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Capulin Volcano National Monument burned
approximately 50 acres of prairie on Saturday, April 23, 2005.
Fire crews from Bandelier National Monument, Lake Meredith
National Recreation Area, El Malpais National Monument, and
Kiowa National Grasslands conducted the burn after several
hours wait for winds to abate.
This burn is the third step for implementing
the Fire Management Plan (FMP) for the monument. Manual thinning
of brush occurred during the summer of 2004. A crew of 15
worked for a week cutting pinyon, juniper, oak, and mountain
mahogany on the north and northwest base of the volcano to
reduce the fuel load and the chance of wildfire in the monument.
Brush piles from this thinning operation were burned in February,
2005.
Fire history data suggest a declining fire frequency by the
late 1800s, as suppression activities interrupted natural
fire cycles. Fuel loads and tree density have increased. Management
intervention is needed to reduce the risk to life, property,
and resources from wildland fire. Fire, as an ecological process,
has been excluded from the Monument which has contributed
to the decrease in species and habitat diversity.
This first prescribed, controlled fire will
help to restore prairie grasslands by reducing woody vegetation,
reducing excess fuels, and controlling invasive plants.
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