This September marked one of the Fire Council’s greatest achievements to date, and a huge step forward for prescribed fire training in Wisconsin. On September 22-26, 28 trainees and 17 instructors came together at the first ever Wisconsin Burn Boss Academy, an intensive weeklong course spanning all aspects of prescribed fire leadership and fulfilling the training requirements for the new Wisconsin Certified Burn Boss Program.
The 2025 Academy cohort represented an impressive spectrum of organizations, locations, objectives, and experience levels. This diversity added depth and nuance to each presentation: contractors taught strategies for writing burn plans, fire suppression experts weighed in on the Incident Command System, ecologists gave insight into how to plan for the best possible fire effects, and everyone fleshed out the discussion with their own experiences. The classroom buzzed with activity during small-group discussions and leadership exercises, and that lively energy flowed into group meals, optional evening classroom sessions, and late-night fireside mixers. UW-Stevens Point’s Treehaven center provided the perfect backdrop for the program, with top-notch facilities that made it easy to mingle, extensive trails, and burn units that modeled effective fire management.
We could not be any more thankful for this amazing turnout from the prescribed fire community. Every individual in the classroom demonstrated the utmost passion for prescribed fire management and the mission to keep spreading it safely and effectively across Wisconsin. We close the books on the 2025 Burn Boss Academy looking ahead to more good fire and knowing that Wisconsin’s fire-dependent ecosystems are in good hands. Congrats to all the 2025 BBA graduates, and a huge thanks to all of the WPFC donors and volunteers who made this program possible!
Save the date for the 2026 Burn Boss Academy: September 28 – October 2, 2026 at Treehaven.
An extra special thanks to the organizations whose employees served as Burn Boss Academy instructors and coaches: US Forest Service, Quercus Land Stewardship Services, UW-Stevens Point, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Pheasants Forever, Adaptive Restoration, Lake States Fire Science Consortium, The Nature Conservancy, and Menominee Tribal Enterprises.
