Under Control: Burning Lakeshore State Park

In April 2025, Lakeshore State Park underwent its first-ever prescribed burn, a milestone project supported by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and the Fund for Lake Michigan.

In this guest blog, originally published on A Wealth of Nature, Eddee Daniel takes readers behind the scenes of this landmark day at Lakeshore State Park in the heart of Milwaukee.

Aerial view of prescribed fire at Lakeshore State Park in April 2025. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Lakeshore State Park’s first prescribed burn

I love a good burn! And this was a very good one. I’d been anticipating this day with excitement ever since learning of the plan for the first-ever prescribed burn at Lakeshore State Park. It’s not every day you get to watch an urban park go up in flames, especially with the city skyline for a backdrop!

The “burn window” was Monday, March 31 through Wednesday, April 9, 2025. This meant that the burn would be conducted sometime during that period if, and it’s a big if, weather conditions permit. A prescribed burn is also known as a controlled burn. Two things determine how well a burn is controlled, it seems to me: the skill and experience of the burn crew and…the weather.

Starting downwind at the south end of the park, the burn crew lights up the first section. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Perfect conditions for a burn

I’ve documented quite a few previous burns, but the burn crew fielded by Good Oak Ecological Services at Lakeshore State Park was the largest I’ve experienced. And the weather? The sky was clear, the temperature a wintry 42°, and there was a light westerly breeze. This meant the smoke would blow out over the lake. Perfect conditions!

A drip torch is used to spread the flames along the edges of each burn section. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Lighting up Lakeshore State Park

The crew didn’t hesitate. Garbed in fire-retardant uniforms and bearing a variety of fire-starting and fire-suppressing gear, they rolled into the park like a small infantry platoon. Starting downwind at the southern end of the park, the first spark ignited immediately. Drip torches containing a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline helped spread the flames along the edge of each prescribed section. Water sprayers contained the blaze on the outside edges of the section.

A crew member with a drip torch follows a utility vehicle equipped with a water sprayer to dampen the grassy edge of the section, making it flame-resistant. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Some crew members tamped down flare-ups at the edges of the burn. Simultaneously, others used portable sprayers to protect immobile features of the landscape, such as lighting stanchions and bird houses. The size of the crew enabled them to tackle more than one discrete section at a time. Before long a plume of smoke rose dramatically skyward that could be seen throughout Milwaukee’s lakefront. (Someone I know who lives at the east end of Brady Street emailed me that she’d seen it from that far away.)

Another crew member sprays around the base of a lighting stanchion to keep the fire at bay. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Benefits of prescribed burns

Although only the prairie sections were burned (9.5 acres out of the 22-acre park), the activity encompassed the entire park. This meant that the park—a very popular destination for cyclists, joggers, dog-walkers, birders, strollers, and many others—was closed for the duration of the burn.

The purpose of prescribed burns like this one is to support healthy ecosystems for a variety of plants and animals that are native to Wisconsin. Historically, fire was a habitat management tool used by Indigenous communities to remove dead vegetation and stimulate native plant propagation. Prescribed burns provide the same benefits as historic fire but occur under safer weather and fuel conditions (compared to most wildfires).

The aerial views clearly show how carefully, even precisely, contained each prescribed section is. Photo by Eddee Daniel

These burns reduce hazardous organic fuels, improve foraging and nesting with revitalized vegetation, and stimulate the growth of root systems, which enhances their ability to store carbon. They also help reduce the prevalence of invasive plant species, which, unlike native species, have not adapted to survive fires.

Planning and precision ensure that no structures outside the prescribed areas are in danger during the burn. Photo by Eddee Daniel

What’s cooking in the fire?

Because they are well controlled and burn at a leisurely pace and intensity (crew members easily and readily stepped across the fire line), wildlife such as insects, birds, and small mammals can escape its path. Occasionally, singed dead animals are found amongst the ashes. But these carcasses almost invariably were present before the burn began. I received this story in an email from the DNR staff in attendance:

“The gulls in the park frequently pick up rusty crayfish (an invasive species) as food out of the rocky shoreline. Occasionally, a crayfish fights back enough for the gull to abandon its attempt and drop it. One such rusty crayfish was ‘cooked’ in the blaze and visible in the bright red color they turn when boiled.”

The ‘cooked’ carcass of a rusty crayfish found in the ashes after the burn. Photo courtesy WI DNR

Lakeshore State Park’s waterfowl

As important as it was, the burn wasn’t the only exciting thing drawing the attention of DNR staff that morning. They turned their binoculars on a number of notable waterfowls. A loon floated around in the ‘lagoon’ all day. The crew also spotted bufflehead, red-breasted mergansers and greater and lesser scaup, which were taking advantage of the open water.

A common loon was seen floating around the ‘lagoon’ during the burn. Photo courtesy WI DNR

Adapting to the winds

Things did not go completely as planned. Remember the wild card: weather, which is changeable. A couple hours into the action the wind unexpectedly shifted to the east. Considerable plume of smoke began to drift towards downtown Milwaukee and over I-794 and Lincoln Memorial Drive. While the crew was debating about when they would have to cut the burn short, however, the wind shifted back to the west.

I look forward to revisiting Lakeshore State Park this summer when the prairies will bloom again. The revitalizing results of the burn should be discernible in the diversity and fecundity of the wildflowers.

The project was funded through a variety of sources, including the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, Fund for Lake Michigan, and Friends of Lakeshore State Park.

The plume of smoke is briefly seen drifting westward towards the city. Photo by Eddee Daniel

Written by Eddee Daniel, originally published by A Wealth of Nature.

Site of prescribed burn two months later. Photo by Shelly Torkelson

Lakeshore State Park in bloom

The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin was proud to help support this project in partnership with the Fund for Lake Michigan.

In recent years, we’ve worked with the Fund for Lake Michigan and other partners to restore habitat along Lake Michigan’s shoreline. We’re working to improve water quality, enhance wildlife habitat, and improve accessibility in key places along the coast, including at Lakeshore State Park. Since 2012, we have hosted Field Trips at the park for our members to learn more about this urban oasis. In 2025, Andie Zei, a member of our Diversity in Conservation Internship Program, interned with the DNR as a Natural Resources Intern. Andie spent half of their time at Lakeshore State Park, assisting with planting of native prairie vegetation, weed control and invasive species management. 

40 Years of Protecting Wisconsin’s Lands, Waters, and Wildlife

Since 1986, we’ve been working to protect nature across our state—and prescribed fire is one of the best ways to do that. NRF has supported prescribed burns for decades, and we hope to support this crucial land management tool even more in the future.

Site of prescribed burn two months after the burn, with Milwaukee skyline in the distance. Photo by Shelly Torkelson