Zion National Park Wildland and Prescribed Fire Monitoring Plan

Bastian, Henry

Zion National Park (ZION) has established a program of fire management to achieve resource management objectives associated with the protection and stewardship of fire-adapted ecosystems. The purpose and focus of fire monitoring and the fire monitoring program is to provide effective evaluation of the fire programs to monitor vegetation effects. The ZION fire monitoring program is designed to determine whether fire and resource management objectives are being met, as well as to document any unexpected consequences of fire management activities. The monitoring program is intended to inform the staff about results of management activities so management can adapt to changing conditions using the best available information. To be most effective, evaluation and integration of fire monitoring data will be a shared responsibility between fire management personnel primarily from Zion NP and resource management staff. The program covers fire effects monitoring at Zion National Park and areas that the Utah / Great Basin / Colorado Plateau Geographic Area covers. Primary Park Group: Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Golden Spike NHS, Lake Mead NRA, Arches NP, Great Basin NP, Mesa Verde NP. Secondary Park Group: Cedar Breaks NM, Pipe Spring NM, Glen Canyon NRA, Capital Reef NP, and other parks in the Colorado Plateau geographic area. This fire monitoring plan describes the framework that will be used to collect, manage, and evaluate fire effects information at ZION. As new information and research results are obtained, relevant changes to the monitoring program will be made. These changes may include new or alternative monitoring techniques, changes in treatment prescriptions, or refinement of management objectives. The primary purpose of the fire effects vegetation-monitoring program is to study the response of dominant vegetation types to fire. Monitoring is needed to provide scientifically based data to guide management decisions and inform the public. Specific plant communities to be monitored are: ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), gambel oak (Quercus gambelli), sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), white fir (Abies concolor), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and pinyon/juniper (Pinus edulis & monophylla and Juniperus osteosperma & scopulorum) with Utah juniper being the dominate tree is this community. Other major vegetation types will be identified in Zion National Park as the fire program grows to encompass new areas.

Zion National Park Wildland and Prescribed Fire Monitoring Plan

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