Quantifying the consequences of fire suppression in two California national parks

Carol L. Miller; Brett H. Davis

Treesearch

Quantifying the consequences of fire suppression in two California national parks

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Carol L. Miller, Brett H. Davis

Year:

2009

Type:

Miscellaneous Publication

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

The George Wright Forum. 26(1): 76-88.

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Abstract

Excluding fire can have untold ecological effects. Decades of fire suppression in national parks and other protected areas have altered natural fire regimes, vegetation, and wildlife habitat (Chang 1996; Keane et al. 2002). Management actions to suppress lightning-ignited wildfires removes one of the most important natural processes from fire-dependent ecosystems, and yet resource specialists currently have no way of measuring or monitoring the effects of these actions.

Keywords

fire suppression, prescribed fire, restoration, national parks, California, Fire Return Interval Departure (FRID) Index

Citation

Miller, Carol; Davis, Brett. 2009. Quantifying the consequences of fire suppression in two California national parks. The George Wright Forum. 26(1): 76-88.