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Forests and Rangelands Success Story

Bryce Canyon Completes Burn during Height of Fire Season
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2008

View across a canyon of the prescribed fire's smoke.
The prescribed fire took place in the northern portion of the park.

Public Information officers answering questions for park visitors.
Public Information officers were on hand to answer questions for park visitors.

Normally, we think of prescribed fires occurring during the shoulder seasons of spring and fall when resources are available and not on suppression assignments. Not often does management attempt prescribed fires during the normal fire season due to risks associated with resource availability. Recently, Bryce Canyon National Park did just that when the decision was made to ignite the Residential Prescribed Fire during the period when fires would have naturally burned to achieve benefits for the ecosystem.

The Residential Prescribed Burn Unit is located in the northern portion of Bryce Canyon near the park entrance station, visitor center, and residential areas. This project was designed to reduce the wildland fire hazard to Bryce Canyon’s residential and maintenance areas and other developments in the northern portion of the park. Secondary goals were the maintenance of mountain meadows and the continued restoration of ponderosa pine forest communities.

The area had been treated in 1991 and 1999 making this the third entry burn. It treated approximately 475 areas in two phases. The first, and most difficult, phase was a 50-acre black lining operation along the park’s main highway and around park residences. The second phase hand ignited the interior of the rest of the burn unit. Weather conditions before and during the fire were closely monitored to ensure that the burn occurred under a predetermined set of conditions.

This project was carried out with close support and cooperation from the Dixie National Forest whose lands surround most of the park. It was truly an interagency effort with resources from the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management all helping out to manage the fire.

The lack of fire in Bryce Canyon, due mainly to past suppression efforts, has contributed to high fuel loadings and a change in forest structure. Prescribed fire is a treatment to reverse these changes brought on by fire exclusion. The policy of using fire as a tool will help decrease risks to life, property, and resources and will help perpetuate the values for which Bryce Canyon National Park was established.

Contact: Bruce Fields, Fuels Specialist, (435) 834-4912.