Fires in wilderness in the national parks
van Wagtendonk JW. 2012. Fires in wilderness in the national parks. Park Science. 28(3):20–23
Historically, the only fire policy practiced by federal land management agencies was suppression, a policy that remained in place until the National Park Service officially recognized fire as a natural process in the late 1960s. The policy change allowed lightning fires ignited in specially designated management zones of some parks to run their course under prescribed conditions. The programs grew slowly as managers became comfortable with allowing fires to burn under controlled conditions, predominantly in wilderness areas. Events such as the Yellowstone fires in 1988 and the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000 resulted in reviews and updates of federal fire management policies that changed the Service’s policies. Today, wilderness fire management is a vital component of the fire and fuels programs of many units of the National Park Service. Because of increasing budget and smoke management constraints, the future of restoring and maintaining fire-prone ecosystems will need to rely increasingly on the use of fire in wilderness.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- van Wagtendonk, Jan
- Units
- BAND , GRTE , NRSS , ROMO , SAGU , SEKI , YELL , YOSE
- Keywords
- Air Quality, Bandelier NP, Fire Management, Grand Teton NP, Natural fire, Prescribed Fire, Rocky Mountain NP, Saguaro NP, Sequoia–Kings Canyon NP, Wilderness, Wildland Fire, Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP