Fire management options for coastal New England forests : Acadia National Park and Cape Cod National Seashore
Patterson WA, Saunders K, Horton L, Foley M. 1983. Fire management options for coastal New England forests : Acadia National Park and Cape Cod National Seashore. Pages 360-365. In Editor unknown: Proceedings : symposium and workshop on wilderness fire. Missoula, Montana. November 15-18, 1983
FIRE: Brief discussion of the history of fire at Acadia National Park; the contribution of fuel accumulation and drought in catastrophic fires; and the recommendation of controlled, scheduled burning to decrease likelihood of major fire and to increase vegetational diversity. 'Fire is an important component of coastal New England forests. At Acadia National Park, fires are infrequent but may be large. When dry periods of 1 to 2 months coincide with large accumulations of downed spruce, catastrophic fires can result. At Cape Cod National Seashore, fires appear to be more frequent but smaller, although large fires have burned in the region and may occur at Cape Cod. At both parks all but a few fires are human-caused. Present policies of total fire suppression will probably lead to increased fuel loading and greater fire hazard. We recommend implementing prescribed burning programs (with scheduled ignitions) as an effective means of limiting fuel buildup and enhancing diversity in the structure and composition of vegetation.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/The Bowl/ISLE AU HAUT/