WHEN MINUTES MATTER MILLE LACS BAND WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS ARE READY

By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR

Wildland fires are the fastest growing fire threat in the country. In 2021, there were over 4,600 wildfires that originated on Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) protected lands, resulting in nearly 400,000 acres burned. Wildland firefighters and support personnel are the backbone of the wildland fire community. These men and women work to save lives, property, infrastructure, and precious natural and cultural resources every year.

Wildland fires spread quickly and can easily grow out of control in a matter of minutes and destroy hundreds to thousands of acres of everything in its path, including woodlands, homes, and infrastructure. The Mille Lacs Band DNR Wildland crew is prepared to help mitigate that threat. The Wildland crew is a highly trained group of individuals prepared to battle the blazes should sparks begin to fly.

The peak season for wildland fires starts as soon as the snow melts, typically beginning in April and runs through October. The Wildland crew is on high alert and on standby. They are always with their trucks with radios at hand, ready to go at a moment’s notice. They can be seen driving around checking for threats throughout the Reservation during the highest threat portion of the season, which is typically from snow melt until green-up. But don’t let the green grass fool you. Wildfires can and do happen any time before the snow falls again.

Jake Horbacz is Forester of the DNR Wildlands Program. Horbacz said in his experience, the number one cause of wildfires is humans. Horbacz has been a Forester with the Wildlands DNR since 2014 and those nearly 10 years, there has not been one incident caused by lightning on the Reservation. “In super dry conditions, anything can start a fire. All it takes is a spark from anything to cause an incidental start.” He listed off the most common causes of incidental starts, including a spark from a bonfire, burning brush, fireworks, kids playing with matches or lighters, improperly extinguished cigarettes, and throwing cigarette butts out of car windows. “Anything can cause an accidental get-away,” he said.

Each year, a staggering percentage of wildfires in the United States — about 85% — are caused by human activity. Last year, this percentage was even higher. In 2022, 61,429 of the 68,988 reported wildfires (89%) were human-caused, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s (NIFC) statistics.

“Fire needs three elements: heat, oxygen, and fuel,” said Eli Staples, Wildland Firefighter. Fuel includes such items as leaves, grass, downfall, twigs, paper, and more. The DNR Wildlands Program crew is available to visit Band member homes to perform a Firewise Homeowner Assessment to determine if there are areas near the home that identify as potentially hazardous. “There are a lot of small things that homeowners can do to help reduce the risk of fires starting near their homes and help prevent wildfires,” Staples said.

Some examples are: pay attention to high fire danger days, use good common sense, clear out gutters, check roof shingles and woodpiles, clear out leaves and debris from around campfire pits, keep the fire in the pit, do not leave a fire unattended, and put out all campfires, to name a few.

The DNR Wildlands Program utilizes prescribed burns to help manage the land to promote ecological diversity and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Prescribed burns are done in the spring depending on the weather. “We have a very small window to be able to do a prescribed burn,” Horbacz said. “Winds need to be calm and steady at 3-8 mph, the humidity needs to be under 35%, and it needs to be coordinated with the BIA.”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Wildland Fire Management supports the Mille Lacs Band Wildland Department as well as other tribal wildland departments around the country. The BIA promotes self-determination and self-governance with federally recognized tribes through Public Law 93-638, which allows those tribes to operate federal programs, such as wildland fire management programs, as their own to meet tribal and BIA missions.

Along with other services, the BIA support provides ecosystem improvements, wildland firefighter and safety training, firefighter equipment, fuels management and prescribed fire, fire prevention, and ecosystem support such as post-wildfire recovery.

On May 3, 2023, all of the elements for a prescribed burn aligned and the BIA along with Wildland firefighters from Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac performed prescribed burns on the Mille Lacs Reservation. The prescribed burns served as training tools for new wildland firefighters as well as to protect and support a healthy natural ecosystem, and protect cultural resources.

The Mille Lacs Wildland fire program also assists the BIA in fighting wildfires across the country at any time throughout the year as needed. One or two team members can be deployed at a time to ensure there are enough firefighters remaining on the Reservation. They all take turns. “It is pretty intense,” Staples said. “It is usually 14 working days straight and we work 12-16 hours per day with two travel days on each end. I love it.”

Staples said it is a calling to be a firefighter. The training is intense. “You quickly learn the seriousness of any fire, no matter what size — doesn’t matter if it is big or small. All it takes is one fire and they get hooked.”

Some recent fires Staples has assisted with include but are not limited to the Greenwood fire in Boundary Waters, Trail Creek fire in Montana, and assisted with fire standby in New Mexico.

When the Band Wildland firefighters are not fighting fires, they are kept busy by maintaining trails and woodlands to reduce the risk of fire by creating potential fire breaks and helping home owners reduce the risk of wildfires near their homes. They also provide support to the woodlands by planting trees, building tree shelters to protect sapplings from deer and other wildlife, cutting downed trees for firewood (funerals), assist other local firefighters, and assist other departments and programs when needed including plowing snow in the winter months.

Wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent in the United States and Canada, in part due to the influence of climate change. Not only are we seeing hazier skies in Minnesota, we're experiencing more unhealthy air from wildfire smoke. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, breathing wildfire smoke can make anyone sick, but some people are at greater risk than others of experiencing health-related problems like heart and lung disease. All Minnesotans need to take steps to decrease the risks from breathing wildfire smoke and protect health.

Smoke began to filter into Minnesota on about Mother’s Day of this year as wildfires burned in Canada. The smoke was so dense, it triggered several days of Air Quality Alerts issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. On May 18, 2023, Minnesota had the worst air quality anywhere in the country, according to NOAA.

Together, forests, shrubland, and grassland cover more than half of the land area in the United States, according to Environmental Protection Agency. These ecosystems are important resources, both environmentally and economically. Although wildfires occur naturally and play a long-term role in the health of these ecosystems, changing wildfire patterns threaten to upset the status quo. Multiple studies have found that climate change has already led to an increase in wildfire season length, wildfire frequency, and burned area. The wildfire season has lengthened in many areas due to factors including warmer springs, longer summer dry seasons, and drier soils and vegetation. Similarly, climate change threatens to increase the frequency, extent, and severity of fires through increased temperatures and drought.

The DNR respectfully requests that all Band members report any suspected unauthorized fires by calling 911 or the Tribal Police Department at 320-532-3430. If in doubt, report a fire. An early report helps keep fires small.