The Fire Management Plan (FMP) for Craters of the Moon National Monument is a detailed program of action to carry out fire management policies and objectives. Development of an approved fire management plan will facilitate the goal of managing wildland fires in portions of Craters of the Moon National Monument for resource benefits. As a secondary benefit the plan will reduce suppression costs without compromising public or firefighter safety.

Figure 1. CRMO Cover Types

There are some relatively large areas of contiguous vegetation. One of these is the Little Prairie area located in the southeast corner of the monument. In 1992, a wildland fire burned 2000 acres of Little Prairie over a span of three days.

There is clear evidence of recent fires in the Split Butte area. Many charred limber pine boles can be observed in vegetation now dominated by sagebrush or grass vegetation. These burns appear to be somewhat older than those pre-1992 fires in Little Prairie. In the immediate area of Split Butte there is heavy herbaceous cover, mainly bluebunch wheatgrass and arrowleaf balsamroot. Both species which are good indicators of past fire occurrence.

Small areas around Two Point Butte and Fissure Butte also show a history of recent fire. These burns, however, were much more localized due to surrounding younger lava flows and cinder. Farther north around Crescent Butte, the evidence of fire is also common and there are numerous charred boles of limber pine. There is evidence of low intensity fires in this area as reflected in surviving fire-scarred plants.

The Big Cinder Butte area has also burned, within the last 100 years. Most of the recent fire evidence on Big Cinder Butte is confined to the southwest slopes. The area west of the Tree Molds parking area has also burned in the same time interval. Vegetation has been set back by fire and a community dominated by rubber rabbitbrush has replaced the big sagebrush vegetation. Some charred limber pine boles and sagebrush stems are present here. A fire boundary can be observed on the hillside southwest of the trailhead.

There is less evidence of fire between Big Cinder Butte and Park headquarters than in any other area on the monument. This is probably due to the small amount of vegetated area which is separated by recent lava flows and cinder gardens. If ignitions occurred, the area burned would have been small.

The plant communities north of the highway seem to be more influenced by fire than those to the south. All vegetation types in this area show evidence of burning, with the exception of the dwarf sagebrush types along ridgetops which apparently seldom burn (Gipe 1976, Bunting et al. 1987). In most locations, these types offer excellent fuel breaks, not only because of reduced fuel, but also due to their location. In most cases, fires initiated on lower slopes would not burn through these areas. In most years, herbaceous production will be too low to allow the fire to spread across the ridgetop to the slope on the other side and back into a community with higher fuel loadings. The remaining vegetation types in the northern portion, such as Great Basin wildrye, aspen, Douglas-fir, and other sagebrush types, show evidence of past fire occurrence. In many locations, charred sagebrush stumps are still rooted in the soil. On some of the older burns in the southern parts of the monument, sagebrush stumps have been dislodged and are disintegrating, indicating older burns.

Most aspen types in the north end show evidence of past fire occurrence. This is indicated by even-aged stands (all trees seem to be the same size and age), charcoal remnants in understory, reduced down woody fuels, and in some areas an increase in snowbrush. Increment cores of aspen and cross sections of sagebrush were collected in the vicinity of the CRMO Research camp. These data indicate that most of the woody plants have become established in the last 25 to 30 years. The increase of aspen on the perimeter of the individual clones in this portion may be a cumulative result of the absence of fire and not the result of plants resprouting following the last fire.

Fire scars were dated on several Douglas-firs in Little Cottonwood Canyon using the increment core technique (Barrett and Arno 1988). Based on work done by Barrett and Arno fire has occurred every 30 to 35 years prior to Euro-American influence. Fire reedgrass, a species enhanced by fire, is common as an understory species in the aspen and Douglas-fir types. There is little recent fire evidence in this area. Fire may have been actively controlled by man during the period between Euro-American settlement and monument creation. Fires were more probably reduced inadvertently, however, by reduction of fine fuel loading by grazing livestock. The east facing slopes of Little Cottonwood Creek show much evidence of fire, indicating that the road and Little Cottonwood Creek might have served as fuel breaks.

In general, the influence of fire at CRMO is consistent with other areas of the Snake River Plain. The effect of fire can be observed in almost all vegetation types. Fire has influenced the establishment of introduced cheat grass (Bromus tectorum) in much of the central and western portions of the Snake River Plain. Cheat grass has replaced native shrub species following fire and resulted in the loss of significant sagebrush steppe habitat. In the higher elevation areas of the upper Snake River Plain cheat grass has proven less competitive. Cheat grass is found throughout the monument but is not found in dominant stands.

Objective: Ensure all wildland fire operations sustain no injuries to members of the public or firefighters.

Strategies:

• All personnel involved in fire management operations will receive a safety briefing describing known hazards and mitigating actions, current fire season conditions and current and predicted fire weather and behavior.
• Fire management operations will be carried out by qualified individuals that promote the safe and skillful application of fire management strategies and techniques.
• Monument neighbors, monument visitors and the local residents will be notified of all planned and unplanned fire management activities that have the potential to impact them.
• All or portions of the Monument will be closed to the public when fire activity poses a threat to human safety (at the discretion of the Superintendent).

Goal: Manage wildland fires in concert with federal, state and local air quality regulations.

Objective: Ensure air quality thresholds for National Ambient Air Quality Standards are not exceeded in adjacent air-sheds (any area outside of the monument) due to fire use activities.

Strategies:

• Impacts to air quality will be considered as a part of the go/no go decision in the Wildland Fire Implementation Plan, Stage I, and periodic assessment throughout the duration of any wildland fire.
• Air quality impacts will be addressed as a part of the alternative development and selection in the Wildland Fire Situation Analysis.
• Smoke impact mitigation measures will be developed implemented for all wildland fire actions.

Goal: Suppress all wildfires (an unwanted wildland fire) to protect the public, check fire spread onto private property and protect the natural, cultural and historic resources of the monument.

Objective: Contain 95% of unwanted wildfires at less than 10 acres in size.

Strategies:

• Prioritize suppression actions on fires or portions of fires that threaten to damage public or private property.
• Ensure sufficient monument staff are trained in wildland fire operations.
• Ensure monument engine is in a state of readiness during fire season.
• Ensure monument staff responsible for fire operations understand fire policy.
• Ensure mutual aid agreements are current and operational.

Goal: Manage wildland fires so that Monument resources (natural, cultural, and improvements) are protected from damage by suppression actions and fire.

Objective: Manage suppression actions so that rehabilitation costs are less than 10% of suppression costs.

Strategies:

• Ensure wildland fire suppression operations employ Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics (MIST).
• Ensure fire operations personnel are briefed on Monument resources and potential damage from fire and suppression actions.
• Ensure a resource advisor is assigned to wildland fires within the monument.

Goal: Facilitate reciprocal fire management activities through the development and maintenance of cooperative agreements and working relationships with pertinent fire management entities.

Objective: Annually review and modify as necessary agreements with the four agencies listed below.

Strategies:

      Coordinate with the following entities:

• BLM East Idaho and South Central Idaho Fire Dispatch
• Arco, Idaho Rural Fire Protection District 

Goal: Use wildland fire where and when appropriate as a tool to meet resource management objectives within the Monument. Maintain or restore, where possible, the primary natural resources of the Monument, and those ecological conditions that would prevail were it not for the advent of modern civilization.

Objective: Have (on CRMO staff) or be able to obtain sufficient qualified personnel to manage at least 75% of qualified wildland fires for resource benefits.

Strategies:

• Restore fire as an ecological process in the fire use management unit.
• Monitor the effects of fire on the ecosystem.
• Cooperatively manage wildland fires across the mutual boundary with the Upper Snake River District, BLM, Great Rift Wilderness Study Area, when and where possible.
• Maintain a qualified Prescribed Fire Behavior Specialist (RXFS) and Prescribed Fire Behavior Monitor on CRMO staff.
• Ensure that a Prescribed Fire Behavior Analyst (RXFA) is available to respond within 12 hours of a fire.

Goal: Reduce wildland fire hazard around developed areas and adjacent to cultural and historic sites.

Objective: Ensure fire does not destroy any administrative structure, nor incur costly damage (rehabilitation costs greater than $10,000) to any cultural or historic site.

Strategies:

• Apply mechanical hazard fuel reduction around suppression zones to reduce fire intensity and severity to lesser levels.
• Apply mechanical hazard fuel reduction around those cultural and historic sites vulnerable to fire damage.

Craters of the Moon is located on the northern slope of the Snake River Plain. The area receives weather fronts from as far south as the Gulf of Mexico to Arctic fronts from the north; its primary weather pattern is to receive Pacific Ocean storms or high pressure systems that pass over the west coast between northern California and Washington. Annual precipitation averages 12" to 15", much of it from winter snow.

Summer weather is generally mild to hot and windy with clear skies except for occasional thunderstorms. Summer thunderstorms associated with "dry" lightning are common, with rainfall amounts ranging from heavy to non-existent. Spring can be dry and warm or cold and rainy, thunderstorms are rare. It can stay hot, dry, and windy, with occasional thunderstorm activity, well into September.

B. Fuel Characteristics

Detailed description of fuel types found within the monument is contained in Appendix E.

C. Fire Season

Fire season is strongly dependent on seasonal variation with climate. The "normal fire season" at Craters of the Moon is based on cumulative fire and weather records. Generally speaking, fire season begins about May 15 and ends September 15.

The typical fire weather pattern doesn't begin until June. The month of May can vary tremendously from wet and cold to warm, dry, and windy weather. June through August is generally sunny, windy, and dry with September being much like May. Snow has been recorded as late as early June and as early as the first week in September. Summer temperatures range from the 70's to a maximum high of 95-100° with lows from the 30's to 50's. Isolated thunderstorm cells travel through rapidly bringing sometimes intense lightning activity associated with anywhere from zero rainfall to heavy, brief rains. Winds are commonly from the west or southwest with erratic changes during storm activity. Wind speed picks up with morning heat, commonly gusting 15-20 mph during the day, generally not slowing until early evening hours. High winds during storm activity of 30-40 mph are not uncommon.