Fire Effects Team Studies Rim Fire
Fire effects monitors from the San Francisco Bay Area Network, Lava Beds National Monument and North Cascades National Park recently joined 6 others from the U.S. Geological Survey Field Station at Yosemite National Park to read over 50 vegetation plots in the area burned by the Rim Fire last year.
Most of the plots had already been read multiple times, in some cases recording change in vegetation over a series of fire events, such as the 1996 Ackerson Fire or the many other wildfires and prescribed fires that have occurred in the part of the park that was burned by the Rim Fire. The National Park Service requires fuels and vegetation monitoring after prescribed fires to ensure that prescribed burning meets the ecological objectives of the park.
The project managers are especially interested in the change in fuel loading, species composition,and shifts in tree density between fire events to understand how earlier fires shaped the behavior of the Rim Fire in different areas. Some places burned more intensely, other places burned less intensely. Topography, moisture of live and dead vegetation, past fires and past fuel treatments are all factors that will be investigated to explain patterns across the Rim Fire landscape.
During their work this summer, the Fire Effects Team noticed there were quite a few places where all the conifers were dead but the oaks were resprouting. This doesn't necessarily mean there will be a shift to an oak forest. Some species won't get established for a couple of years, but may then quickly dominate. For instance, there were countless white fir seedlings in some parts of the fire area.
This is why it's important to monitor the vegetation for long periods of time.
The Rim Fire burned 255,000 acres including 547 existing research plots where data had been collected before the fire. It was the largest recorded fire in the Sierra Nevada which offers an incredible number of learning opportunities.
Another group of the existing research plots will be re-read as part of a U.S. Forest Servcie study funded by the Joint Fire Science Program. This study will look at the effects of previous fuels management on fire intensity, rate of spread, severity and forest structure.
 The 2013 Rim Fire completely burned over the 1996 Ackerson Fire on the west side of Yosemite, but was controlled along Tioga Road where less fuel was available due to previous prescribed burning and thinning...
Many other studies will also be in progress, including:
- Large woody debris and stream bed monitoring in the upper Tuolome River;
- Using burned wood fragments to measure erosion rates;
- Hillslope sedimentation processes related to burn severity;
- Post-fire vegetation patterns in relation to fire size;
- Effects of the Rim Fire on greenness and wetness of meadows;
- Bird community changes after the Rim Fire.
- Do wildfires conserve critical elements of Pacific fisher habitat?
The results of this work and other projects still being developed will be posted on the park website, www.nps.gov/yose.
TOP BANNER PHOTO: Fire effects crew members walking through ferns, lupine, and scorched trees in the Rim Fire burned area at Yosemite National Park. NPS photo by Wende Rehlaender
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Defensible Space to Protect Facilities at Pinnacles National Park - Lessons Learned from Rim Fire
The fuels crew from the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks spent 8 days earlier this summer reducing fuel in 3 key locations at Pinnacles National Park -- 1) the campground; 2) Bear Gulch corridor; and 3) facilities including the maintenance complex, the housing area and several outbuildings.
The campground is at the bottom of a steep slope where a fire could quickly take off. For this reason, vegetation was cleared from the campsites and part way upslope.
Likewise, parts of the road in the Bear Gulch corridor are at the top of steep slopes that could carry a fire toward people who are driving on the park's only entrance and exit on the east side. Thus, vegetation was cleared from the road down slope and across to a parallel trail in one of the most critical sections of the road.
Finally, park buildings, like all structures, need defensible space, so firefighters can safely protect them during a wildfire. Park housing and other facilities in Yosemite National Park were saved at Hodgdon Meadow because fuel reduction had been done around them before the Rim Fire.
Notice the overhanging vegetation around the Pinnacles maintenance building in the photo above. This photo was taken before this year's defensible space project...
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