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RESTORING FIRE TO CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK
by David Brennan, Chief Ranger
The lower slopes of Timber Crater, in the northeast corner of the
park, are home to ponderosa pine forests that thrive in this relatively
dry climate. Research into these forests tells us that they have
historically undergone fairly frequent, lightning-caused fires of low
intensity, with approximately eight to twenty-five years between fires.
By favoring the reproduction of ponderosa pines over shade-tolerant
species such as white fir, this produced relatively open forests of
large, magnificent ponderosa pines, and relatively little undergrowth.
Since the early part of the twentieth century, man has been
suppressing these fires. By doing so, we have seriously disrupted the
natural role of fire in these ponderosa pine forest ecosystems. Fire
suppression began in the early part of this century and has led to
unnatural fuel buildups that increase the risk of catastrophic
wildfires. As naturally occurring fires were suppressed, the number
small trees increased dramatically, and shade-tolerant trees such as
white fir became much more prevalent. Forests such as these, with
heavy fuel loads and "ladder fuels" that allow the rapid
spread of fire from the ground to the tree canopy, are a symptom that
the natural fire process has been significantly altered.
Ponderosa Pine Forest at Crater Lake
The core mission of the National Park Service is to preserve and
protect natural features and natural processes such as fire. At Crater
Lake National Park, one of our long-term goals is to restore the natural
role of fire in park ecosystems. We are also committed to reducing the
likelihood of catastrophic wildfires that threaten people and property.
Because the natural role of fire has been disrupted for so many
years, the reintroduction of natural fire requires several incremental
steps, one of which is prescribed fire. In late September and early
October of 2001, we conducted a prescribed fire on 630 acres of
ponderosa pine forest in the Timber Crater area. This fire was ignited
under a careful prescription - a combination of temperature, relative
humidity, wind speed and fuel moisture which helps ensure the desired
results.
We planned and conducted this fire under the new National Park
Service prescribed fire policies, which were adopted after the
catastrophic fire of 2001 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. These policies
require park managers to rigorously address issues of risk and
complexity, with several levels of review, so the benefits of prescribed
fire can be accomplished with minimal risk to life and property. Not
only must we have enough fire personnel present to safely ignite,
monitor and manage the fire, but we also must have sufficient
firefighters present to quickly suppress the fire should it escape the
intended burn area. While this greatly increases the complexity and
cost of prescribed burns, it assures park managers, park neighbors and
the general public that we have taken all reasonable steps to prevent a
potentially destructive escaped fire from occurring.
So...how successful were we? Time will tell. Our fire effects
monitoring program began as the fire was burning, and will continue for
a number of years to measure how well we accomplished our desired
results. We then use this information refine the prescription for the
next fire. Through this adaptive management process, our long-term goal
is to determine the regime of prescribed fires and naturally occurring
fires that preserve the forest as a healthy, naturally functioning
system that can be enjoyed by future generations of park visitors.
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Briefign before the prescribe burn
Fire personnel needed for prescribed burning
Planning and working out the details
The Prescribed Burn
Holding Crew
Unnatural fuel buildup
Portable water tank used on forest fires
Igniting prescribed fire
Column of smoke from prescribed fire
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