Parks of the Great Lakes Fire Management Zone
13 Parks, Lakeshores, Rivers and Trails across 5 states
The Great Lakes Fire Management Zone is comprised of 13 parks in five different states around the Great Lakes. It is headquartered at Indiana Dunes National Park, where a staff of 13 fire professionals manage prescribed fire, fuels management and wildland fire response.
Indiana Dunes NP
Indiana Dunes National Park is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
The Great Lakes Fire Management Zone staff is based at Indiana Dunes.
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
Located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers 71,000 acres of recreation land.
The park started an active prescribed fire program in 2019 with burns occurring in the Platte River District of the park.
St. Croix NSR
The 230 mile long Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway uses fire as a tool to help "preserve, protect, and enhance the value of the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers and their immediate environment for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations."
Pictured Rocks NL
Often referred to as as an 'asbestos forest" as it is rare for the northern hardwood forests of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to have large fires, the Upper Peninsula of MI is not a stranger to wildfire. However today smaller fires are more often used for forest management and maintaining the large swaths of pines along the southern shore of Lake Superior.