CA-YNP Mariposa Grove, Prescribed Fire Yosemite National Park

Thursday, October 20, 2016

CA-YNP Mariposa Grove, Prescribed Fire Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park, Mariposa Grove, Prescribed Fire

Mariposa Grove Prescribed Fire

When and Where: Yosemite National Park fire managers are planning to continue ignitions of the Mariposa Grove prescribed fire project on Saturday October 22, 2016 and Sunday October 23, 2016. The focus will be in the upper grove for a total of 55 acres. An estimated 7 to 10 days of active burn down is anticipated. Fire managers have already successfully completed 75 acres of ignitions, out of the 137 acre total project.

Smoke will be present during the prescribed fire and in the Wawona area. Fire managers are working with the Mariposa County Air Pollution Control District (MCAPCD) to time the project to coincide with favorable weather and smoke dispersion conditions. Smoke, affecting health, is always a consideration in the decision to schedule prescribed fires. A smoke management plan has been submitted to the MCAPCD, and a burn permit has been issued. A smoke monitor will be placed in nearby communities.

Historically, natural fire burned an average of 16,000 acres annually in Yosemite National Park and played an integral role in shaping Yosemite’s ecosystem. Yosemite’s Fire Management Program works to balance the protection of life, property, and natural and cultural resources with the restoration of fire as a natural process. Due to decades of fire suppression (actively putting out any fire that started), many areas have become overgrown, unhealthy, and increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire.

The Mariposa Grove project is near the top of the Grove from Wawona Point to the south. Fire managers want to take advantage of the Mariposa Grove closure to conduct the project. The Grove is closed to the public because of a major restoration project. Burning at this time will minimize impacts to public use. Burning in the Mariposa Grove is a continuous process; the targeted areas have had 1-3 prescribed fires in the past 30 years, and continued burning is required to maintain healthy forest conditions. Fire produces the optimum conditions for Giant Sequoia reproduction and propagation. Fire not only removes the accumulated layers of dead woody debris exposing nutrient rich mineral soil, but dries the cones allowing the seeds to shed. In addition, fire creates holes in the forest canopy, while eliminating shade tolerate competition.

Park employees, community members, and visitors can expect to see fire personnel from various federal and state agencies conducting burning operations during the Mariposa Grove prescribed fire.

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Thursday, October 20, 2016