Faculty advisor: Dr. Kurt KipfmuellerThis research was supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Bell, Caitlin

Dunham, Sean

Kipfmueller, Kurt

University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy

An evaluation of the relationship between fire history and cultural activities on 
Star Island, Cass Lake, Minnesota
Caitlin Bell1, Dr. Kurt Kipfmueller1, Sean Dunham2
1Department of Geography, Environment, & Society, University of Minnesota
2Chippewa National Forest, US Forest Service 
Fire - Gr owth Rela t ionships
Fire Events on Star Island are not significantly related to drought 
during summer seasons, and there were no significant impact on 
growth related to fire events. Anthropogenic ignitions tend to mask 
any potential climate influence, shown here .
Research Questions
Fire History Context
Recent research has identified substantially shorter intervals of fire 
events than expected in fire - dependent landscapes traditionally 
considered to be dominated by lightning -ignited fires. That is, fire 
intervals are much shorter than natural lightning ignitions alone 
might support. These augmented fires are most likely due to Native 
American land use in northern Minnesota as well as the upper 
Midwest more generally. The evidence suggests the use of fire as 
part of forest management strategies geared towards the 
enhancement and/or maintenance of habitats for plant and wildlife 
management. Star Island was selected for this study for a variety of 
reasons. The island includes old growth red pine stands that 
predate the formation of the Chippewa National Forest (1908) and 
includes historical and archaeological evidence for human 
occupation over the past 5000 years. The island is located within 
the Leach Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation and it remains culturally 
significant to the Band. 
• What are the historic fire intervals on Star Island and how do fire 
patterns vary spatially and temporally across the land?
• How does the timing on fire activity on the island relate to human 
land use patterns?
• How do fires influence ring -width patterns of living red pines?
Climate – Growth Relationships
I would like to acknowledge the US Forest Service of the Chippewa 
National Forest for their support, as well as the Leech Lake Band of 
Ojibwe community members and Leech Lake Tribal College faculty 
and students for helpful discussions surrounding the fire and 
cultural history of Star Island. Dr. Kurt Kipfmueller provided 
immense help in collecting and processing field data and 
chronology analysis.
Methods
Conclusions
Acknowledgements 
Findings
Consistent patterns of fire events are clustered within 1790 -
1813 throughout most sampled areas of Star Island. Using 
historic climate data and drought analysis, it can be concluded 
that no significant amount of fire events were ignited by 
lightning or other natural factors. Considering the heavy use of 
the land for Native American living within the time period of 
these fire events, it is more than likely the fires were used as 
land management practices by the Ojibwe. Cultural information 
provided by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe as well as historic 
travelers' journals suggest management practices include 
burning land for berry cultivation on the island, as well as for 
clearing brush as a safety management practice. 
Cross sections, partial cross sections, and core samples were taken 
from stumps and live trees as encountered in the field 
opportunistically around the island. These samples were 
transported back to the laboratory and processed using fine 
sanding techniques until individual tracheid cells were visible under 
magnification. To visually crossdate annual rings, skeleton plotting 
techniques were used, and fire -scarred lesions were able to be 
dated based on their placement within annual rings. A master 
dating chronology of core samples taken from living red pines was 
compiled from composite dating analysis from individual trees. This 
chronology was then compared with the fire -scar dates compiled 
from cross sections. 
In general, growing season precipitation positively influences tree 
growth. The summer total precipitation from June and July 
significantly influences annual tree growth in the red pines of this 
study area. Significant inverse temperature identified in September 
prior to the growing season is unusual and requires additional 
investigation. 
Findings26/35 Samples Dated
124 Total fire scars; 13 Unique Fire Years
Four Clustered Dates 1790 -1813 
Most Fires Were Recorded In All Areas
46% of Fire Intervals were <15 years
MFI is Sensitive to Large Intervals 


An evaluation of the relationship between fire history and cultural activities on Star Island, Cass Lake, Minnesota

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An evaluation of the relationship between fire history and cultural activities on Star Island, Cass Lake, Minnesota

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