Story of 2023 Controlled Burn

The Frankfort Area Land Conservancy planted Little Bluestem on conservancy lands just over ten years ago.  We had been told regular maintenance was required.  For sometime that meant mowing but, after years of thatch build-up, the only functional option, to ensure the grasslands would thrive, appeared to be a controlled burn. 

We did not approach this option lightly.  We spent almost two years researching what other regional conservancies did to maintain their prairie grasses, what the experts advised, and came to the decision to do a controlled burn.  After determining that no one had the proper equipment to mow any longer, given the state of the grasses, the FALC Board voted to proceed in 2020.

We also learned, in the course of our investigations, that fresh grass seeds and wildflower seeds would be released during a burn and weeds would be overcome.  The burn should allow our grasslands to thrive.

The acknowledged experts of controlled burns, in the state of Michigan, were Kanouse Outdoor Restoration, out of Belding, Michigan. Every Conservancy we spoke with recommended them.  One of their senior crew members, Steve Cross, visited the Conservancy in 2020 and provided a proposal for a burn in 2021.  The Board naively believed the burn would actually occur that year and set about educating our near neighbors about the burn.  Little did we know that the combination of "moderate east winds, soil not too dry or too wet and not too many people around" would take almost three years to present itself.

On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, we were notified that “today is the day.”  With very little time, we notified over 200 folks in the surrounding area:   CSA, Wildewood, Golf Lane and Ness Road.  The Kanouse crew arrived at 11:00.  By 11:30, they were set up to begin and did so.  By 3:00, they had completed the burn of the area just left of the entrance; the lower valley; the strip along our northern/CSA southern border; the containment field; the circle and area to the south at Upper Eagle.  They also burned a couple of lots at the request of their owners.

The burning grasses were completely out by the time the crew departed.  A FALC Board member walked the property over the next two days and found nothing smoldering.  The burn appears uniform throughout.  We were advised that a good rain and a warm day would result in re-greening.  There were no mishaps or other unexpected issues.  We were advised to burn again in 3 to 5 years.