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Alaska Region, Alaska |
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Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska |
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Midwest Parks Collaborate to Accomplish Prescribed Fire Goals (FY 11)*
Managers and fire personnel from several Northern Great Plains area parks recently came together to conduct the Sheep Prescribed Fire and a second prescribed fire in Theodore Roosevelt’s Longhorn Flats unit. After completing two prescribed fires at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, fire personnel traveled nine hours south to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument near Harrison, Nebraska to complete the third and final prescribed fire at the North Carnegie unit.
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Bandelier National Mounument, New Mexico |
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Prior Fuels Reduction Paid Off During Las Conchas Fire (FY 11)*
The Las Conchas fire started when a tree fell onto a power line at approximately 1 PM on June 26, 2011, on private land, about 9 miles west of Bandelier National Monument. The area had experienced its driest period on record, with less than one inch of precipitation for the year. Within two hours extremely flammable vegetation allowed the fire to grow quickly, pushed by strong winds, toward the east, and into the monument.
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Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida |
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Fuels Treatment from Previous Prescribed Fire Gives Firefighters Upper Hand in Fighting the Jarhead Fire (FY 11)*
On April 27, 2011 firefighters from Big Cypress National Preserve responded to a wildfire located south of the Little Deer area, near the center of the preserve.
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Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas |
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Minimizing Fireline Suppression Impacts to Park Resources (FY 11)*
The Pipeline Road Fire started on private land on April 16, 2011, approximately 10 miles northeast of Kountze, Texas. Critical fire weather of low relative humidity and high winds resulted in extreme fire activity of crowning, torching and running. The fire burned actively through the night. A wind shift the following morning pushed the fire into Big Thicket National Preserve.
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico |
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No Structures Destroyed During Loop Fire (FY 11)*
On June 13, 2011 around 2:30 pm, a report came in about a fire on the Walnut Canyon Scenic Loop Road within Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Employees from Carlsbad Caverns, neighboring Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the local BLM district office, and Eddy County responded immediately in an attempt to contain the blaze.
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Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma |
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Prairie Restoration Underway(FY 11)*
In February 2011, fire managers treated approximately 2,184 acres of Chickasaw National Recreation Area with prescribed fire. They were part of the final phase of a multi-month, $1.4-million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) project to reduce eastern red cedar and restore native grasslands in the park.
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Chiricahua National Memorial, Arizona |
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Minimizing Horseshoe Two Fire Impacts (FY 11)*
On May 8, 2011, the human-caused Horseshoe Two Fire started on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains near the community of Portal, Arizona.
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Coronado National Memorial, Arizona |
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Fuels Reduction Minimizes Monument Fire Impacts (FY 11)*
On June 12, 2011, at approximately 1:15 pm, the human-caused Monument Fire started within the Coronado National Memorial, rapidly burning through the grasslands. Nearly 100% of the park's acreage was burned to some extent.
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Adaptive Management Experiment with a Non-Native, Invasive Grass (FY 11)*
Approximately 15% of Coronado National Memorial is heavily infested with non-native Lehmann lovegrass. In June 2009, fire managers conducted a prescribed burn of about 35 acres in the Memorial. This was the most heavily-infested part of the Memorial, and directly adjacent to two private residences. In July and October, following monsoon rains, the post-emergent herbicide glyphosate was applied to 15 acres using backpack sprayers.
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Cowpens National Battlefield, South Carolina |
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Prescribed Burns Restore Ecology and Historic Landscapes while Reducing Hazardous Fuels at Revolutionary War Battlefields (FY 11)*
In February 2011, National Park Service firefighters from the Cumberland Gap and Great Smokies wildland fire modules joined staff from Kings Mountain and Cowpens to complete a total of 823 acres of prescribed fire treatments at these two historic battlefields.
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Death Valley National Park, California |
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The Rehabilitation of Travertine Springs (FY 11)*
On August 9, 2010, the Travertine Fire burned 22 acres of a lush desert oasis in Death Valley National Park. The Travertine Springs complex provides habitat to four rare plant species and nine endemic aquatic invertebrates. This habitat was particularly vulnerable to fire due to the invasion of non-native palm trees that had been introduced to nearby Furnace Creek over a century ago.
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Denali National Park, Alaska |
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In a Time of Change: The Art of Fire (FY 11)*
On a warm and sunny day in late July 2011, artists, fire ecologists, and Denali National Park and Preserve wildland fire and interpretive staff explored, studied, and artistically interpreted the 2002 Horseshoe Lake Fire near Denali National Park and Preserve headquarters.
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Working with Winter Elements, Fire Management, Denali Kennels Staff and Sled Dogs Get the Job Done! (FY 11)*
On February 11, 2011 park mushers and two dog sled teams transported staff to the backcountry cabin. For two days, fire employees ignited and monitored piles of woody debris.
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El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico |
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Fire Education and Safety Outreach (FY 11)*
On March 31, 2011 the fire management staff at El Malpais National Monument staffed a fire management station at Safety Day in Grants, New Mexico.
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Everglades National Park, Florida |
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Park Manages Multiple Wildfires in the Wildland Urban Interface (FY 11)*
On August 8th, 2011, Everglades National Park firefighters responded to a lightning-ignited fire near the northern boundary of the park. The 10,423-acre Afternoon Fire burned in long-unburned sawgrass adjacent to Highway US 41, a major transportation corridor, where private homes, businesses and airboat tour facilities are located.
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Park Provides Mutual Aid in Two Major Wildfires (FY 11)*
In late May and early June 2011, Everglades National Park firefighters provided significant mutual aid to Florida State Forestry and Miami Dade Fire Department in fighting two potentially catastrophic wildfires on US Highway 41, the northern park boundary.
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Park Provides Mutual Aid and an Ecological Message (FY 11)*
On March 4, 2011, Everglades National Park wildland fire engines responded to a mutual aid request from Florida Department of Forestry to assist in the suppression of a wildfire burning near Highway 41, Tamiami Trail.
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31,000 Acre Prescribed Burn Reduces Hazardous Fuels, Fights Exotic Species (FY 11)*
On November 29 and 30, 2011, firefighters at Everglades National Park took advantage of favorable winds and high water levels to conduct a 31,000 acre prescribed burn adjacent to Highway 41, between Canal L67 and the highly popular Shark Valley Visitor Center.
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Flagstaff Area Monuments, Arizona |
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Fuels Reduction Work Conducted at Flagstaff Area Monuments (FY 11)*
On February 14, 2011, 108 acres of Firewise and Wildland Urban Interface thinning was completed at Walnut Canyon National Monument. In July 2011, the Saguaro Wildland Fire Module also assisted Walnut Canyon National Monument in thinning the area directly adjacent to the Visitor Center. The crew also worked at Sunset Crater National Monument, raking pine needles and moving dead and down brush away from NPS facilities.
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Fort Davis National Historic Site, Texas |
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Protecting Historic Structures from the Rock House Fire (FY 11)*
The Rock House Fire started Saturday, April 9, 2011, approximately 22 miles south of the park near Marfa, Texas, and burned rapidly north to Fort Davis, exhibiting extreme fire behavior and reaching the park within four to five hours.
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Gateway National Recreation Area, New York / New Jersey |
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Staten Island Begins 1st Phase of NYC's First Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) (FY 11)*
Staten Island Borough President James P. Molinaro announced the start of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) process at a press conference held Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
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FDNY and NPS Train Together (FY 11)*
On November 17, 2010, history was made when National Park Service firefighters were invited to participate in the 2010 New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief training class.
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Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico |
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Fuels Reduction Helps Protect Cliff Dwellings (FY 11)*
The 88,835 acre Miller Fire started on April 28th, 2011 on the Gila National Forest, approximately six miles south of Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Early on, firefighters began planning and developing contingency lines around the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the small town of Gila Hotsprings.
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Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California |
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Permits Reduce Hazards across the Property Line (FY 11)*
Golden Gate National Recreation Area shares a 40-mile interface with developed lands in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. To address the need for more vegetation treatment, the park has developed a permit system which is allowing important partnership projects to take place.
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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona |
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Grand Canyon Receives Regional Fuels & Ecology Award (FY 11)*
On July 29, 2011, Jasper Peach, Assistant Lead Fire Effects Monitor, and Jennifer Peach, a volunteer for the Environmental Education Branch at Grand Canyon National Park, were awarded a National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Regional Fuels & Ecology Award for developing a Grand Canyon-specific fire ecology curriculum for use by educators as part of their science curriculum.
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Lower Fire Managed Across Boundary as an Interagency Incident (FY 11)*
The lightning-caused Lower Fire was discovered in Grand Canyon National Park on August 19, 2011. The fire was located about 12 miles southeast of Grand Canyon Village, approximately 1 1/2 miles south of Moran Point, 3/4 mile southeast of Desert View Drive (also known as Highway 64), and 1/2 mile north and west of the park/forest boundary.
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Mechanical Fuels Reduction at Grand Canyon (FY 11)*
Fire crews on the South Rim have completed several mechanical projects in 2011 including the 31-acre Market Plaza Thinning Unit in the Market Plaza area, 48 acres in the School Thinning Unit near the Grand Canyon School, and the 13-acre Hopi Tower Thinning Unit surrounding the historic Hopi Point communications/lookout tower.
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Interagency Aviation Officer Receives DOI Honors (FY 11)
On December 7th, 2010, Mike Ebersole, interagency aviation officer for Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest, was honored by the Department of the Interior with two awards – the 2010 Secretary’s Award For Outstanding Contribution to Aviation Safety and the Award of Honor For Safe Flying (Twenty Years).
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Grand Canyon Develops Fire Ecology Curriculum (FY 11)*
During the spring of 2010, Jasper Peach, Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) Assistant Fire Effects Lead, and Jenn Peach, volunteer for the Grand Canyon Environmental Education program, collaborated with Grand Canyon Environmental Education staff and volunteers on researching fire education programs and developing a Grand Canyon-specific fire ecology curriculum.
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Fire and Aviation Staff Host Australian Park Managers (FY 11)*
In July 2011, staff from Grand Canyon National Park's Branch of Fire and Aviation hosted two park managers from Australia's New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. The park managers, Catherine Mardell and Eric Claussen, are traveling the U.S. and Canada as part of a Churchill Fellowship study tour to learn about methods of fire and fuel management and measurement.
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Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming |
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Bringing Fire Back into the Ecosystem (FY 11)*
Fire management in Grand Teton National Park took an important step toward re-introducing fire to the ecosystem when they completed the 84-acre Phelps Moraine Prescribed Fire on Oct. 2, 2011. The primary fire management goal for the park is to allow the natural process of fire to exist within the park while protecting lives and property. The mixed conifer-dominated Phelps Moraine project area was selected due to its location between values at risk and wild areas.
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Multi-year Project Culminates in Safer Community (FY 11)*
Teton Interagency fire crews this fall completed a multi-year project to help Shadow Mountain become a more Fire-Adapted Community. The project started in 2009 when Student Conservation Association (SCA) youth volunteers conducted risk assessments on 21 private structures and interagency crews performed a 22-acre mechanical fuels reduction. The project culminated in a 46-acre prescribed fire on September 21, 2011.
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Providing for Firefighter Safety through Interagency Aviation Success (FY 11)
One of the key points of the Dutch Creek accident investigation was we need to do a better job providing timely medical response to firefighters on remote wildland fires. One method gaining popularity among incident management teams is to provide short-haul capable helicopters and crews. The National Park Service has several well-established helicopter short-haul programs in the western national parks, some of which have been used to meet the demand on wildland fire incidents.
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Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Montana |
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Interagency Collaboration Helps Fuels Programs Thrive (FY 11)*
For small rural parks like Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and Big Hole National Battlefield, fire management is often just one of the many programs the limited staff juggles. The bulk of the fire management planning and implementation comes from a larger park, in this case Glacier National Park.
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Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado |
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Park Receives Cultural Preservation Award (FY 11)*
On Thursday, May 12, 2011, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve was honored by Colorado Preservation Inc, the largest historic preservation organization in Colorado, for the role firefighters played in the protection of "Indian Grove," a group of 72 culturally modified ponderosa pine trees that were at risk during last year's Medano Fire.
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee / North Carolina |
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Annual Cades Cove Burn Maintains Cultural Landscape, Promotes Native Species (FY 11)*
At Great Smoky Mountains National Park, autumn means turning leaves and prescribed burning in Cades Cove, one of the park's most popular areas. On November 1, 2, and 8, 2011, firefighters conducted a 500-acre prescribed burn, treating approximately a third of the Cove's entire burnable acres.
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Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i |
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Napau Fire Burned Area Rehabilitation (FY 11)*
n spring 2011, the lava-ignited Napau Fire burned 2,076 acres in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Besides burnt vegetation, extensive damage occurred to a one mile section of galvanized steel hogwire fence that protected 2,750 acres of lush ‘ōhi'a rainforest from the harmful effects of introduced feral pigs.
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Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana |
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Indiana Dunes Fire Staff Finishes Prescribed Fire Season after 3rd Wettest Month on Record (FY 11)
The third wettest April on record, and the wettest since 1957, along with cooler temperatures caused Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (INDU) Fire Management staff to question whether they would get any more prescribed fires done for the spring season.
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Joshua Tree National Park, California |
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Keys View Fire Rehabilitation (FY 11)*
In August, 2010, a 114-acre fire burned in Joshua Tree National Park adjacent to a popular visitor site called Keys View. Immediately following the blaze, staff from the park's resource management division assessed damage and initiated a recovery program.
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Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina |
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Prescribed Burns Restore Ecology and Historic Landscapes while Reducing Hazardous Fuels at Revolutionary War Battlefields (FY 11)*
In February 2011, National Park Service firefighters from the Cumberland Gap and Great Smokies wildland fire modules joined staff from Kings Mountain and Cowpens to complete a total of 823 acres of prescribed fire treatments at these two historic battlefields.
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Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Texas |
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Lake Meredith NRA assists communities during extreme drought (FY 11)*
The drought of 2011 has been an unprecedented event in Texas. Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (NRA) responded to this event by requesting fire severity funds for extraordinary preparedness activities due to the abnormal increase in fire potential, beginning in April 2011. Nine months later Lake Meredith NRA is still in severity, which is predicted to continue through the spring of 2012.
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Lassen Volcanic National Park, California |
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Lassen Volcanic National Park Completes Successful Summertown Prescribed Fire (FY 11)*
Lassen Volcanic National Park fire management staff completed the Summertown prescribed burn project treating approximately 360 acres on October 27-28, 2011. Assistance was provided by personnel from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Lava Beds National Monument, Lassen National Forest and the network fire ecologist.
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Successful S-203 Introduction to Incident Information Class in Susanville, CA (FY 11)*
A veteran interagency cadre was reunited under a new course coordinator, Jennifer Chapman, Fire Communication and Education Specialist from Point Reyes National Seashore.
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Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky |
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Mammoth Cave Delivers New Truck to Park City VFD (FY 11)*
On March 25, 2011, Mammoth Cave National Park ranger staff delivered a new fire truck, Mammoth Cave 101, to the Park City, Ky., Volunteer Fire Department where it will be housed for use in the park and the community.
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Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, Minnesota |
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Interagency Partnerships Promote Effective Fire Effects Monitoring (FY 11)*
Fire effects monitoring is much spoken of but often not acted on due to lack of funds or more often a lack of knowledge of how to implement an effective program. Most federal agencies have monitoring programs which may or may not be implemented. To address these problems the Fire and Fuels Working Group of the Minnesota Interagency Command System (MNICS) sought to initiate a fire effects monitoring training program for area practitioners.
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Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi / Tennessee |
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NPS, Partners Treat 1,033 Acres along Natchez Trace (FY 11)*
From Feb. 14 to March 8, 2011, firefighters from Natchez Trace Parkway cooperated with multiple partners to complete over 1,000 acres of prescribed burns in two states, covering 400 miles of highway in the process.
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Northeast Regional Office, Virginia |
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11th Virginia Interagency Wildland Fire Academy (FY 11)*
More than 300 firefighters from Virginia and neighboring states took part in a variety of courses designed to better prepare them for the challenges and dangers associated with suppressing wildfires.Â
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Point Reyes National Seashore, California |
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Research Improves Understanding of Critical Forest Health Problem (FY 11)*
Research partnerships are proving essential for Point Reyes National Seashore to better understand the effects of Sudden Oak Death in different ecosystems.
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Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, Wisconsin |
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Park Completes Residential Fuel Reduction Treatment Project (FY 11)*
Managers at St. Croix National Scenic Riverway are all too familiar with the issue of invasive species. Several tallgrass prairies and oak savannas at the Riverway are slated for restoration and all have invasive species issues to some extent.
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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California |
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Protecting Natural and Cultural Resources on the Lion Fire (FY 11)*
The Lion Fire started July 8, 2011 by lightning on the Sequoia National Forest. As the fire grew, the containment line included a small area in the southern part of Sequoia National Park. This segment of the park near Quinn Peak and Soda Butte provided challenges for firefighters because of several natural and cultural resource concerns that included the Little Kern golden trout, foxtail pine, and the Quinn Patrol Cabin.
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Redwood Canyon Prescribed Fire: Celebrating the History while Planning for the Future (FY 11)*
Redwood Canyon holds a special place in the fire management history of the National Park Service. This unit was last burned in 1977. For fire staff, the challenge was to bring fire back to the grove to re-introduce this natural process that thinned the forest and some sequoias so that the survivors would be healthier.
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The Littlest Sequoias:
The Bobcat Prescribed Fire a Year Later (FY 11)*
The 97-acre Bobcat Prescribed Fire was completed in June, 2010. Walking through the area today provides an exciting highlight. Sequoia seedlings can be found throughout the forest for those with a trained and observant eye.
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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia |
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Training for Resource Advisors Enhances Resource Protection during Incidents (FY 11)
In April 2011, fifty-three people completed the Incident Resource Advisor Training hosted by Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Virginia. The course gave participants the background to serve as Resource Advisors (READs) during wildland fires and all hazard incidents.
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Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota |
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Midwest Parks Collaborate to Accomplish Prescribed Fire Goals (FY 11)*
Managers and fire personnel from several Northern Great Plains area parks recently came together to conduct the Sheep Prescribed Fire and a second prescribed fire in Theodore Roosevelt’s Longhorn Flats unit. After completing two prescribed fires at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, fire personnel traveled nine hours south to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument near Harrison, Nebraska to complete the third and final prescribed fire at the North Carnegie unit.
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Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California |
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East Boundary Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Prescribed Fire Project (FY 11)*
Beginning on October 4th, 2011 the NPS Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (N.R.A.) resumed fall prescribed under burn treatments within the East Boundary Project on the Shasta Divide Ridge at the eastern boundary of the park.
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White Sands National Monument, New Mexico |
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Two Lost Hikers Rescued Through Interagency SAR (FY 11)
Early on the morning of August 15th, rangers received a report of two hikers who had been lost within the sand dunes overnight. They had planned on camping overnight on Sunday, but became disoriented while returning to their backcountry camp site.
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Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Alaska |
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Alaskans Create Fire Break to Protect Community of McCarthy (FY 11)
Residents of McCarthy, a remote community within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST), had an eye opening experience when the 2009 Chakina Fire burned more than 50,000 acres and advanced close enough that ash and embers fell on the community.
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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming / Idaho / Montana |
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Specialized Helicopter Rescue Skills Prove Valuable (FY 11)
When the Flathead National Forest requested Yellowstone National Park's helicopter, Lama 230 US, and a crew of six on Aug. 9, 2011, they expected the standard helicopter order to help the forest deal with a number of new fire starts. What the forest got, though, was the added bonus of a helicopter and crew prepared for short-haul extrication, which proved invaluable the first day on assignment.
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Yosemite National Park, California |
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Joint Information Center Operation during the Motor Fire Enhances Response to Wildfires (FY 11)*
In the early afternoon of August 25th, 2011, a normally hot busy day in Yosemite National Park, a call came to the park dispatch center. An RV, leaving the park on Highway 140, was on fire. The series of dispatches over the next few minutes were calm but telling to those with fire background. The RV fire had spread from the RV to the roadway and then jumped the road into the canyon area and soon had crossed the main fork of the Merced River.
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Early Detection of Highly Invasive Non-Native Plants after Big Meadow Fire (FY 11)*
Foresta, a delightful private inholder community, is enclosed completely within Yosemite National Park. Because of an unfortunate wildfire, Foresta is now surrounded by recently charred chaparral and towering pine snags. Like many other communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Foresta's landscape is in a perpetual cycle of vegetation change. Named for its dense ponderosa pine forest, Foresta changed from mixed-pine forest to chaparral in a flash.
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Yosemite National Park Prescribed Fire Projects for Summer, 2011 (FY 11)
In May 2011, as seasonal firefighters are arriving and filling out the rosters of the Yosemite National Park’s fire crews, fire managers continue to plan for the coming fire season.
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Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska |
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Youth Study Succession after Fire and Flood (FY 11)
In early September, the Alaska National Park Service (NPS) Fire Ecology Program and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve interpretive staff held the 7th annual field-based education program for Eagle Community youth
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Zion National Park, Utah |
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Park Completes Residential Fuel Reduction Treatment Project (FY 11)*
Most of the fuel treatments work that has taken place in Zion over the last few years has focused on the Wildland Urban Interface along the park's boundary. While these projects are justifiably considered priorities, some of them being identified as "focus areas" by fire management officials, the park cannot lose sight of interface areas within its own boundaries.
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* - Indicates story that supports the National Fire Plan |
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