In 1994, Glacier National Park managed its first high potential Prescribed Natural Fire (PNF), the Howling Fire, after having a new Fire Management Plan signed in 1991. 1994 was a landmark year for fire management in Glacier for several reasons. In addition to the Howling PNF, several other fires burned in the park during that summer. Due to the drought conditions, all other fires that started later in the summer than the Howling were put into "suppression" mode.
Fortunately, due to the location of the fires and policies at the time, Glacier's Fire Management staff members were able to manage these "suppression" or "unwanted" fires in a confine/contain mode. Although achieving resource benefits was not the specific intent of this management action, the "Appropriate Management Response" to these fires minimized suppression costs, the risk to firefighters and resource damage from suppression actions while reintroducing fire to the landscape. In addition to the 2,238 acres burned by the Howling Fire, by the end of the 1994 fire season 10,354 acres were also burned as a result of the confine/contain tactics used on the other "suppression" fires.
Some of the actions taken in Glacier that summer were significant in helping develop current national fire management programs including the creation of the Fire Use Teams, Fire Use Managers and Fire Use Modules. In addition to the management of the Howling PNF for 135 days, suppression fires ended up burning into PNF's, limited line building and burnout was used on some fires (containment), and a fire burned into Canada that was managed by containment on both sides of the International Border. The final result of these actions was that a significant amount of fire was introduced to the landscape on the west side of Glacier National Park with minimal cost and minimal resource damage from fire suppression efforts.
Since 1994, the same techniques have been used to successfully manage several other large fires west of the Continental Divide in the park. The Kootenai Complex, the Logging Complex, the Anaconda Fire and other fires were managed as PNF's or Wildland Fires Used for Resource Benefits. The Parke Peak, Sharon, Moose, Robert, Wedge Canyon, Paul Bunyan, Wolf Gun, Belton, Center, Harrison, Rampage, and others were managed as suppression fires using the "appropriate" management response. As a result of these responses, from 1994 to 2003, 197,054 acres have been treated with fire on the west side of Glacier National Park . Although the total perimeter of these fires was over 486 miles, only 27 miles of handline were built, much of which only was wet line or saw line. There was no heavy equipment used and no significant structures were lost.
The geography on the west side of Glacier National Park is conducive to successfully managing large fires in a less than full suppression mode. Although heavy fuels and long fire return intervals create mostly mixed severity and stand-replacing fires, weather patterns generally come from the west/southwest, the terrain rises to the east with large natural barriers along the divide and there are few developments (or resources at risk) requiring action to protect.
The opposite situation on the east side of the Continental Divide creates a dilemma for managers in that fires tend to leave the park and move onto the Blackfeet Reservation or into Canada where fire is unwanted due to developments and timber lands at risk. For now, fire concerns east of the divide are being addressed through the creation of a risk assessment and fuels management plan being developed jointly with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Blackfeet Agency. Landscape thinning of fuels along the park and tribal boundaries has been considered by fire managers from both agencies. History and fire behavior tells us that this would not only be very damaging to the resource, but largely ineffective due to the fuel type and foehn winds regularly occurring in that area. However, fuel reduction around developments (creating a defensible space) is being heavily promoted.
If Glacier National Park is able to continue appropriately managing all fires according to each unique fire situation, including allowing some fires or portions of fires to burn under moderate or controlled conditions, the unwanted fires that occur will be smaller, less intense and easier to control. In addition, the ecosystem will be closer to a natural state than if all suppression fires received "full suppression" tactics. Nature will continue to introduce fire under its own conditions and wildland fires will continue to occur. Although not perfect, the current policies work if all the tools are used.
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