Prescribed Burning in Yosemite Valley has Multiple Benefits

Prescribed fire in Yosemite Valley helps to restore native plants.

NPS

Yosemite National Park initiated a valley-wide restoration project to remediate excessive tree mortality from the 2014-2015 drought, as well as to restore native plant communities and cultural practices. Staff burned 182 acres in May 2021, launching an ambitious plan to ultimately treat all 11,571 acres in the Valley units with fire over the upcoming years, as conditions allow. However, jack-strawed piles of large trees make this work difficult, especially in complex and busy main travel corridors of Yosemite Valley.

To start removing large jackpots of downed fuels, crews burned 60-acres of heavy downed trees in November 2021 to allow for future broadcast burns. This two-step process will allow for multiple objectives to be met and increase safety for larger treatment areas. This process also allows for careful management of smoke impacts to sensitive high traffic areas and reduces high severity fire potential during wildland fire. Additionally, park fire managers used this opportunity to train new militia firefighters to help in future prescribed burns and wildfires. Members from the branches of wildlife, vegetation, wilderness, and hydrology assisted with operations.