Shakopee Mdewakanton to Conduct Prescribed Burns

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is planning prescribed burns for approximately 419 acres in several locations on the reservation when spring weather permits. An additional five parcels totaling 65 acres are planned for burns in local areas off the reservation, as requested by local governments. This represents the most ambitious prescribed burn plan the SMSC has ever had.

Trained wildland firefighters on staff in the SMSC Department of Land and Natural Resources and from Mdewakanton Public Safety conduct prescribed burns each spring and fall as an effective land management tool. A prescribed burn is an intentionally lit, low-intensity fire used by land managers to replicate natural fires. In the spring, these burns are conducted after the snow melts and the foliage and dead grass dry out, but before new growth appears. All prescribed burns are entirely dependent upon weather conditions such as relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed and direction.

The SMSC is conducting these prescribed burns at no charge and using its own resources to promote best land management practices that benefit both the SMSC and neighboring governments.

Planned locations

The SMSC plans to hold prescribed burns in the following locations on the reservation:

·         Lucky 7 Prairie – A 35-acre linear, grass swale between County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 83 and McKenna Road, just north of the bluff. 

·         Shutrop Prairie – About 65 acres east of McKenna Road, south of CSAH 16, and north of the tribe’s East Village subdivision.

·         Buffalo Prairie – About 190 acres east of CSAH 83, south of CSAH 16, west of McKenna Road, and adjacent to the Organics Recycling Facility.

·         Wetland C9/C10 – About five acres east of Dakotah Parkway, north of the Bluffview subdivision.

·         Wetland S-10 – About five acres northwest of the intersection of CSAH 83 and CSAH 82.

·         Arctic Lake Prairie – About 10 acres south of CSAH 82.

·         O’Loughlin Prairie – About 20 acres southwest of the intersection of CSAH 83 and 42.

·         Peterson Prairie – About four acres northwest of the intersection of CSAH 83 and 42.

·         Tollefson Prairie – About 70 acres south of CSAH 16, west of Pike Lake Road, and adjacent to Eagle Creek Elementary School.

·         Wetland C-24 – About 15 acres south of CSAH 42, east of Dakotah Parkway, and adjacent to the SMSC Public Works building.

Off the reservation, SMSC staff will conduct prescribed burns upon the request of local government officials at these locations:

·         Spring Lake Park – About 20 acres south of CSAH 82 and northeast of Howard Lake Road.

·         Five Hawks Elementary – About five acres north of Highway 13 and west of Five Hawks Avenue. 

·         Lakefront Park – About 10 acres northwest of Highway 13.

·         Shakopee Prairie (Shutrop Park) – About 10 acres northwest of the intersection of CSAH 21 and CSAH 16.

·         Scott County Wetland Mitigation Area in Jordan – About 20 acres south of Highway 282 and east of County Road 71.