Download the entire Illinois Fire Needs Assessment Report

---

Executive Summary

​For thousands of years landscape scale fire has shaped the habitats and ecologies of Illinois, the Prairie State. Today prescribed fire is the most important management practice in maintaining and restoring healthy landscapes. The future of Illinois natural areas depends on repeated application of large scale fire; fire that will keep brush from taking the sunlight from woodlands, wetlands and grasslands.
​
This is the first systematic report in Illinois documenting the number of acres being burned annually and identifying how many acres need to burn annually to maintain and restore ecosystem health. This review is a call to action for land managers, legislators and the general public.

This Assessment Demonstrates:

• Dramatically more acres need to be burned annually across Illinois
• Natural areas need to be managed with prescribed fire with a much higher frequency
• Far too many ecologically degraded acres across the state are in need of fire
• Considerably more resources need to be allocated to prescribed fire programs

Key Data Points

• Of the 1,049,000 acres reported, 790,000 (76%) are held in habitat acres, of which only 50,789 (6%) were managed with prescribed fire between 6/14-5/15
• 213,000 more acres must burn annually in Illinois to effectively manage and restore target acres
• 20% of conservation lands are too degraded to carry effective, healthy, needed fire. Without committed and supported conservation efforts, these numbers will increase over time.

To simply maintain the current condition of Illinois natural areas and to restore degraded acres to ecological health in the future, dramatically more prescribed fire needs to be implemented across the state. Prescribed fire programs urgently need considerable increases in budgets and funding in order to effectively manage Illinois natural areas. It is imperative that state leadership, agency administrators and the general public understand the profound importance of prescribed fire and the vital role it plays in managing Illinois’ natural wonders.
​
Recommendations of the Prescribed Fire Council:

• Funding for prescribed fire programs must be increased to meet land management goals
• Promote a culture of fire wherein the use of prescribed fire is valued, supported and expected
• Trainings must be readily available and encouraged to all staff
• During fire season, agency staff must be focused on fire programs with an All Hands on Deck mentality
• Volunteers are an asset and can support fire programs in many capacities
• Private land owners need support of agency resources and mentorship from experienced programs
• Land managers need more equipment to efficiently and safely implement fire
• Burn units must be large and encompass all habitat types with well prepped, wide fire breaks
• IDNR needs to liaison with EPA on new clean air standards
• Agencies should use this assessment to motivate and reach out to the public
• Agencies need to write comprehensive fire action plan
• ​The new Illinois Fires Accomplished Map and its annual summary are the update to this Assessment.