Welcome to the Kirtland's Warbler GeoTrail (KWGT). This trail will take you in a loop in central Northern Michigan through the Jack Pine ecosystem, breeding home of the Kirtland's Warbler. This tour takes you to a total of 25 caches with an amazing trackable geocoin as a reward. The KWGT Passport can be downloaded here: https://f81c572e-1d95-4026-befc-8c60f69cbcd9.filesusr.com/ugd/31e003_41b2f3aa918442e8b08c880e746e6946.pdf
The Meridian Boundary Fire started on18 May 2010 at approximately 1:30 pm, from an individual with a county burn permit burning debris. The fire became a crown fire within minutes. A crown fire is a fire that spreads from treetop to treetop and is nearly impossible stop once it gets going. The fire was spotted by a Michigan DNR plane.
The blaze was battled by the Michigan DNR, U.S. Forest Service, and local volunteer fire departments. The fire moved along at about 1-2 mph rate of spread during the afternoon, and burned approximately 8600 acres, including 450 acres of occupied Kirtland's Warbler habitat, in the first 24 hour. Most of the fire control line was constructed in that same time period. By 7:00 am on May 22, 90 % of the fire was contained. Natural barriers of hardwood forests, swamps, rivers and streams, nightfall, and aggressive fire suppression action stopped the advance of the fire.
Major evacuations of the eastern portions of Roscommon were initiated due to the rapid spread of the fire. Eleven homes were destroyed, and five were damaged. Thirty outbuildings were lost and five more were damaged. Many more homes, outbuildings, and vehicles were saved. A recent Kirtland's Warbler clearcut helped save several structures in the center of the fire. An old fuelbreak significantly slowed the advance of the fire and saved structures on the south side of Hunters Lake Road. Many of the structures were lost due to the lack of fuelbreaks and not enough defensible space on private land.
It is expected that 3500 acres of the burn will become Kirtland's Warbler breeding habitat.
For more information on how you can protect your property from wildfire, go to Firewise USA https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA
Cache
The surrounding area is occupied Kirtland’s habitat. Do not go into the trees. I was fortunate enough to find the first Kirtland’s Warbler in the burn during the official census.