Firefighting Resources from Across the Eastern Seaboard Assist with Prescribed Fire at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Firefighters from Maine to Florida attend briefing for prescribed fire at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

NPS

Prescribed fires take months of planning and coordination, and parks in Interior Region (IR) 1 come to one another’s aid when a prescribed burn is planned. With goals of reducing invasive species, restoring habitat, and protecting resources, 469 acres were treated across 10 parks in the region in FY’21, including in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CUVA).

CUVA had not conducted a prescribed fire in five years, and any benefits received from the 35-acre prescribed fire conducted in 2016 had mostly disappeared. In FY’21, they conducted two prescribed fires totaling 93 acres. Coordination to ensure they were within the proper burn prescription for weather was paramount. While CUVA park resources from various divisions were on hand, other “nearby” parks including Indiana Dunes National Park, Shenandoah National Park, and New River Gorge National Park also assisted. But park staff from further afield also came to assist, including a firing boss from Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky, the fire management officer from Acadia National Park in Maine, and fire effects monitors from Natchez Trace Parkway and an engine boss from Everglades National Park. US Fish and Wildlife Service staff also assisted. It was truly a monumental effort to coordinate staff from Maine to Florida on the Terra Vista Prescribed Fire in Brecksville, OH. Working together, resources gained experience, completed tasks in task books, and shared strategies and tactics.

According to Allegheny Zone fire management officer, Tom Fielden, “It was great to work with such a large group of talented individuals from around the country to put prescribed fire on the ground, benefiting wildlife habitat, restoring the native plant communities, and helping reduce hazard fuels in a community that surrounds the park. It’s what the NPS Wildland Fire and Fuels Management program is all about.”