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Fire Management

"Grandfather Fire"

So many emotions come forth when we hear the word, Fire! Do we run for our lives, seek a place of refuge, try to salvage everything in sight, or do we walk over to warm our hands, roast a marshmallow or enjoy the soothing movement and sounds as we do ripples in this river? For centuries, fire has been used as a symbol by artists and poets alike. The mysticism of fire has been woven into legends and song. The great phoenix rising from the ashes denotes rebirth, regeneration and hope. How life must have been changed when prehistoric man and woman discovered the element of fire! Resisting the bitter winds and huddling around fire pits, Native Americans may have created their traditions and culture. Fires used for communication between camps, food cooking and preservation, for hide preparation might indeed, have instilled a feeling that fire had a god-like quality: it can create-- it can kill! Native Americans who revered their ancestors and showed them the greatest respect used the name, Grandfather Fire!

Here at Dinosaur National Monument, preservation and revitalization of a 330 sq. mi. ecosystem requires the use of a tool that is often misunderstood -- Fire!

For all of us who are dedicated to the preservation of our natural resources, fire must be recognized as a natural element. Not even our old friend, Smokey Bear, while considered among the most successful advertising symbols in the past 50 years, can not control the elements of nature.

For most of us, the thought of fire in the forest evokes visions of horror: towering trees engulfed in flames of destruction and animals in terror-- fleeing for their lives! Smokey's words, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires!" are true in part, but they do not really tell the whole story.

Indeed, not all fires are caused by careless humans and not all fires are preventable. Years of historical and biological research, of measuring the effects of fires, have brought the competent resource manager to an awareness of fire as a natural element-- to be controlled, monitored and utilized in synch with patterns of natural biological processes.

An awesome task? Yes, it is! And, to be successfully accomplished, fire management must be addressed in a scientific manner. Within Dinosaur National Monument, fulltime and thoroughly- trained staff is dedicated to this endeavor.

This team uses all the knowledge and skill possible to bring about the most advantageous conditions for natural regeneration and conscientious preservation. They consider the history of fire.

Early settlers in the New World saw a very different landscape than the one that exists today. The vast grasslands of the prairies hosted buffalo and many other grazing animals. Native Americans manipulated the foraging area by building fires to eliminate the hardwood forests that out competed the grasses. Smoke from the fires drove animals, flushed bees from hives and bears from their dens. Animals attracted to the new shoots of growth in the ash-enriched soil were easy prey for early hunters. Nomadic people used fire to wage war, to drive out enemies and to rob them of available forage. Next year, a new crop of tender green grass was sure to be available.

One early naturalist, Thomas Jefferson, in 1813, wrote to John Adams that Indians formed circles to drive game and used fires to make up for the lack of men. Jefferson suggested that western American's grasslands existed in part due to Native American fire hunting. Down in New Mexico at Chaco Culture National Historical park, the prehistoric Anasazi used fire to build their dwellings and meeting places. Lacking tools such as axes, they burned the ends of logs to shorten them. These charred remains offer much information to the anthropologist, such as when the construction occurred and where the trees grew that were used. In the same way these remains leave a record for the biologist. Tree ring study gives evidence of cyclic burning that is predictable and natural. Native Americans were skilled in firefighting as well. It is believed that fires created grasslands corridors such as the Shenandoah Valley which aided westward expansion. The profound ecological effect of fire was ignored by early European settlers. The settlers may have used fires to clear land, farmed and usually moved on. As the land became more settled, protecting one's homestead, the forests that provided building materials and watersheds seemed to demand fire suppression.

In the years that followed, the mission of the National Park Service was shifting to preserve not just the scenery, but the natural forces making the scenery. Important ecological relationships between plants and animals and fire were discovered in research. for example: some species of plants are called "fire dependent". That is, optimal regeneration is actually dependent upon fire. One example is the longleaf pine. The lodgepole pine in the Northern Rockies, the ponderosa pine in California and Arizona and the Giant Sequoia in California, the slash pine in the Everglades, rely on soil preparation by fire, opening of the pine cones for reproduction and for retarding disease and insect damage. Dropping highly flammable needles at their base, these trees are naturally ensuring that future burning will occur. The most devastating fires in the past have been in areas where this type of natural fuel buildup was increased by early fire suppression. Had the natural fire occurred, the "cool" fire that resulted would not have allowed such a destructive intensity.

Here at Dinosaur National Monument, the complexity of so vast a terrain and the variations in weather, even its "separation" across state lines, create a somewhat unique resource management scenario. Policy is set by law. We cannot arbitrarily decide how we should go about conducting our mission of preservation. A carefully predetermined policy to be implemented is written and approved. Within the this policy are the resource management objectives.

An example of the restoration of the natural grasses into an area which boasted a stand of non-desirable sagebrush, is evident in this photograph. Slowly, the improvement is becoming visible after a prescribed burn. Re-seeding was not necessary, only the removal of a species that outcompeted the natural vegetation.

Fires are defined in two ways: (1) Wildland fire: any nonstructure fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland. (2) Prescribed fire: any fire ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives. Within DNM, the staff monitors climate conditions, including wind, precipitation and lightning. Moreover, lightning can be expected to occur without precipitation. Lightning intensity varies widely, but on a few occasions more than 150 cloud-to-ground strikes were recorded in a 5-minute period! This will show that we have all the help with fire starts that we need! Your caution with fire use is STILL of the greatest importance, just as Smokey Bear has always told us.

Any fire that threatens life or property, historic structures or cultural sites, or endangered species or threatens to escape prescribed boundaries is suppressed. In addition, smoke and air quality control must be in compliance with state and local regulation. Other fires-- which ARE consistent with resource management objectives will be monitored, controlled and utilized to achieve the desired results. The results desired include elimination of understory fuel buildup, increased species diversity and improved vegetative communities.

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