Community Based Initiatives - Protecting the Environment

Tall Grass Prairie Burning

"The Great Spirit has appointed this place for us, on which to light our fires, and here we will remain". (Tecumseh, 1768-1813)

Objectives:

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Walpole Island territory contains seven of the most diverse tall grass prairie and oak savannah sites remaining in Canada. In the extreme southwest of Ontario, as many as 40,000 ha were tall grass prairie or related vegetation. Of the estimated 1 million sq km of tall grass prairie that once occurred in North America, less than one six-hundredth of one percent remains, and the most impressive remnant in Ontario is on Walpole Island. These ecosystems have survived partly because the practice of burning has been carried on by the Ottawa, Ojibway, and Potawatomi tribes of the delta virtually without interruption from pre-contact times down to the present.

Description:

Today the WIFN burns well over 500 ha. annually. Periodic burning is critical to maintaining the open conditions that keep many prairie-related species from being shaded out. Fires must also be precisely timed. Nutrients locked up in vegetative matter are released and recycled more quickly. Blackened earth warms more quickly under the intensity of the spring sun, especially as the thick vegetative mulch of former growth is removed. Grasses and prairie wildflowers, with their winter buds occurring underground during the dormant season, are largely unaffected by surface fires.

Outcome:

There are internal and external pressures to reduce the amount of burning. There are concerns about public safety of person and property, and smoke is generally viewed as air pollution. As the population of the islands increases, controlled burns will become more of the norm. There is a need for nearby communities to understand the importance of fire as part of Native American culture on the island.

Support:

This is an example of the application of traditional knowledge to environmental management. No outside support is required.