Prescott National Forest

Fire and Aviation

Prescribed Fire

Ash Creek Prescribed Burn

Goals: Re-introduce fire into its natural role. Reduce hazardous fuel accumulation, risk of stand replacing crown fire, and risk of catastrophic wildfire in and around adjacent wildland rural interface areas. Increase herbaceous cover, diversity, and productivity of plant and wildlife habitats. Protect mature stands of mixed conifer and Ponderosa pine. Maintain and/or improve habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, northern goshawk, deer, and wild turkey.

Resource Objectives

• In as much as possible, return fire to its natural role in the ecosystem.
• Protect life and property from wildfire.
• Activity and natural fuels are treated by, lopping and scattering, crushing, smashing, chipping, and prescribed broadcast burning.
• No more than 5,000 acres of prescribed burning would occur at any one time across the forest.
• Examine the possibility of using prescribed fire to more readily relate to naturally occurring fire periods.
• Manage for a diverse, well-distributed pattern of habitats for wildlife populations and fish species in cooperation with states and other agencies.
• Maintain and/or improve habitat for threatened or endangered species and work toward the eventual recovery and delisting of species through recovery plan implementation.

Prescribed Fire Objectives

Calculated as an average over the entire burn area:

• Provide for firefighter and public safety.
• Within the ponderosa pine vegetation type, manage dead fuel loadings within a range of 3-10 tons per acre. The goal will be to manage at the lower levels (3-5 tons/acre) in heavy-use areas such as along Forest roads and trails and near private lands with structures, and at the higher levels (5-10 tons/acre) where sensitive resource values exist such as drainage bottoms and on steep slopes with sensitive soils.
• Within the chaparral vegetation types, create a mosaic of vegetation conditions with an overall objective of 60% treated and 40% untreated.

Ash Creek Area Photo

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