ELY – A series of free events marking the 10th anniversary of the Pagami Creek Fire will be held here in the coming weeks.
• Overview about the Pagami Creek Fire - Tuesday, March 22, noon-1 p.m., Grand Ely Lodge. Hosted by the Ely Tuesday Group presentation by the U.S. Forest Service. Attend in person or tune in from home. For more details, email elytuesdaygroup@gmail.com.
• Prescribed Fire and USFS projects in surrounding area – Saturday, March 26, 8:30 a.m. -noon. Vermilion Community College, Room CL 104. At this open house, fire professionals will discuss what prescribed fire is, how the USFS plans for it, weather and smoke management, communication strategies, the tools and techniques used in prescribed fire operations, and more.
Open house agenda:
8:45- 9 a.m. Welcome. Introduction of prescribed fire. Why we burn.
9–10:30 a.m. The process of prescribed fire parameters and challenges.
10:45–11:15 a.m. Getting operational – Boots on the ground show and tell.
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. USFS 2022 Prescribed burn presentation and projects, along with forest health benefits and wildland fire resiliency.
A question-and-answer session will follow the presentations, followed by an overview of proposed USFS land management projects. Presentations by USFS. For more information, see USFS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SuperiorNF.
• Shapiro and Smith Dance Company presents Burning Air about the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 on Saturday, March 26, 3-4:30 p.m., Vermilion Community College Fine Arts Theater. This informal performance will be followed by a discussion about the fire then and now and how this dance was created out of historical records and survivors’ stories. Website link for more details: shapiroandsmithdance.org
• Beneficial Effects of Fire Post Pagami Creek Fire – Tuesday, April 12, noon-1 p.m., Grand Ely Lodge. Hosted by the Ely Tuesday Group and presented by USFS personnel. Attend in person or tune in from home. For more details, email elytuesdaygroup@gmail.com
• Pagami Creek Fire Ten Years On: What we’ve learned – April 20-21, Ely’s Historic State Theater. A two- day symposium on lessons learned from the Pagami Creek Fire that includes visits to the 2021 Greenwood Lake fire site. This event is open to all, but may be of greatest interest to professional natural resource managers. Organized by the UMN Sustainable Forests Education Cooperative. Fee for symposium participation. For more information and registration, see SFEC’s Upcoming Event page: [https://sfec.cfans.umn.edu/upcoming-events]
• Film: Oshkigin Spirit of Fire and Panel Discussion - Thursday, April 21, 6-8 p.m., Ely’s Historic Sate Theater. A screening of a local 16-minute fire documentary followed by a discussion with tribal panelists on the value of Indigenous perspectives in transforming our relationship with fire and how we, as humans, relate to the whole community of life that we are part of. Panelists from Tribal nations within the 1842 and 1854 Treaty Areas.
• Saturday morning walking trips with Bill Tefft, Ely Naturalist - Wildland Fire sites, prescribed fire sites and more. Everyone welcome. Get details at Elyfieldnaturalists.wordpress.com.