| Fire Overview
Wildfire is one
of the most powerful and creative natural processes on our planet. For
thousands of years, this force has been shaping the environment on a large
and widespread scale. Plants and animals have evolved with, and many depend
on, the role fire plays in creating a diversity of habitats.
In the past, natural fires swept through plant communities at intervals
that provided conditions for many plant species to regenerate. Wildfire
thins competing species, recycles nutrients into the soil and opens holes
in the forest canopy for sunlight to enter. All of these are critical to
forest health and natural cycles of growth and decomposition. Wildfires
also benefit many animal species. With the increased forage that results
after a fire, many animals low on the food chain experience increases in
their populations; therefore species above them on the food chain also
benefit.
Despite the evidence that fire is a necessary element in many forest
ecosystems, over most of the past century people have feared and suppressed
it whenever possible. Especially in the western United States , the
accumulation of dead forest fuels during that time now presents extreme
hazards to the health of the trees, soil, wildlife, to humans living in
these areas, and to the taxpayer who has to fund the fighting of
catastrophic wildfires.
Over the last 150 years people at Zion have logged, grazed, farmed,
lived on the land and suppressed fires. Each activity had its own impact
and these impacts can still be seen today. Since this land became a
National Park, our needs and priorities for it have changed. We have
learned a great deal about the long term impacts of our practices in the
past and are trying to reduce them wherever possible. The Zion Fire
Management Program views the wise use of fire as an important tool in the
effort to reduce the impacts and restore balance to our ecosystems.
Fire can be utilized to shape the landscape and achieve large-scale
resource goals that would otherwise be unattainable. Conversely, wildland
fire can also adversely impact our resources, both natural and cultural.
Wildland fire management supports park-specific resource management
objectives, including a wide range of strategic options available to park
managers that can be modified to adapt to the diversity of ecosystems found
within the NPS.
The Fire and Aviation Management Program in Zion National Park
encompasses a wide variety of disciplines, all striving to apply
scientifically-based research to the aspects of how wildland fire is
managed in the park. The Zion Fire Management staff includes firefighters,
fire monitors, program assistants, fire effects specialists, a fuels
treatment crew, a helicopter module, a fire use module, fire ecologist,
fire information and education specialist, and a fire management officer
who oversees the entire program. Direction is provided by the National Park
Service's Division of Fire and Aviation Management in Washington D.C. and
from the NPS Intermountain Regional Office in Denver .
Zion is also responsible for overseeing the fire management operations
at other parks in the Colorado Plateau area. These park units include Bryce
Canyon , Capitol Reef, Cedar Breaks, Glen Canyon , Golden Spike, Pipe
Springs and Timpanogas Cave.
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