A private pilot, he has flown the entirety of Canada, west to east, and has seen a wide swath of North America's boreal forest. But our northern forest is only a small part of a much larger forest picture, and a much bigger fire picture." Additionally, in Canada, only about a fifth of forest fires in the past 40 years have been within areas managed for timber. Prior to European settlement, red, white and jack pines dominated the northern Minnesota landscape. A return to indigenous fire prevention practices could mitigate future northern Minnesota fire risks, Frelich said.