We are thrilled to share the 20 field trips scheduled around the region on Wednesday, July 9, plus one bonus field trip in SW Georgia on Monday, July 7. Scroll down to see the details for each individual field trip, including information about how to RSVP.
Iowa
Date: July 9th 
Time: 12:00 – 3:00 pm
Location: 27093 110th St., Hornick, Iowa 51026
Field trip and hike in the heart of the Loess Hills of western Iowa to observe prescribed fire effects on the Grant Center Rx Complex burned in March 2025. The site has over 2500 acres of a mix of high-quality remnant prairie, as well as oak savanna and deep valley woodland. The area was treated as a landscape scale burn, with fire being allowed to move throughout the area with a wide variety of burn patterns, intensity, slopes, aspects, and rates of spread.
The field trip will be a mix of UTV/vehicle stops, as well as some hiking. All ages welcome.
Contact: Kody Wohlers, kwohlers@inhf.org, (402) 578-1935
Illinois
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 12:00 pm
Location: Willow Springs, IL Cranberry Slough
Sign up: https://forms.gle/HjR83k3Hy9pr9nSj9
Cranberry Slough Site Tour Flyer (pdf)
NOTE: Participants should be prepared to walk 3+ miles on gravel trails (some vehicle transport will be available for those with limited mobility).
Cranberry Slough is the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s highest priority natural area. At 570 acres, Cranberry Slough contains woodland and savanna remnant and is named for its bog-like kettle wetland, a relic of glacial retreat some 14,000 years ago. Although the site has been burned for decades, large stands of invasive brush still dominated disturbed portions when extensive restoration commenced in 2015. Today, prescribed fire is the primary tool used to maintain the open, natural condition and keep invasive brush out. Fires are frequent and large here, owing in part to its landscape position within the larger 12,000-acre Palos preserve complex. Fire crews refer to burning in Palos as the “Prescribed Burn Olympics.”
Contact: Brittany Baumer, (708) 906-1636, brittany.baumer@cookcountyil.gov
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 12:00 pm
Location: Deer Grove East – Grove #2
Sign up: https://forms.gle/HjR83k3Hy9pr9nSj9
Deer Grove Site Tour Flyer (pdf)
NOTE: Participants should be prepared to walk 3+ miles on primarily paved trails (some vehicle transport will be available for those with limited mobility).
A 500-acre portion of Deer Grove was the first parcel purchased by the newly formed Cook County Forest Preserves system in 1916. Comprised of more than 1,700 acres of rolling upland woodlands, forested ravines, remnant wetlands and restored prairie which harbor significant plant and ecosystem diversity. Since 2008, this site has undergone significant restoration using mitigation funds received as a result of the expansion of O’Hare International Airport. Over nearly two decades, contractors working alongside volunteers and land management partners, removed invasive brush and trees, treated invasives, stabilized ravine slopes, and amended drainage ditches. The return of fire to the landscape has revitalized the remnant ground cover and maintains the openness of the prairie restoration. Officially concluded in 2024, this project serves as a model for large-scale, high-quality ecosystem restoration in an urban environment and demonstrates the transformation that can come from significant investment and long-term stewardship…and of course lots of fire.
Deer Grove East is primarily open prairie, while Deer Grove West is heavily wooded. This tour will visit both halves of the preserve and discuss the different approaches that were used in each phase of restoration.
Transportation will be provided from the meeting location.
Contact: Brittany Baumer, (708) 906-1636, brittany.baumer@cookcountyil.gov
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: The Cedar Lake boat launch, 1898 Cedar Creek Rd, Carbondale, IL 62903
Sign up: RSVP Link
Field Trip Agenda
Take a tour of the land surrounding Cedar Lake and see they multi agency approach to the water shed. We will look at Private, Public, and Municipal management and how they converged into working together to best manage the Lake.
Contact: Zachary Stawicki, (847) 254-2383, zacks@sipba.org
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 12:00
Location: Lake in the Hills Fen
Sign- up: RSVP Link
Lake in the Hills Fen is approximately 578 acres with 344 acres dedicated to Illinois State Nature Preserve. Lake in the Hills Fen is a very diverse site not just in its ecosystems, but also in the ownership of the site. Ownership consists of the McHenry County Conservation District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the Village of Lake in the Hills. The management of its natural resources is done solely by the McHenry County Conservation District through an agreement with those other entities.
At Lake in the Hills Fen, fire is more than a tool-it’s a vital part of the ecosystem’s resilience. Prescribed burns are planned with ecological sensitivity, because the timing of some burns here are set by the bloom cycles of endangered plant species. The culture of fire here is deep rooted in habitat restoration which has been the success of maintaining the fen’s highest quality areas within the surrounding urban interface.
We would like to invite you to join us on a field trip through Lake in the Hills Fen to observe and learn about our prescribed fire practices.
Contact: Jeff Murray, (815) 482-3242, jmurray@mccdistrict.org
Maine
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 12:00
Location: Hard Scrabble Road, Hollis, ME
Sign-up: RSVP Form
Maine NEMW Trip Information 2025
Hosted by the Maine Army National Guard and Maine Forest Service, this field trip reviews the fire history on a military training site. Situated in a pitch pine-scrub oak barren and surrounded by other globally rare natural communities, site management balances military training with natural resource management.
Contact: Timothy Bickford, timothy.a.bickford2.nfg@army.mil
Maryland
Nassawango Creek Preserve: A Fire Management Success Story
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 10:00 – 3:00 pm EDT
Location: Salisbury, MD
Sign Up: RSVP Link
Hosted by The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland/DC Chapter in partnership with the Maryland Prescribed Fire Council, this field trip will explore The Nature Conservancy’s Nassawango Creek Preserve to learn about restoration successes achieved through an ecologically driven active management approach. This preserve protects nearly 10,000 acres of habitat along Nassawango Creek, one of the Eastern Shore’s most pristine and intact waterways. The preserve hosts a significant amount of biodiversity and is home to numerous fire adapted upland and wetland plant communities (e.g. Inland Dune Woodlands, Pine Woodlands/Savannahs, Mixed Pine/Oak/Hickory Forests/Woodlands, Open Emergent Wetlands, Coastal Plain Ponds, and Delmarva Bays). Some species of conservation focus at the preserve include Shortleaf Pine, Pond Pine, Northern Bobwhite Quail, Tiger Beetles, Frosted Elfin Butterfly, Early Successional Birds, Orchids, Carnivorous Plants, and numerous other rare plant species. We will explore how prescribed fire, in combination with timber management and other restoration practices, have transformed and enhanced the landscape of the preserve over the years. Since 2008, TNC has been using prescribed fire at this site, burning on average 1,200 acres of uplands and wetlands annually. On this tour we will visit restoration sites across the preserve to learn about fire history, fire ecology, fire effects, flora and fauna response, timber management, and how fire and timber management work together to deliver strong ecological restoration results.
Contact: Chase McLean, chase.mclean@tnc.org
Massachusetts
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:30 – 1:00 pm
Location: Myles Standish Complex, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Sign Up: RSVP Link
Join us for a field tour of the pine barrens of the Myles Standish Complex located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This landscape supports a mosaic of pitch pine and oak woodlands, scrub oak barrens, heathlands, grasslands, and coastal plain ponds. The Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation, MassWildlife, and our many conservation partners will discuss the ecological significance of this barrens, the emerging and existing landscape threats, and feature a variety of restoration, management, and mitigation efforts including prescribed fire, forest thinning, ecological monitoring, and community wildfire protection planning within this 20,000-acre complex.
Contact: Caren Caljouw, (857) 275-4765, caren.caljouw@mass.gov
Minnesota
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 12:00
Location: Start at the Dorothy Molter Museum, 2002 E Sheridan St, Ely, MN 55731
Sign – up: RSVP Form
Field Trip Webpage
Prescribed Fire Tour Flier – Ely
Join Dovetail Partners and MN Arrowhead Fire Adapted Communities to tour prescribed fire sites in the Ely area. The field trip will visit three unique sites (both public and private land) where prescribed fire has been planned and implemented.
Stop One: Dorothy Molter Museum, joint project with MN North College Natural Resources Department
Stop Two: Private property off the Echo Trail
Stop Three: Forest Service Slim Lake Rx Project Area
Our forests are fire dependent and need periodic low intensity fire to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and promote a balanced ecosystem. Prescribed fire is an important part of forest management and a beneficial means of achieving cross-cultural stewardship objectives.
Learn from fire professionals and educators about the role fire plays in Superior National Forest on this morning field trip!
Contact: Teresa Floberg, (907) 888-7512, tfloberg@dovetailinc.org
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: The field trip will run from 9 AM to Noon, and people will have the opportunity to eat lunch and network onsite until 1 PM.
Location: 795 Indian Trail S, Afton, MN 55001
Sign-up: RSVP Link
Belwin Conservancy Field Trip Overview
Belwin Conservancy is a land based nonprofit based in Afton, MN that has been around for 54 years. In that time Belwin has grown to 1600 acres of prairie, savanna, wetlands and forest. Come learn about how Belwin manages these lands for both wildlife and public use. We will talk about the history of land management at Belwin, how we have actively reintroduced fire to the landscape, and go into detail of the challenges and opportunities that have arisen. We will showcase some of the equipment that we have utilized to complete prescribed burns and other land management activities. We are also happy to host a prescribed burn trailer outfitted by Minnesota Pheasants Forever which has equipment for up to 12 people to complete prescribed burns.
Contact: Cooper Crose, (651) 319-3136, cooper.crose@belwin.org
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 2:30 – 5:30
Location: Shakopee, MN – Deans Lakes
Sign-up:
Dean Lakes is a mixed-use conservation development in Shakopee, MN. Open spaces have been restored to native dry prairie, savanna, and oak woodlands. Fire is a critical piece to the long-term management of these areas but can be difficult given the close proximity to businesses, homes, and high traffic streets/highways. RES has been doing rotational burning of these open spaces for almost 20 years, and has adapted to changes in development and adjacent land uses. Although the burn units are not complicated or large, the location within the metro area make it difficult to coordinate and implement.
A field trip would be focuses on the burn history, timings and rotations of burning, coordination, and communication.
Contact: Matt Lasch, (952) 210-8452, mlasch@res.us
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 1:00
Location: 44°00’58.4″N 91°35’46.1″W – Google Maps
Sign Up: RSVP Link
Join us as we talk showcase how prescribed fire is used to restore and manage an exemplary goat prairie in the Driftless Area of southeast Minnesota.
The Driftless Area is a region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, with a unique geological history that distinguishes it from surrounding regions. It was not subjected to the glacial scouring and deposition of the last ice age so there is a lack of glacial drift, geologic materials left behind by retreating glaciers and deposits left by glacial meltwater streams.
Historically, much of the Driftless Area was characterized by oak woodlands, savannas, and tallgrass prairies, vegetation communities created and maintained through the use of fire by Native Americans. European settlement displaced Native Americans and brought with it a land ethic that largely neglected fire as a useful and important land management tool.
The steep slopes of the Driftless region were unable to be farmed but with a lack of fire, woody plants proliferated and most topographically severe portions of the region are now characterized by forests and woodlands. A few remnant bluff prairies persist, especially on south- and west-facing slopes receiving the greatest amount of solar radiation and exposure to summer winds. These bluff prairies are often called goat prairies, perhaps in reference to goats being the livestock most suitable for the steep slopes they’re characterized by.
Restoration and active management of goat prairies is done by a variety of federal and state agencies, NGOs, and private landowners. This field trip will highlight Pleasant Bluff, one of the largest and highest quality goat prairies in southeast Minnesota. The site is privately-owned by landowners with a strong conservation ethic as well as a drive to make the site available for public education and appreciation. Restoration and management of the site has been funded by the landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Restoration program. Most of the work has been carried out by a local contractor with help by The Prairie Enthusiasts, a regional land trust, and other members of the surrounding community.
The field trip will include discussions about the following:
- The restoration and management objectives that depend on or are enhanced by the use of prescribed fire.
- The challenges and opportunities associated with burning on steep slopes.
- The use of dormant season, early-growing season, and mid- to late-growing season burns.
- How the prescribed fires are conducted largely with hand tools by volunteers with a wide variety of training and experience, and how the site lends itself well to teaching beginners about prescribed fire and helping them gain experience being a prescribed fire crew member.
The preliminary plan is for the field trip to consist of two parts:
- Participants will walk on a gravel driveway and an asphalt county road, both characterized by mild slopes, along the bottom of the site. There will be an opportunity to walk above the road into the site where the slopes are steep and the ground is rocky, in which case sturdy footwear might be advised.
- Participants will be shuttled to the top of the site with UTVs and pickup trucks. From there, they will walk on a trail, characterized by a mild slope, along the top of the site and enjoy expansive views of the surrounding region, including the Upper Mississippi River floodplain. Participants at the top will be shuttled back down to the bottom but they will also have the opportunity to walk down the steep slope through the goat prairie on their own.
Participants should bring hydrating liquids and snacks to keep them happy and healthy, sunscreen, insect repellent, and a means of carrying these things for the duration of the field trip.
Contact: Stephen Winter, (402) 310-5460, WinterSL8944@gmail.co
Missouri
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 10:00 – 2:30 pm
Location: Meet-up location information will be shared with registered participants.
Sign – up: Field Trip webpage and sign up
Hosted in partnership by the Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium, Mark Twain National Forest, and the Missouri Prescribed Fire Council, this field tour will explore key topics related to prescribed fire management at the Glade Top Trail Scenic Byway (located near Ava, Missouri). Showcasing the effects of 40+ years of prescribed fire and exceptionally diverse limestone/dolomite glades and woodlands, this field tour will be of interest to fire and land management professionals, botanists, and private landowners. Field tour stops will be located along the 23-mile driving trail and will include discussions with regional experts about prescribed fire management activities and outcomes, rare plant communities, and wildfire issues.
Contact: Joe Marschal, marschallj@missouri.edu
New Jersey
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 8:00 – 12:30/1:00 pm
Location: Quoexin Cranberry Farm – Medford, NJ
Sign-up: Prescribed Fire Science and Management Workshop – New Jersey Pinelands Event Registration
Prescribed Fire Science Workshop
This will be a Joint event to include aspects of the NE-MW Prescribed Fire Science and Management Workshop and a funded grant outreach event for the New Jersey Pine Barrens Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership (JCLRP) Project including, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, USDA Forest Service, New Jersey Forest Service and the New Jersey Division of Fish Wildlife Service, NJ Audubon Society, Raritan Valley Community College and the Xerces Society This event is funded through a grant and has no fee associated with it.
AGENDA
8:00am – 8:30am: Arrival, sign-in morning refreshments (provided)
8:30am – 8:45am: Introductions to the Prescribed Fire Science and Management Workshop (Jeremy Webber –NJFFS)
8:45am – 9:15am: Forest & pollinator relationships (Kelly Gill—Xerces Society Biologist)
9:15am – 9:45am: Fire ecology and native Pinelands plant communities (Jay Kelly — Raritan Valley College)
9:45am – 10:15am: Pinelands fire history (Thomas Gerber –NJFFS)
10:15am – 10:45am: Prescribed burning overview, benefits, and equipment review (Jeremy Webber—NJFFS)
10:45am – 11:15am: Forest health and planning in the Pinelands (William Zipse—NJFS)
11:15am – 11:45am: Monitoring fuels and fire effects with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) (Michael Gallagher & Kevin Brown—USFS Northern Research Station)
11:45am – 12:15pm: Fire effects on imperiled wildlife in NJ. (Bill Pitts—NJDFW= ENSP, Alyssa Megonigal – NJ Audubon Society)
12:15pm – 12:30pm: Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Joint Chiefs Initiative, program availability, eligibility and Assistance (Elizabeth McShane—NRCS)
12:30pm: Lunch (provided)
Contact: Jeremy Webber, (609) 477-8685, jeremy.webber@dep.nj.gov
New York
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 8:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Westhampton Beach (40.84311N, 72.64484W)
Sign up: RSVP Link 
This field trip will showcase the fascinating ecology, wildland fire history, southern pine beetle outbreaks in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens and illustrate how different forest management practices including prescribed fire effect this globally rare coastal ecosystem that extends from New Jersey to Maine. The tour will begin at the site of the recent Westhampton Pines wildfire that burned in the dwarf pine barrens. From there, we will go to the David A. Sarnoff State Forest Preserve to see active management using “thin and leave” methods followed by prescribed fire. The morning session will end at Brookhaven National Laboratory where there will be options for lunch followed by a tour of the Lab’s Forest Management Units where we will see the results of mechanical thinning/mulching and prescribed burns. In the afternoon, we will proceed to Rocky Point and the South of Currans Burn Units. The stands have been thinned and the understory masticated, followed by prescribed fire in recent years.
It is our goal to illustrate the work that has been completed to create a healthy and safe fire dependent ecosystem in our pine barrens forests. As a result of southern pine beetle mass mortality, safety concerns for the public and their property has increased. We are proactively decreasing our high fuel load and dense canopy of our pine barrens to help mitigate our increasing wildfire risk.
Contact: Samantha Acampora, (518) 225-5422, samantha.acampora@dec.ny.gov
Florida/SW Georgia (Monday July 7)
Tall Timbers/Southwest GA PBA landowner tour 
Date: Monday, July 7
Time: 9:00 – 2:00 pm EDT.
Location: Tall Timbers Research Station
Sign up: RSVP by emailing gjensen@talltimbers.org.
Where the culture of prescribed fire seeded, a tour of Tall Timbers Research Station and surrounding private landowner property. See both intact and restored ground cover that has been actively burned for generations.
Contact: George Jensen, (920) 290-1995, gjensen@talltimbers.org
Pennsylvania
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 10:00 – 3:00 pm
Meeting Location: State Game Lands 100 Off SR 144 (Ridge Road), Karthaus, PA 16845 Coordinates: 41.1385, -77.9479
Sign-up: RSVP Link
PPFC SGL 100 & Sproul SF – Field Tour Announcement
The trip will include stops at Pennsylvania Game Commission and Sproul State Forest sites, showcasing both successful and challenging outcomes in prescribed fire efforts.
FIELD SITE HIGHLIGHTS
- Oak Woodland / Oak Savanna
- Scrub Oak & Pitch Pine Habitats
- Growing Season Burns under Moderate Drought
DISCUSSION TOPICS
- Burning in Dense Mountain Laurel
- Duff Removal Techniques
- Pre-Burn Forest Health Assessment
- Adapting Rx Strategies After Unfavorable Results
Contact: Jeremy Dayhoff, (570) 923-6011, jerdayhoff@pa.gov
Wisconsin
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 10:00 – 2:30 pm
Location: Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest Headquarters
Sign – up: RSVP Form
Scuppernong-HQ Landscape Fire Implementation map (1)
This trip will be co-led by Nathan Holoubek and Pete Duerkop showcasing the WI DNR prescribed fire program in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest. See how landscape fire treatments have been planned and implemented to incorporate nearly 4,500 acres into a fire regime among 12 burn units. We will discuss how to navigate public uses including hiking trails, horse riding trails, campgrounds, hunting, highways, and over 65 sensitive species or natural communities.
We will start the tour at the Forest Headquarters in Eagle for an overview of the landscape, history, and current uses and surrounding area. Breakout tours will follow depending on group size and interest that will include firebreaks, implementation, building partnerships, tools and techniques, and preparation for large-scale burn units. Cover types that will be discussed are primarily white oak woodland, grasslands, wet prairies, emergent marshes, stream corridors, and peat soils.
Participants should bring knee boots (if interested in the wetland management areas), drinking water, and a packed lunch. Part of the session will be indoors, the bulk will be outdoors on-foot and at times off-trail.
Contact: Nathan Holoubek, (262) 506-0957, nathan.holoubek@wi.gov
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 -11:00 am (afterward refreshments will be available)
Location: 7829 WI-65, River Falls, WI https://maps.app.goo.gl/cD1fixz2JsvV6ZkJ8
Sign-up: no registration required.
This trip will be co-led by Alex Bouthilet from the St. Croix Valley chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts and Emilee Martell from the Driftless Area Land Conservancy. This field trip shows how restoring fire to the savanna benefits the native species. Hosts will also answer questions related to prescribed burning.
The 45-acre Alexander oak savanna is in Pierce county, WI, within the Kinnickinnic River watershed and the Western Prairie Ecological Landscape (a Wisconsin DNR designation). It was purchased by The Prairie Enthusiasts in 2018. Since 2000, the St. Croix Valley chapter cooperatively managed the property with the previous owners.
This effort has resulted in one of the largest restored dry-mesic prairie and oak savanna complexes in our chapter’s geographic area. We have identified 120 native species on the site, including prairie turnip (Pediomelum esculentum). Many species present are threatened or special concern in Wisconsin.
The Prairie Enthusiasts is made up of 12 regional chapters. Our mission is to ensure the perpetuation and recovery of prairie, oak savanna, and other associated ecosystems of the Upper Midwest through protection, management, restoration, and education.
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 am
Location:
Sign Up – RSVP Link Registrations close at 5:00 pm on July 7.
Join us for this visit to a site with oak woodland, wetland, prairie planting and pine plantation that have been managed with frequent low-intensity fire (and occasional higher-intensity fire) for more than 20 years.
The tour will highlight
– a structural shift from a heavily overgrown closed canopy to open oak woodland
– conversion of buckthorn and honeysuckle from a dominant midstory to a minor groundlayer component
– diverse groundlayer vegetation with natives and immigrants coexisting
– look at some old, possibly pre-settlement, bur oaks
The tour will involve a walk of about 2 miles on good trails with an elevation change of about 200′, up and back down once. There are no restrooms on site.
Contact: Jim Elleson, (608) 712-0542, jim@hickoria.com
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Google Map
Sign Up: RSVP Link. Registrations close at 5:00 pm on July 7.
Part 2 of a 3-part tour in the Black Earth area.
Join us for this visit to a Christmas tree farm where they have managed their oak woods and restored prairie with low-intensity fire at varied timing for more than 10 years.
We will focus on the fire effects in woodlands at different stages of recovery and how to responsibly manage burning with minimal available resources. The tour will involve a walk of about 2 miles on good trails with minor elevation change.
Contact: Jim Elleson, (608) 712-0542, jim@hickoria.com
Date: Wednesday, July 9
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yPhMX77kXunYxLwu6
Sign Up: RSVP Link. Registrations close at 5:00 pm on July 7.
Part 3 of a 3 part tour in the Black Earth Area.
Join us for a tour of Parrish Oak Savanna. Dedicated as a State Natural Area in 2015, this 40 acre site contains oak savanna and woodland that have been managed with frequent fire for over 20 years.
Our tour will take us on an approximately one mile hike on established trails with a few steep portions. We will observe the effects of long-term prescribed fire and other management and have opportunity to observe the many plant and wildlife species that depend on increasingly rare fire-adapted oak habitats.
Contact: Rob Schubert, (608) 400-5775, rschubert@theprairieenthusiasts.org