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On
02-28-02 the National Park Service at Chickasaw National
Recreation Area (CHIC) completed the first prescribed
fire in the park in almost three years. The burn was
a great success and totaled just over 446 acres of land
overcrowded with invasive red cedars. The burn helped
the park move toward healthier native grasslands, reduce
hazardous fuels in the wildland urban interface and
successfully get back to using prescribed fire.
There were five agencies, four parks,
three states and four NPS disciplines represented in
the planning and execution of this burn. Local rural
fire departments helped protect structures outside the
burn in the urban interface, county Sheriff's department
deputies assisted with smoke management and traffic
control, and the NPS burn modules from Lake Meredith
NRA and Buffalo River NSR all played major roles in
the success of this project. Burn Boss Sam Lail from
BUFF and Burn Boss Trainee Fenn Wimberly from LAMR supervised
the project. Additional burns along the Guy Sandy Wildland
Urban Interface project are planned for the next two
weeks, if conditions permit.
Local landowners have expressed their
delight in the success of the burn and the prospective
burns. Hazard fuel and WUI funding have made these successes
possible for Chickasaw NRA and our neighbors, partners
and cooperators. We look forward to continuing this
highly successfull partnership with National and Regional
Fire Managers, the community and our cooperating agencies.
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