25th Annual MPFC Meeting & 11th Annual Burning Issues Workshop

Event Sponsor: Edward Lowe Foundation and Pheasants Forever

February 4 & 5, 2025

In-Person: Airfield Building 1173 classroom A and B, 1160 Bataan Ave, Grayling, MI 49738 (Coordinates for the site are 44°40′49″N, 084°43′44″W)

Recordings

24th Annual MPFC Meeting & 10th Annual Burning Issues Workshop

February 6 & 7, 2024

In-Person: Fort Custer Training Center Auditorium in Education Building: 2514 26th St, Augusta, MI 49012

DAY 1 AGENDA:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6

Download a Printable Schedule

9:00am - 9:15am WELCOME

Amy Frye, MPFC Chair

Keynote Sesssion: Traditional Fire Knowledge: Yesterday’s Lessons, Today’s Practitioners

Session Sponsor: Edward Lowe Foundation

Moderator: Stephanie Diep, Kalamazoo Nature Center

Virtual Moderator: Jarod Reibel, Edward Lowe Foundation

Recording Part 1

Recording Part 2

9:15am - 9:35am Mary Parr, Stewardship Manager Pierce Cedar Creek Institute

The past and present significance of Ishkode in Anishinaabeg culture and historical fire ecology.

9:35am - 9:55am Ferin Davis Anderson, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

Reciprocal Restoration and Cultural Fire Revitalization

9:55am - 10:15am Eric Clark, Lead Wildlife Biologist, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Co-Stewardship on Federal Lands

10:15am - 10:25am Q&A

10:25am-10:40am Break

10:40am-11:00am Vic Bogosian, Natural Resources Manager, Pokégnek Bodéwadmik - Pokagon Band of Potawatomi

Mégwa shë gda zgë’gémen (meh-gwa zhuh, gda-zguh-geh-men), “We Should Burn Things More”. A review of early settler accounts and aspects of culture today to discuss how indigenous fire perspectives can help us move forward as fire practitioners.

11:00am - 11:20am Nathan Walker, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Housing Dept and Athens Fire Dept Captain, Stephen W. Allen, President of Geum Services, Inc. , and Douglas Taylor, Elder of Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi

Current partnership between NHBP and Athens Fire Dept

11:20am - 12:00pm Panel Q&A Discussion

12:00pm - 1:15pm Lunch

Canadian Fires, Michigan’s Air: Dealing with Air Quality Impacts

Session Sponsor: Native Connections

Moderator: Jarod Reibel, Edward Lowe Foundation

Virtual Moderator: Amy Frye, NRCS

Recording

1:15pm - 1:25pm Cort Scholten, Meteorologist, National Weather Service

Canadian weather conditions contributing to the fires

1:25pm - 1:35pm Jim Haywood, Senior Meteorologist, EGLE

Michigan’s Air Quality Impacts

1:35pm - 2:35pm Panel Q&A Discussion

Cort Scholten, Meteorologist, National Weather Service

Trent Wickman & Alexia Prosperi, Air Resource Specialists, US Forest Service

Paul Rogers, Fire Prevention Specialist, DNR

Ryan Koziatek, Stewardship Director, Kalamazoo Nature Center

Jim Haywood, Senior Meteorologist, EGLE

Shelby Majors, Assistant Fire Management Officer, US Forest Service

2:35pm - 2:50pm Break

Bats, Butterflies, and Turtles: Wildlife in Fire-Dependent Habitats

Session Sponsor: Blue Heron Ministries

Moderator: Craig Maier, Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium

Virtual Moderator: Lee Osterland

Recording

2:50pm - 3:10pm Jennifer Wong, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bats & Fire

3:10pm - 3:30pm Ashley Cole-Wick, Conservation Associate in Zoology, Michigan Natural Features Inventory:

Butterflies & Fire

3:30pm - 3:50pm Alicia Ihnken, Stewardship Analyst, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Division:

Box Turtles & Fire

3:50pm - 4:00pm Panel Q&A Discussion

4:00pm - 6:00pm MPFC Social Hour and Silent Auction (in-person only)

DAY 2 AGENDA:

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

9:00am - 9:05am WELCOME

Jarod Reibel, MPFC Vice-Chair, Edward Lowe Foundation

Invasive Species and Fire

Session Sponsor: City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation

Moderator: Tina Stephens, City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation

Virtual Moderator: Amy Frye

Recording

9:05am - 9:25am Joshua Cohen, Ecologist, Michigan Natural Features Inventory

9:45am - 10:05am David Mindell, Owner/Ecologist, PlantWise LLC

10:05am - 10:20am Panel Q&A Discussion: Joshua Cohen, David Mindell, Michele Richards (Fort Custer Training Center Army National Guard), and Ray Fahlsing (DNR Parks and Rec)

Invasive Species Treatment Prioritization Model

StoryMap Link: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1243c098a45a4f4db11082fbcb16e0f6

Web Map Application: https://mnfi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=708feb31a8034e90b9ba70bd0324b225

Technical report from Fort Custer Training Center entitled “Prioritizing Invasive Species Treatment at Fort Custer Training Center Using GIS-based Multicriteria Decision Analysis”: https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/reports/MNFI-Report-2023-04.pdf

Prescribed Fire Needs Assessment Model

StoryMap Link: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/02094dd68d874331a9977fc80d6d7247

Web Map Application: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/0b9d43cbfcf94f6b9a698ce2d646b0e8/

Paper on prescribed fire needs assessment model in special issue of Diversity on fire:

“Assessing the Ecological Need for Prescribed Fire in Michigan Using GIS-Based Multicriteria Decision Analysis: Igniting Fire Gaps” is available for free download at https://doi.org/10.3390/d13030100

Automated Monitoring Platform for Invasive Species

Technical Report for Coastal Zone Management Program entitled “Development of an Automated Monitoring Platform for Invasives in Coastal Ecosystems”: mnfi.anr.msu.edu/reports/MNFI-Report-2019-05.pdf

Paper entitled “Development of an Automated Monitoring Platform for Invasive Plants in a Rare Great Lakes Ecosystem Using Uncrewed Aerial Systems and Convolutional Neural Networks” for the 2020 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems:

DOI: 10.1109/ICUAS48674.2020.9214035