Fire Monitoring and Fire Effects Records, 1968-1999

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Summary

Title:
Fire Monitoring and Fire Effects records
Dates:
1968-1999
Creators:
Sequoia National Park (Calif.). Division of Visitor, Fire and Resource Protection
Abstract:
Records generated within the organizational divisions of Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park concerning Park management, planning and development.
Extent:
13 linear feet.
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

Fire Monitoring and Fire Effects records, SEKI 22368. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of correspondence, reports, plans, field notes, and briefing papers.

Biographical / historical:

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have been at the forefront of fire management and the evolution of National Park Service fire policy since the 1950s. Building on the research into the ecology of Giant Sequoia groves begun by Richard Hartesveldt in the mid-1960s, the Parks recognized that the exclusion of all fire was inhibiting Sequoia regeneration. An appreciation of the central role played by fire, the Parks were among the first in the Park service to reappraise its approach to fire management. In 1968, the Parks began both a prescribed burn and a let burn policy for selected fires ignited by lightning at higher elevation, where the risks for major conflagration were minimal. By the early 1970s, the Parks had begun to reintroduce fire to much of landscape, a complete reversal of nearly a hundred years precedent.

The Parks' began monitoring the effects of fire on park ecosystems with the advent of the early, experimental burns of the late 1960s. The Fire Monitoring and Fire Effects crew was established in 1982 as a part of the Division of Resources Management to standardize these efforts. The fire monitoring effort was meant to document short-term effects, while the fire effects program was to document long-term effects. In the mid-1980s, a review of fire management brought attention to the new program. In the early 1990s, fire monitoring efforts were separated from fire effects so different skill sets could be emphasized. Around 2000, the fire monitoring program was placed under the authority of the Parks' fire management program.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into four series: Series I Correspondence; Series II Fire Monitoring Reports and Surveys; Series III Fire Management Program Planning; and Series IV Fire Management Program Review.

Physical location:
Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks. Ash Mountain Headquarters, Archive.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Ward Eldredge, Anna Uremovich, Tammy Fishman, Alyson Mazzone, Bekah Piche, Allison Metzler
Date Prepared:
© 2011
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid created by Tammy Fishman. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: October 16, 2011.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment.

Terms of access:

Many collections are former federal government records and are in the public domain. Other collections are from private sources; copyright has been transferred to the NPS on most. Some collections have publication restrictions. Researchers are required to properly credit all materials used. The researcher assumes responsibility for acquiring copyright permissions when needed.

Preferred citation:

Fire Monitoring and Fire Effects records, SEKI 22368. Courtesy of the National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

Location of this collection:
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, CA 93271, US
Contact:
(559) 565-3133
Website