Prescribed burns planned for this spring

Prior Lake, Minn. – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is planning prescribed burns this spring in several locations on SMSC lands listed below. The SMSC conducts prescribed burns on SMSC lands and, upon request and through mutual aid agreements, in neighboring jurisdictions each spring and fall as an effective land management tool.

SMSC location for this spring:

Mitigation prairie and wetlands located northeast of the junction of Dakotah Parkway and Wacipi Drive

Inyan Ceyaka Otonwe prairie and wetlands located southwest of the junction of Stemmer Ridge Road and Skuya Drive

Tollefson prairie located southeast of the junction of Eagle Creek Boulevard and County Road 21

Oak savanna located northeast of the junction of Mystic Lake Drive and 154th St Northwest

Dockendorf prairie located northwest of the junction of Marschall Road and County Road 72

Dakotah Parkway prairie located south of junction of Dakotah Parkway and Sioux Trail Northwest

Peterson prairie located northwest of the junction of County Road 42 and County Road 83

A prescribed burn is an intentionally lit, controlled fire used to replicate natural fire events. Before Europeans colonized this area, fires were sometimes started by lightening but many more times by Dakota and other Indigenous people. They burned areas for many reasons, but they were most commonly used to clear land for agriculture, to improve grazing and forage for game species like bison and to reduce brush in woodlands, which helped with easier travel.

https://shakopeedakota.org/prescribed-burns-planned-spring/