2002 SPRING PRESCRIBED BURNS SET FOR BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Superintendent William R. Supernaugh announces that Badlands National Park will conduct prescribed fire activities as planned to meet year 2002 management goals for prairie restoration. Weather permitting, fire operations will begin in the next three weeks for the Roadside Prescribed Fire Unit and Pinnacles Prescribed Fire Unit both located in the Pinnacles District of Badlands National Park. These operations may include "blacklining," which is the preparation and burning of firebreaks to be used for a later prescribed fires. The park plans to burn approximately 1350 acres in two separate burn events. The "Roadside Burn" is a continuing project that will encompass a narrow strip along the Badlands Loop Road between the Quinn Road and Upper Bigfoot Road. Weather permitting, these burns will be conducted between April 25th and mid-May. During the burns, park operations will continue as usual and at least one lane of the Loop Road will remain open to traffic at all times. Travelers should expect short delays during the burn periods and be aware that smoke may periodically blow across the road and will be visible from many areas in the park.

Prescribed fire is an important resource management tool used to maintain the native mixed grass prairie of Badlands National Park. Plants native to the area are adapted to fire and, in many cases, may actually depend on fire to remain a vital part of a healthy prairie. Natural ignitions, such as lightning strikes on dry fuels, occur most frequently in summer and early fall and cause an increase in most grasses. Spring fires are much less common and result in a decrease of grasses. This seasonal response to fire provides an opportunity for land managers to protect native species. A group of plants known to ecologists as "cool season exotic grasses" were introduced to South Dakota by Europeans and are undesirable as the park works toward restoring a prairie made up of native plants. Most of these exotic species grow earlier than the native species, providing an opportunity to burn the prairie when the exotic grasses have started their annual growth cycle while the native species, who tend to grow later in the summer, are more dormant. Spring fires are more likely to decrease non-native species. The Pinnacles burn targets reduction in Kentucky bluegrass and crested wheatgrass, both non-native species. Both the Roadside burn and Pinnacles burn will help reduce smooth brome populations.

For more information on the park's burn plans and policies, contact Chief of Natural Resources Brian Kenner at (605) 433 - 5260 or Natural Resource Management Specialist Sandee Dingman at (605) 433 - 5262. The park's website has additional information on fire as a prairie management tool at http://www.nps.gov/badl