Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2004

Author unknown

A summary of fire ecology activities and program information for the Park/network including fire effects plot workload, staffing, management objectives and monitoring results, and planning, fire monitoring, communications, and research. Also included are staff accomplishments/areas of focus, future program direction and other optional information (e.g. data analysis graphics or presentations, annual highlights, publications, program challenges, unique solutions to problems, collaboration, photographs of monitoring/fire activities, and suggestions on FFI). This was the seventh year of the fire effects program at Indiana Dunes. This year’s staff included two permanent and four seasonal positions. Midway through the season there was a change in staffing. The lead fire effects monitor and permanent biological science technician switched certain duties and the biological science technician position was given additional duties and thus is not as involved in monitoring vegetation plots. The biological science technician still provides assistance to fire effects by writing reports on our prescribed fires and monitoring fuels and weather. This year our fire effects program was broadened to include non-FMH plots. This was done so that prescribed fire objectives could be monitored more closely and results could be reported with higher confidence. Pre-burn and post-mechanical thinning monitoring was also conducted at Lincoln Boyhood this year.