DNR wildfire pilots have stressful, rewarding jobs
Experts tell us that stress is a killer.
Yet, the small handful of pilots who fly missions for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said they wouldn’t trade their high-pressure occupations for anything.
Soaring above the smoke and flames of raging wildfires, searching for moose, elk and wolves or aiding investigating conservation officers as eyes in the skies, these pilots are a talented breed.
And while these aviators do a lot of work for a number of DNR divisions, their main job is to look for, report on and guide ground personnel who fight wildfires.
Think of any of the state’s most notorious recent blazes – Sleeper Lake, Meridian Boundary, Duck Lake and 4-Mile – these pilots have been there for all of them.
“It’s really the bread and butter of what we do,” said Bill Green, the chief pilot at the DNR. “However, it’s not always the majority of our flight hours because fire detection and suppression is weather related.” Read more
They are often found at the edge of yards or abandoned farmlands. Japanese Barberry is a shrubby ornamental plant that forms dense thickets, shading out native plants. It has spatula-shaped leaves, red fruit, and yellow flowers that hang from the stem. Both plants can be pulled with the roots when the ground is soft after a rain and hung from a branch to prevent re-rooting. They can also be cut down to the stump, with the stump wrapped in burlap or plastic, periodically cutting back any new growth.
and sharp spines at the end of twigs. It can similarly be pulled and hung, or cut with the stump wrapped in plastic or burlap. Buckthorn is one of Vermont’s most insidious invasives, requiring more aggressive monitoring and control over the long-term as shoots continue to sprout up.
that are tasty in salad. It is easy to pull up like a dandelion, making sure to get the entire long, s-shaped root. 
