.

“Back-burning”—burning habitats so the flames are slowed down by oncoming winds—gives birds, snakes and other wildlife time to move out of the area. We also leave sections of a burn unit unburned to provide refuges (known as refugia) for insects and plants.

Scaling Up the Use of Prescribed Fire

Recognizing the immense benefits of prescribed fire, TNC is working to greatly expand the use of this vital tool. Here in the Midwest, we aim to increase the amount of habitat we burn by 80% to 100% by 2030 across five states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Helping Partners with Prescribed Fires

Prescribed fire is now common practice on TNC preserves and lands. To help spread the magic of fire to additional native habitats, TNC fire crews are helping our partners, including government agencies and private landowners, with prescribed fires on their lands.

For instance, since 2014, TNC’s southern Illinois team has been working hand-in-hand with several government agencies—including the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources—to manage prescribed fires in national forests, wildlife refuges and state parks in Illinois, Wisconsin and other states. In 2024 alone, the southern Illinois crew helped burn 18,863 acres on partner sites—which is more than 29 square miles. 

Replicating Illinois’ approach, TNC’s Indiana fire crew helped the U.S. Forest Service treat more than 5,000 acres with fire in Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest in spring 2025. This was about 2,000 more acres than the forest service’s five-year average at Hoosier.  “We couldn’t have done it without a lot of help from our cooperators, including TNC, and forest service employees,” said Daron Reynolds, forest fire management officer, Hoosier National Forest, U.S. Forest Service.  

A similar partnership is happening in Ohio and Michigan, where TNC has an arrangement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Brian Winters, prescribed fire manager in Ohio and Michigan, assists with prescribed fires on USFWS public lands in both states, as well as on private lands of USFWS partners. In turn, USFWS fire crews help with prescribed fires on TNC preserves.

Hitting the Road to Increase Our Fire Capacity

In the Midwest, the best seasons to conduct safe, effective prescribed burns are spring and fall when habitats are most receptive to fire. That only adds up to about eight to 12 weeks per year—a short window of opportunity. Troublesome weather, such as high winds or drought conditions, can further limit the number of good fire days. 

To get around these challenges, TNC fire crews are now traveling around the Midwest to put prescribed fire on the ground when they are not busy in their home states. For instance, fire seasons naturally end earlier in warmer, southern parts of the Midwest than in the northern parts. Taking advantage of this, our crews in southern Illinois head up to help with fires in Wisconsin or Michigan after they wrap up their burn seasons. 

By bringing more crew members to prescribed fires, we are able to strategically burn more acres. For instance, instead of burning only 20 acres with a small crew, we can burn 200 acres across two prescribed fires with a large crew.  

Our mobile fire crews can also work around bad weather. For instance, a planned burn day in southern Wisconsin may be canceled due to high winds. Rather than waiting out the weather, the Wisconsin crew can drive a few hours to Indiana and assist with a burn there. 

Every summer, some of our fire crew also travel out west to help fight wildfires. Besides aiding people and nature in danger, TNC crew members get to develop vital fire suppression skills that they also need to safely manage prescribed burns. As many firefighters like to say, “If you light ’em, you better know how to fight ’em.” 

TNC fire managers start planning and preparing for prescribed fires months in advance. Every single detail is thoughtfully considered to ensure we mitigate risk of harm to people, wildlife and properties while also ensuring that the fire meets our goals for revitalizing the habitat.

Start with Highly Skilled Crews

To become qualified burn crew members or managers, TNC staff and volunteers must go through strenuous training and obtain certifications and licenses to perform specific fire duties.

The exact amount of training and experience required varies, depending on a person’s role on the fire crew. For instance, volunteers and staff interested in assisting a TNC fire crew can do so after completing 40 hours of training. Then they can work their way up, assuming more responsibilities, by obtaining additional training and certifications. In comparison, fire managers who supervise our crews typically have 10-15 years of training and experience in a variety of fire scenarios. It’s the equivalent to the amount of know-how required of surgeons.

Helping Fire Crew Obtain Needed Training

Another critical challenge to scaling up prescribed fire is the need for more trained fire crew with deep, wide experience in controlled burns. By traveling to help with fires in different parts of the country, our crews are gaining invaluable knowledge about applying prescribed fire in different habitats, from forests and prairies to wetlands.

To further assist our fire crew, volunteers and partners in gaining needed training and experience, TNC offers several opportunities. One example is the Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges that TNC and our partners organize around the world, providing hands-on fire experience to thousands of people. TNC’s Midwest Division has also started offering hard-to-find training courses that our fire crews need to complete to earn various certifications so they can move up the prescribed fire career ladder.