National Fire Plan Success Story
National Park Service, Partners Treat 1,033 Acres along Natchez Trace
Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi and Tennessee
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2011
From February 14 to March 8, 2011, firefighters from Natchez Trace Parkway cooperated with multiple partners to complete over 1,000 acres of prescribed burns in two states, covering 400 miles of highway in the process.
Beginning near Rocky Springs, Mississippi, the group worked their way north up the parkway, finishing up at Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee. Along the way, they accomplished burn objectives that included reducing hazard fuels, killing exotic species, increasing native species diversity, and maintaining or improving scenic views.
During the course of 16 operational periods, Natchez Trace personnel worked with individual NPS detailers from Grand Tetons, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. They also worked with a module from the Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center and a newly formed fire crew from Americorps–National Civilian Community Corps out of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Other NPS cooperators included the Great Smokies Wildland Fire Module, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area fire staff, and the Cumberland Gap Wildland Fire Module.
The Natchez Trace crew’s accomplishment is especially notable because an unusually rainy prescribed burn season has foiled operations at many other units across the South. Natchez Trace Fire Management Officer Shawn Nagle credited his team’s success to a mixture of luck and planning. “We had the plans in place that allowed us to be flexible and mobilize at a moment’s notice. We took advantage of a series of good windows that opened up for us as we went from south to north.”
Contact: Shawn Nagle, Natchez Trace Parkway FMO, (662) 680-4028