National Fire Plan Success Story
Large-Scale GR II Prescribed Fire Completed at Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2007
Holding the GR II Prescribed Fire.
Ponderosa pine cones being consumed in fire, releasing the seeds for future seedlings.
The GR II Prescribed Fire actively burned at night.
The National Park Service, with the assistance from U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, burned a 1,300-acre unit between October 31 and November 1, 2006. Several parks in the Pacific West Region assisted with the project. Fire staffs from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Lava Beds National Monument, Olympic National Park, and North Cascades National Park were on hand to conduct ignitions and monitor this project to a successful conclusion.
Before this past century of fire suppression, natural fires played a historical role in shaping the forests and life in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Natural fires occurred frequently in many forest types. In Jeffrey pine and pine/white fir forest stands, fires burned every four to seventy-five years. In the higher elevation red fir, western white pine forests, fires burned at least once every seventy years. In lodgepole pine forests, fires burned every fifty to seventy years and frequently affected entire stands. Fire behavior in the GR II Prescribed Fire represented what could be expected in these diverse stands. Conducting large-scale prescribed fires, such as GR II, enables fire management to reintroduce fire to fire-adapted ecosystems, and attempt to mimic natural, historic fire regimes.
Contact: Eric Hensel, Fire Management Officer, phone: (530) 595-4444 ext. 5168