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The Sequoia and Kings Canyon national
parks in the Sierra Nevada, California provide excellent examples of where
fires have been used as a managment tool.
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During the past century, programmes
of fire suppression in the Sierra Nevada have disrupted the natural fire
regimes. This has had a consequence of increasing the surface fuels of
the Sequoia - mixed conifer forests, which has led to a lower frequency
of
fires, but of higher magnitude when they do occur.
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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks
have had an active program of prescribed fires since 1969. These national
parks have had a monitoring program since 1982. This was aimed at determining
whether prescribed fire on its own can restore previous forest structure
and fuel load of the parks.
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With each prescribed fire in the Sequoia,
Kings Canyon, field data is collected as to the tree density and fuel load,
pre-burn, immediately after the burn, and for the subsequent post-burn
years.
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The program has been successful in
restoring the forest structure to the intended targets, thereby regenerating
the fire adapted species and reducing the fuel load.
INTRODUCTION
EFFECTS ON FAUNA AND FLORA
HISTORY OF FIRE MANAGEMENT
THE ROLE OF PRESCRIBED FIRE
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS
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