Our knowledge of how to use fire as an ecological tool has improved dramatically over the past decade or so.The link below will take you to a page where the Michigan DNR explains why fire is so important to certain ecosystems - like that of the jack pine outwash plains of Northern Michigan. Make sure you click on the "story map" link and scroll all the way through for a thorough explanation of how prescribed fires are conducted and their benefits. The DNR does a first-class job of explaining why fire is so important and how prescribed burns are conducted.