Fuels Treatment Projects

Why Do NPS Fire Managers Use Fuels Treatment Projects?

The primary goal of fuels reduction projects is to reduce the threat of wildland fire to adjacent communities and NPS infrastructure by helping to reduce the amount of fuels available in case of a wildfire.

When fighting the East Troublesome Fire in 2020 and the Fern Lake Fire in 2012, firefighters were able to take advantage of previous and existing prescribed fire and hazardous fuels treatment areas that provided a buffer between the fires and the town of Estes Park. Prior hazard fuels projects were instrumental in stopping both fires from crossing Bear Lake and Trail Ridge Roads.

 

Goals

• Reduce the potential for loss of life of firefighters, employees, visitors, and neighbors due to wildland fire
• Reduce the risk to park infrastructure, homes, communities, natural resources, cultural resources, and municipal watersheds
• Utilize fuels reduction treatments to better restore and maintain natural fire regimes and fire-dependent ecosystems

 

Methods

 

An NPS firefighter is using a burn torch to light a burn pile in RMNP during winter

NPS

Pile Burning

What is pile burning? When slash, like branches, limbs, and other hazard tree materials are cut, they are piled up by NPS fire crews and contractors into large, circular or oval piles. These piles are left to dry. When they are dry enough, the piles are burned. This helps to reduce the amount of fuels in an area in the event of a wildfire.

Pile burning operations only take place when conditions allow. Firefighters will be on scene for the duration of the operation and will be patrolling the burn pile areas. Smoke from the burn will be visible throughout the day of the burn, mostly during the warmest part of the day. With cooler temperatures in the evening, smoke may linger and accumulate in low-lying areas.

 

NPS fire crews are managing a prescribed fire in RMNP, November 1, 2024

NPS

Prescribed Burn

A prescribed burn is the intentional ignition of fire on the landscape by fire managers. Prescribed fires are one of the most important tools used by fire managers to manage fire today.

A scientific prescription for each fire, prepared in advance, describes its objectives, fuels, size, the precise environmental conditions under which it will burn, and conditions under which it may be suppressed.

Prescribed burns, also called broadcast burns, are used to burn surface fuels and may be used to reach several management objectives. Roadside shrubs may be burned to decrease the flame height, making controlling fire from the road more effective. Reducing ladder fuels, such as low lying branches and shrubs growing beneath ponderosa pines, reduces the risk of treetops catching fire. Prescribed burning of dead and downed fuel can decrease the duration of wildfire due to fuel’s potential to smolder for extended periods.


In November 2024, Rocky Mountain National Park's fire managers used prescribed fire to treat approximately 100 acres of the 334-acre Headquarters Burn Unit located near the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center on the east side of RMNP. NPS and fire crews from many partner agencies were successful in introducing low-to-moderate intensity fire on the landscape. This prescribed fire removed fuels, including grasses and low shrubs. It also raised the bottoms of the canopies of trees and helped to increase crown spacing within the fire area. This was done by burning some low branches on trees as well as grasses and nearby brush.

Raising the “crown base height” of trees decreases the likelihood that a future wildfire would move into the canopies of the trees.

This work will help serve as a fuel break against potential future wildfires.

 

Fuels reduction projects like these are not designed to be a stand-alone defense against wildfires nor do they guarantee to hold a wildfire in the worst of conditions. We all need to do our part.

Homeowners are encouraged to complete wildfire mitigation on your property.
For resources, visit www.firewise.org and https://nocofireshed.org/resources/

Smoke may be visible both inside and outside the park. Every effort will be made to minimize smoke impacts on visitors and the adjacent community; however, some smoke is anticipated to disperse east of the park.

Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health. For more information on the health effects of wildland fire smoke and how to reduce your exposure, please visit the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website on Wood Smoke and Your Health