Environmental Assessment and Assessment of Effect

Summary

The condition of Grand Canyon National Park's (GRCA) ponderosa forests has been greatly altered since the late 1800s. Historically, small numbers of large old ponderosa pines dominated these forests and frequent, low intensity fires burned duff and seedlings from the forest floor but left most of the mature trees unharmed. This changed when livestock grazing and intentional fire suppression interrupted the natural fire regime. Today, extensive areas of the forest are dominated by dense stands of small trees making them more susceptible to disease, insect infestation, and high intensity wildfires. Carefully monitored, long-term experiments are needed in order to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of reintroducing fire to ponderosa pine ecosystems after long periods of fire exclusion. Through carefully designed scientific studies comparing before-and-after treatments, and long-term monitoring of treatment and control sites, the Park will gain information that can be used to refine fire management practices and preserve the Park's forests.

This Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect (EA) analyzes the impacts of three fire management research alternatives at GRCA: A) a no-action alternative; B) the alternative based on a research design developed by Northern Arizona University; and C) the agency preferred/environmentally preferred alternative. Impacts to natural, cultural, socioeconomic, and wilderness resources, visitor use, and Park operations are described in this document. The preferred action is a research project designed to test four management prescriptions on two small-scale (80-acre) experimental blocks. Fire suppression and current fuels reduction approaches using prescribed fire (fire alone) would be compared with two fuels reduction approaches that involve thinning of small-diameter trees followed by prescribed burning. The preferred action is a revised set of treatments designed to address public comments received on an EA that was released for public review in January 1999, entitled Grand Canyon Forest Restoration Research. The treatments described in the preferred action focus on wildfire hazard reduction and resource protection, specifically for preserving old trees. Information gained through this research would enable the Park to reevaluate and refine current fire management practices and guide future management decisions, including the Park's Fire and Resource Management Plans. We expect that any thinning prescriptions developed as a result of this research would be applied selectively (specifically at wildland-urban interfaces, burn unit perimeters, and Park boundaries, and to protect sensitive natural and cultural resources), and would not be applied over broad areas of the Park.

This Environmental Assessment and Assessment of Effect is available as a PDF file. PDF files retain the look and feel of the original document (including typography, page layout, and graphics).

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