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National Fire Plan Success Story

Protecting Park Resources with Prescribed Fire
Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2008

Firefighter using a driptorch.
Firefighter using a driptorch for ignition on the Canyon Headquarters (HQ-41) Prescribed Fire.

Burn boss Frank Gonzales oversees a fire crew briefing.
Burn boss Frank Gonzales oversees a fire crew briefing. NPS photo by Sally King.

Prescribed fire in the area around Tyuonyi Pueblo in Frijoles Canyon.
The prescribed fire reduced fuels in the area around Tyuonyi Pueblo in Frijoles Canyon. NPS photo by Sally King.

Bandelier National Monument treated 210 acres around the main visitor use area of the park with prescribed fire in September 2008. The Canyon Headquarters (HQ-41) prescribed burn, which began September 23, 2008, required intermittent closures of Monument facilities and trails, including a one-day closure of all of the facilities within Frijoles Canyon to all visitors. All ignitions were successfully completed by September 25 with assistance from park staff, Santa Fe National Forest, Northern Pueblo Agency, and Los Alamos County Fire.

"This area around the visitor center was last burned in spring of 1991," said Bandelier National Monument Superintendent Brad Traver. "The main objective of this burn was to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire by reducing fuel accumulations around the Frijoles Canyon archeological sites and CCC National Historic Landmark District buildings." Without the Canyon Headquarters Prescribed Fire, the archeological sites could be put at risk by a severe wildfire.

"The primary focus of this treatment was to burn the dead and down fuels that have accumulated as a result of fire absence and recent pine mortality (drought & insect infestation) in this canyon," said Bandelier Fire Management Officer Gary Kemp. "The burn unit was thinned mechanically to prepare for this burn," added Kemp.

Prescribed fire is one of many fuel treatments used by Bandelier to reverse changes brought on by fire suppression and other activities that occurred prior to the Monument’s establishment, including grazing and logging. These past activities have contributed to increased fuel loading and changes in vegetation structure in Bandelier. Mechanical thinning is one of the fuel treatments used to thin areas in which prescribed fire may not be effective. Although mechanical thinning is an important tool in fuel reduction, it does not provide the natural benefits to the forest that occur because of prescribed fire. Prescribed fire benefits include a reduction in fuel loading, rejuvenation of fire-dependent/adapted species such as aspen, thinning of dense mixed-conifer stands, and decreased risks from wildfires.

The policy of using fire as a management tool will help decrease risks to life and property and help perpetuate the resource values for which Bandelier National Monument was established.

Contact: Gary Kemp, Fire Management Officer, (505) 672-3861 x 550.