The great majority of the land burned is owned by the government. Possibly less than 2,000 acres of private land is involved, a state map indicates. Lockhart said that the forest service put 120 fire fighters into the battle, 90 of them from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin. The DNR sent seven tractor-plow units, two log skidders modified to fight fires and two water units to the scene, Wilson said. Set to start new growths of jack pines for the warblers, the fire caused the death of a forest service worker who took a plow across M-33 to fight the blaze as it jumped the highway. The growing fire was only about a old at that time. Lockhart said Tuesday that it was still a puzzle how James L. Swiderski, 29, of Alto got caught in the fire. Wilson said a plane spotted the body a short distance from the plow. It is possible that the machine stalled, Wilson said. When the fire was about four miles from South Branch, in northeast Ogemaw County, residents were evacuated for a time Monday. Lockhart said it is too to assess the damage caused to the forest by the fire. The blaze destroyed natural and planted jack pines and red pines, and moved into stands of oaks and aspen before being halted. The Kirtland’s Warbler nests only in young stands of jack pines. The world’s population nests primarily in Oscoda, Crawford, Ogemaw and Roscommon counties, mostly in the Huron National Forest in Oscoda County. About 135,000 acres of suitable forest is dedicated to warbler management. Selected sites are burned in rotation in order to keep the jack pines at the stage of growth that is utilized by the nesting birds. Wilson said prescribed burning is a cheap tool for this management, but it is also a very useful tool in other types of forest management. He said he would hate to see it abandoned. A slight increase in the warbler population was tallied last year, while the breeding population pegged at more than 420 birds. The birds winter in the Bahamas and should be arriving now.
The great majority of the land burned is owned by the government. Possibly less than 2,000 acres of private land is involved, a state map indicates. Lockhart said that the forest service put 120 fire fighters into the battle, 90 of them from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin. The DNR sent seven tractor-plow units, two log skidders modified to fight fires and two water units to the scene, Wilson said. Set to start new growths of jack pines for the warblers, the fire caused the death of a forest service worker who took a plow across M-33 to fight the blaze as it jumped the highway. The growing fire was only about a old at that time. Lockhart said Tuesday that it was still a puzzle how James L. Swiderski, 29, of Alto got caught in the fire. Wilson said a plane spotted the body a short distance from the plow. It is possible that the machine stalled, Wilson said. When the fire was about four miles from South Branch, in northeast Ogemaw County, residents were evacuated for a time Monday. Lockhart said it is too to assess the damage caused to the forest by the fire. The blaze destroyed natural and planted jack pines and red pines, and moved into stands of oaks and aspen before being halted. The Kirtland’s Warbler nests only in young stands of jack pines. The world’s population nests primarily in Oscoda, Crawford, Ogemaw and Roscommon counties, mostly in the Huron National Forest in Oscoda County. About 135,000 acres of suitable forest is dedicated to warbler management. Selected sites are burned in rotation in order to keep the jack pines at the stage of growth that is utilized by the nesting birds. Wilson said prescribed burning is a cheap tool for this management, but it is also a very useful tool in other types of forest management. He said he would hate to see it abandoned. A slight increase in the warbler population was tallied last year, while the breeding population pegged at more than 420 birds. The birds winter in the Bahamas and should be arriving now.
Bay_City_Times_May_11_1980.docx