From now through to mid June, the Service will mobilize fire crews and specialized equipment to conduct prescribed fires on Service-managed lands throughout Minnesota and other Midwest states. Prescribed fire is one of several tools used by the Service and other land managers to improve wildlife habitat while reducing the dangers of wild fires on lands near populated areas. While a scorched landscape may not appear healthy after a burn, fire produces great benefits to native plants, grassland birds and other wildlife. Prescribed fire simulates historic, naturally occurring wildfires that stimulate growth of prairie plants and grasses while removing invasive trees and other undesirable vegetation.

Two Twin Cities area refuges: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Bloomington, and Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in Zimmerman, Minn., will, weather permitting, be conducting prescribed fires in the coming days. Fire crews from Sherburne will also conduct burns at Crane Meadows NWR near Little Falls, Minn. ?The public should know that if they see large amounts of smoke coming from these areas it's most likely caused by our prescribed fires and not by a wildfire,? said Anne Sittauer, refuge manager at Sherburne NWR. Minnesota Valley NWR, which manages several units along the Minnesota River Valley from Bloomington to Jordan, Minn., will be burning at its Louisville Swamp Unit just north of Jordan.

The Service's Midwest Region is expected to conduct at least 62 controlled burns on 19 National Wildlife Refuges and Wetland Management Districts in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. This year, more than 39,000 acres of wildlife habitat are expected to be improved by fire. Last year, Service fire crews used prescribed fire to burn more than 45, 746 acres.

Each year, the Service targets a set number of acres it hopes to burn,? said Dave Lentz, regional fire program manager ?But accomplishing the goal depends on weather and other factors. When weather, availability of fire crews and budgets are cooperating, we can exceed our targets.?

Before a burn begins, wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity and fuel conditions are measured. Service fire staff also factor in affects of drifting smoke, safety of the public's nearby buildings and livestock and other factors before initiating a fire. ?We want the public to know that safety is our primary concern on all of our fires,? Lentz said.

Other National Wildlife Refuges and Wetland Management Districts in Minnesota planning burns this year include: Agassiz NWR, Thief River Falls, 2,295 acres; Big Stone NWR, Odessa, 1,972 acres; Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District, Detroit Lakes 1,700 acres; Fergus Falls Wetland Management District, Fergus Falls, 1,246 acres; Litchfield Wetland Management District, Litchfield, 418 acres; and Morris Wetland Management District, Morris, 1,530 acres. Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District, which manages land in 15 Minnesota Counties, will also be conducting burns on approximately 989 acres.

More information about the Service's fire management program in the Midwest is available on the Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Fire/