North Dakota · Burn Bans

Before

North Dakota has no permanent statewide burn ban; restrictions come from local Fire Emergency Declarations and from federal orders, and federal restrictions expanded this week. NEW: the Sheyenne Ranger District fire restriction order (Forest Order 01-18-00-26-06) took effect July 29, 2026 through December 31 on all National Forest System land in Ransom and Richland Counties — no campfires or stove fires, and no smoking except in a cleared area or inside a vehicle. Restrictions also run on the Cedar River and Grand River National Grasslands (Order 01-18-00-26-05, effective July 24, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. through December 31), and on the Little Missouri National Grassland (Order 01-18-00-26-02) campfires, smoking outside a safe area and driving on Prairie Two Track roads are prohibited automatically, county by county, whenever fire danger is High or above or a Red Flag Warning is in effect. On the state side a county, city, tribal council or the Governor must first issue a Fire Emergency Declaration under N.D.C.C. 37-17.1-10 before a local burn restriction is enforceable; a jurisdiction may then tie that restriction to the state Fire Danger Rating so it switches on and off automatically, or impose a flat ban. Status can change during the day — check the ND fire danger and burn restriction map and your county before burning.

Now

North Dakota has no permanent statewide burn ban, but most of the state is covered. Read September 13, 2026 from the state's own burn-restriction layer, 64 Fire Emergency Declarations are in force: 45 of North Dakota's 53 counties, 17 federal-agency units and 2 tribal governments. The eight counties with NO county declaration are Barnes, Grand Forks, Griggs, LaMoure, Ransom, Richland, Towner and Walsh. A declaration is what makes a local burn restriction enforceable under N.D.C.C. 37-17.1-10, and what it bars on a given day varies by county: some impose a flat ban, others tie the restriction to the state Fire Danger Rating so it switches on and off automatically. CITY CARVE-OUTS MATTER — most declarations cover the county's incorporated cities, but several exclude their largest, which run their own ordinances: Burleigh County excludes Bismarck and Lincoln, Morton County excludes Mandan, Pierce County excludes Rugby, and Foster County excludes Carrington. Federal orders run independently of any county: the Sheyenne Ranger District order (Forest Order 01-18-00-26-06) took effect July 29, 2026 through December 31 on all National Forest System land in Ransom and Richland Counties — no campfires or stove fires, and no smoking except in a cleared area or inside a vehicle; the Cedar River and Grand River National Grasslands are under Order 01-18-00-26-05 (effective July 24, 2026 at 12:00 p.m., also through December 31); and on the Little Missouri National Grassland (Order 01-18-00-26-02) campfires, smoking outside a safe area and driving on Prairie Two Track roads are prohibited automatically, county by county, whenever fire danger is High or above or a Red Flag Warning is in effect. HOW CURRENT THIS IS: each declaration is self-reported by its own jurisdiction and carries its own edit date, and those range from May 11, 2026 to September 4, 2026 — a ban lifted locally since then may not have reached the state layer yet. Check the ND burn restriction map and your county before burning.