Yosemite National Park Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2012

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A summary of fire ecology activities and program information for the Park/network including fire effects plot workload, staffing, management objectives and monitoring results, and planning, fire monitoring, communications, and research. Also included are staff accomplishments/areas of focus, future program direction and other optional information (e.g. data analysis graphics or presentations, annual highlights, publications, program challenges, unique solutions to problems, collaboration, photographs of monitoring/fire activities, and suggestions on FFI). The fire ecology program at Yosemite National Park had a productive and safe year in 2012. Most notable was the hiring of Karen Palmer as the Lead of the Fire Effects crew. Karen started work in March and the crew of 1 (returning monitor, Tim Martel) started in June. Tim’s season was short this year because fewer projects were funded this year and because his wife gave birth to a baby girl in September. Despite the short season and a small crew size, the crew made efficient use of their time by completing all the FMH plot reads that were scheduled for the 2012 season as well as 20 additional Retro fuels plots that were not read during the 2011 field season. Despite the extensive period of warm, dry weather and fuel moisture conditions we experienced this year, Yosemite successfully managed a fire in red fir, western white pine and Jeffrey pine. The Cascade Fire was a lightning-ignited fire that burned from 16 July to 19 November for a total of 1,705 acres. The Cascade Fire tested our beta version of a “fire decision matrix” we developed to determine what fires to successfully manage and which should be suppressed. The Cascade proved that the matrix can pick successful fires even in record drought years. In addition, the Cascade Fire was a success story all in itself. Fire crews were able to monitor the fire for the majority of the burning period, and employed minimal impact suppression tactics to only a small portion of the active edge of the fire when necessary. According to fire crews on the fire, the fire produced good fire effects. Good air quality was maintained throughout the duration of the fire. The management strategy employed on the Cascade is a good example of what makes the fire program at Yosemite noteworthy, by allowing fire its historical role in an ecosystem adapted to fire while minimizing risk to firefighters and impacts to resources. Two more segments in Hodgdon (Segments D & E, totaling 234 acres) were burned this year. The fire effects appeared good overall based on our initial observations. A portion of this parkwide burn unit along the south fork of the Tuolumne River is a “cold air drainage” where cool air pools in a basin and cannot exit because of a topographic constriction. There are many cold air drainages throughout the park but this one in particular supports a plant community similar to those found in the northern Cascades. Therefore, burning in this unit has been controversial; because if this truly is a relic forest from prior to the last period of glaciation itprobably should not burn in decadal return intervals but more on the scale of centuries. We burned for the second year in a row in the Hodgdon cold air drainage. We also initiated an 870 acre prescribed burn in Wawona NW in May. After prepping the unit for the second year in a row, plumbing it and conducting a test burn; the burn boss, holding boss and hand crew foremen decided that risks were too high and could not be mitigated. Publication of our forest structural assessment using LiDAR, funded through Fuels Reserve in 2009 was a highlight for our program as well. Lastly, this work was recently presented at the 5th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress in Portland, Oregon. Both the fire ecologist and the lead fire effects monitor attended the conference, and both gained a lot through this opportunity.

Yosemite National Park Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2012

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