Section 1. The Mission of the Michigan Prescribed Fire Council is to promote the safe use of prescribed fire on the Michigan landscape by:

• Promoting the safe and responsible use of prescribed fire.
• Promoting public understanding of the benefits of prescribed fire.
• Promoting the development and utilization of prescribed fire practices to achieve desired environmental and ecological resource management goals.
• Anticipating prescribed fire issues and concerns and suggesting courses of action.
• Providing a framework for communications related to prescribed fire objectives, techniques and issues.
• Disseminating technical information on prescribed fire and its application.

Section 1. Participants shall be any agency, organization, corporation or institution that uses or promotes prescribed fire as a land management tool. Other parties concerned about prescribed fire such as regulatory and planning agencies, will be invited to attend Council meetings. An individual from each agency/organization/corporation shall be designated to serve as a representative at Council meetings.

Section 2. A Steering Committee is established to guide the organization and to develop position statements and coordinate meetings. The committee is composed of a diverse representation from groups such as these:.

• Michigan Department of Natural Resources

• Wildlife Division
• Forest, Mineral and Fire Management Division
• Parks and Recreation Division

• Michigan Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
• Michigan Department of Agriculture
• Michigan Department of Transportation, Environmental Section

• U.S. Department of Agriculture

• Forest Service

• Huron-Manistee National Forest
• Hiawatha National Forest
• Ottawa National Forest
• Natural Resources Conservation Service

• U.S. Department of Interior

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• National Park Service
• Bureau of Indian Affairs

• The Nature Conservancy
• Michigan Municipal Governments
• Conservation Groups
• Michigan Association of Conservation Districts
• Michigan State Firemen’s Association

Section 3. The Steering Committee will share information, provide updates and gain input from the council.

Section 1. The officers of the council shall be the Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, and Treasurer, who will be members and determined by the Steering Committee.

Section 2. The term of office for the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be for one year. The term of office for the Vice-chair will be one year, followed by a one year term as Chair.

Section 3. The Chair shall preside at all meetings and see that all resolutions approved by the Steering Committee are acted upon.

Section 4. The Chair may appoint Committees from the representatives as needed.

Section 5. In the event that the Chair must be absent from a meeting, the Vice-chair will serve as Chair.

Section 6. The Secretary shall see that the minutes of each meeting are kept and that a copy is provided to each representative soon after the meeting.

Section 7. The Chair may authorize the issuance of position statements and public notices after approval of the Steering Committee.

Section 8. The Steering Committee acts on behalf of the council

Section 9. The Chair, or Vice Chair in his stead, and Treasurer will have the authority to approve disbursement of council funds.

Training and Certification

In order for the Michigan Prescribed Fire Council to support training opportunities to individuals in wildland fire certification, the following standards must be met before the Fire Council will recognize and support the training.

Section 1: All classes must be submitted to the Training and Certification task group for approval at least 8 weeks prior to the start of the class, and the following information must be included:

1. Who the lead instructor will be and the dates of the training,
2. What organization will be hosting the training and where it will be taking place, including field exercise areas.
3. Courses are to follow the Fire Council’s fee schedule; any deviation from this schedule must have approval of the Training and Certification Chairperson of the Fire Council. Meals and lodging should not be part of the course fee and should be listed separately on the training announcement.
4. Lead and Unit instructors must meet current NWCG standards, and instructors must be NWCG certified unless they are adjunct instructors brought in to teach specific, technical material (i.e. NWS personnel teaching weather in S290).

These conditions shall be considered minimum for fire council endorsement and any associated support of classes, publicity of said classes on the Fire Council website, and other networking where available.