East Meets West: Active Fuels Management Collaboration in Wrangell-St. Elias

Each year, an average of 460 fires burn nearly one million acres in Alaska. While fire is a natural part of the boreal forest, protecting infrastructure and valued fire sensitive resources is an important part of the National Park Service (NPS) fire program.

Eastern and Western area fire management program crew thins and removes trees around the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Headquarters

NPS

Taking advantage of reduced visitation and a relatively quiet 2020 visitor season, the fuels crews from the Alaska NPS Eastern and Western Area fire management programs worked together to improve the shaded fuel break around the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park headquarters and visitor center located in Copper Center, Alaska. Shaded fuel breaks are intended to reduce the risk of crown fire by increasing the space between spruce trees and reducing ladder fuels. The remaining trees provide shade which keeps the ground cooler and reduces the growth of more flammable understory vegetation such as grasses and shrubs.

Woody debris was hauled off-site to be burned or used as firewood.

NPS

In late May, the Eastern Area fuels crew began working on the project and were later joined by the Western Area fuels crew in early July. The combined crew of nine men and women completed thinning and limbing trees around the park headquarters and visitor center. They removed trees and hauled woody debris off site to be burned later or to be used as firewood. In addition, the crews were prepared to respond to fires over the warm 4th of July weekend in the Copper River Basin.

The crews faced additional challenges this season to follow COVID-19 mitigation methods. The two crews camped separately, drove assigned vehicles, and kept their camps and equipment sanitized. A perk after a long day of hard work was getting to enjoy fresh Copper River salmon while camping along the Gulkana River. All in all, when East met West… it turned out be a fun, productive project, and crew members gained great chainsaw experience through the mentorship of their leaders and fellow crew members.

Trees were thinned around the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park headquarters to protect structures from wildfire.

NPS

This project was part of a long-term fuel mitigation plan for the park headquarters area that began in 2009. The NPS fire ecology program monitored the fuels treatment area prior to and one year after the first treatment that occurred 2010, followed by a five-year re-measurement in 2015. The monitoring data is used to assess the effectiveness of the treatment, measure vegetation re-growth, monitor for invasive weeds or other impacts of the thinning, and determine whether additional treatments are required to achieve fuel and resource objectives. Monitoring data already have been used in this way, resulting in an additional treatment that was designed to increase the crown spacing, remove standing dead aspen, and address vegetation regrowth from the initial treatment ten years ago. These efforts have reduced the risk of wildfire to park infrastructure and provided a safer environment for park staff and visitors.

Thinning the trees around the park headquarters reduces the risk of wildfires while retaining a shaded area around the building.

NPS

This project was partially supported by the Operation of the National Park System (ONPS) Implement Active Forest Management to Protect Park Infrastructure funding. The fourteen acres of completed treatment at the Wrangell-St. Elias headquarters provide infrastructure protection for potential wildfires and helped the region meet their fuels targets for Fiscal Year 2020.