In early September, I went camping at the Two Hearted River, a campground in the Upper Peninsula overlooking Lake Superior. This is what it looked like as we were driving in. With sprawling sand lake planes, I felt like we had teleported to another planet – or maybe just another continent. This ecosystem contains the largest expenses of wetlands in the state. This is a part of Michigan that I hadn’t seen before.

In 2012, the third-worst fire in the state since 1881 swept across the Upper Peninsula, burning 21,000 acres. Four years have passed, and new trees and foliage have begun to grow among the charred pines. As we hiked, burnt pine cones crunched under our feet.

There were also lots of blueberries to be found, a welcome snack when hiking! Wildfires are a healthy part of the ecosystem. After a wildfire, scientists have observed the order in which the forest grows back. Post-fire ecological succession usually starts with the process of soil building and the colonization by mosses and liverworts, followed by grasses and wildflowers. Next comes trees and deciduous shrubs – like blueberries. The last to grow back are the conifers.

Since the fire, biologists have been taking this opportunity to plant jack pines in order encourage the nesting of the rare Kirtland’s Warbler. This bird is known to be able to survive in only a few parts of the world, and only nest in ecosystems dominated by jack pines.

Jack pines are dependent on fire to reproduce. Their pine cones require heat to open their cones and release their seeds. The heat of the fire makes the cones burst open, kind of like a popcorn kernel.