News Release

National Park Service Plans Spring Pile Burning Operations

Date: March 31, 2026
Contact: WRST_Public_Affairs

COPPER CENTER, Alaska – The National Park Service will initiate small, prescribed fires (burning piles of cut material), beginning on Saturday, April 4 for about a week at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve as weather and site conditions allow. 

Highly trained National Park Service wildland firefighters will conduct and manage all prescribed fires. Operations will only occur under favorable conditions, and crews will remain on site to monitor and secure each prescribed fire.  

Prescribed fire areas include:

• Jake’s Bar

• University Subdivision

• Kennecott

• May Creek

Visitors and residents in these areas, including those traveling by air, may see smoke during operations. These prescribed fires are designed to reduce hazardous fuels and create defensible space. NPS intends to carry out prescribed fires to increase visitor and employee safety while creating buffer to slow or stop wildfires (enhance defensible space) for the future.  

Prescribed fire is a routine and effective tool used by the NPS to manage vegetation and reduce wildfire risk.  In this case, crews are burning vegetation (mostly brush) that was previously cleared and piled. Conducting these burns before the summer fire season helps reduce the chance of larger, more severe wildfires later in the year.
  
For more information about wildland fire and steps you can take to protect your home, visit the park’s wildland fire webpage.