Since Mesa Verde's inception as a National Park in 1906, 80% of the park has been burned by fire. Since the 1920s there have been, on average, 8 fires per year. Since 1970 this average has increased to 20-25 fires per year. The increase is most likely the result of a nearly 100 year total fire suppression policy at Mesa Verde National Park. Archeological sites and artifacts can easily be destroyed by fire, therefore the park has needed to suppress fires as quickly as possible, but this allows hazardous fuels to continue to pile up which in turn can lead to catastrophic wildfires. Work has begun on a new Fire Management Plan, one that will support efforts to keep the forest healthy as well as protect the cultural resources of the park. The plan will incorporate fire suppression, prescribed fire, fire use, hazardous fuels/mechanical fuels reduction, and wildland fire/urban interface problems.

The Mesa Verdeans used the forest's resources extensively. They cleared trees to open land for farming and used the felled trees for construction and firewood. They also collected dead wood and duff for use in fires. This active involvement with the forest and shrublands would have reduced the chance of catastrophic wildfires.

Currently, Mesa Verde's Pinyon/Juniper forest is one of the oldest on the Colorado Plateau, comprising roughly 2,500 acres, mostly on Chapin Mesa. This forest, today, is managed by natural processes, with the exception of fire which is completely suppressed. Over time the forest becomes thicker as the hazardous fuels pile up. The possibility of large, intense wildfires increase. The 1990s was the hottest, driest decade on record. Current scientific research as well as input from the public, including the descendents of the Ancestral Puebloans is helping to shape a new Fire Management Plan for the park, one that will help us learn more about fire and its interaction with the natural environment, and help us protect both the cultural and the natural resources of Mesa Verde.

The mountain shrub communities (above 7,500 feet) which include Gambel oak, serviceberry, mountain mahogany, Fendler bush, and various grasses regenerate quickly after a fire has swept through. This Mountain Shrub vegetation covers about 30% of the park. Much of what you've already driven through has been this Mountain Shrub community (notice the Gambel oak regeneration). 56% of the park is covered by Pinyon/Juniper forests. Notice how dense the Pinyon/Juniper forest is between Farview Visitor Center and the Chapin Museum. Pinyon/Juniper forests burn very hot and are very devastating (notice Wetherill Mesa). These Pinyon/Juniper forests affected by fire will take 300-400 years to regenerate! (to look as it does around the Musem loop today).

Summary of Bircher and Pony Fires 2000
July 2000 was a hot month with almost no rain, so conditions for fire were extremely dangerous in southwestern Colorado. About 12:30 PM on Thursday the 20th, fire from a lightning strike was spotted on the Bircher farm, private property near the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park. The fast moving Bircher Fire burned 1000 acres the first day, 5000 acres on Friday, then blew out of control on Saturday and Sunday. Firefighters from around the nation worked for nine days to contain the most destructive fire in the nearly 100-year history of the park.

At 6:00 AM, Friday, August 4, 2000, Mesa Verde National Park reopened to the public following the devastating Bircher Fire. A record number of visitors came that day, but by 6:00 PM the park was again evacuated because the Pony Fire threatened visitor safety. On the previous Wednesday, a lightning strike near Pony Mesa on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation started a fire that blew out of control by Friday evening. Unpredictable winds and very low humidity levels allowed the fire to advance rapidly. Mesa Verde National Park suffered heavy damage from this, the second fire within a month. The park reopened once the Pony Fire was controlled on August 14, 2000.

Pinyon Pine, Utah Juniper and Gambel Oak dominate the vegetation of Mesa Verde. During a hot dry summer, like the summer of 2000, these plants (fuels) are especially susceptible to fire. Mesa Verde's current Wildland Fire Management Plan requires total suppression of all wildfires within the park, but allows for prescribed fire in two areas--Far View and Morefield Village--to reduce hazardous fuels and create fuel breaks. The plan also calls for cutting and thinning of hazardous fuels in the developed areas of Chapin and Wetherill Mesas. Lessons learned from the Bircher and Pony Fires will help archeologists, biologists, and park managers be better prepared for the possibility of future fires.

Moving forward since Bircher and Pony Fires
A Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) Team organized by the Department of the Interior is working to evaluate and mitigate adverse effects of both the Bircher and Pony Fires. The BAER Team is working with the park and the Ute Mountain Ute reservation to implement measures to deal with soil erosion, road building and repair, threats to rare plant species, and protection of archeological sites. It is exciting to find new archeological sites, but fire destroys the vegetation that protected sites and suppression efforts can be destructive. Fuel reduction programs will continue to reduce overgrown vegetation to lessen the danger of fire damage in the future. Crews worked through the summer of 2001, assessing fire damage and treating damaged sites. Occasionally, temporary barricades were installed to divert water where erosion damage to ancient structures may occur. Grasses were planted. Trees that threatened to fall onto archeological sites or disturb subsurface structures were removed. Sites affected by fire were surveyed, mapped and classified. As of November 5, 2001, these crews had accomplished the following:

Number of sites previously recorded in fire areas: 1616 sites
Number of sites assessed: 1500 sites
Number of sites remaining to assess: 116
Previously unrecorded sites: 184 (67 on tribal land, 4 on BLM land)
Sites recommended for treatment: 394
Sites treated: 314

Visitors can join in watching the renewal of Mesa Verde and in learning from the wildfires.