Management
The Rio Grande National Forest's Fire Management program combines the elements of fire suppression, fire prevention and fuels management. It is commonly said that "no two fires are a like" and on the Rio Grande NF, we treat each new fire as it's own entity and make our management decisions based on the circumstances present and the information we have at the time. On all incidents, public and firefighter safety are our #1 priority. It always has been, and always will be this way.
Fire Planning & Suppression
Good foundational planning prior to the “smoke in the air,” serves to ensure fire management decisions are grounded in policy and law. The combined experiences of career fire personnel and “Line Officers” guide incident response personnel by providing clear objectives that include public safety and resource management goals.
Interagency Federal fire policy requires that every area with burnable vegetation must have a Fire Management Plan. Our fire plan provides information with regard to the fire process for the Rio Grande National Forest and compiles guidance from existing sources such as, but not limited to, the Rio Grande National Forest Land Management Plan, national policy, and national and regional directives. We anchor all of our fire management decisions to these elements.
Once notified of a fire or a smoke report, the Rio Grande National Forest will dispatch an initial response to the reported location. These first responders will gather critical information about what they find (or don't find) and confer with upper level fire management and District Rangers to determine the best course of action for that incident. Fires may be aggressively suppressed with a "direct attack" tactic or we may decide to modify our suppression response and work only in certain areas of a fire's perimeter while allowing other areas of the fire to burn naturally. Fire suppression has hundreds of tools and tactics available to use and choose from. We'll use as many as we feel necessary to accomplish our objective on each wildfire.
Fire Prevention & Protection
Fire prevention is the concept of stopping a wildland fire before it starts. Easy enough, right? On the Rio Grande NF, we strive every day to foster and promote Smokey Bear's message of "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires."
Protection is the concept of how each property owner can work to protect their home from the negative effects of a fire.
Fire prevention is the concept of stopping a wildland fire before it starts. Easy enough, right? On the Rio Grande NF, we strive every day to foster and promote Smokey Bear's message of "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires." Our prevention staff and engine crews visit schools regularly to teach our youth best practices when using fire out in the wildlands. When fire danger elevates to critical levels, we work with local media to help promote increased awareness and safety tips. We initiate fire restrictions to ensure any use of fire is regulated to the appropriate areas or prohibited altogether. We bring in outside resources that will bolster our patrols to ensure visitors are abiding by fire restrictions and all the rules. We believe that the most efficient and cost-effective way to manage a human-caused wildland fire is to not have one!
Learn more about how to protect your property from the undesired affects of a wildland fire.
Important Fire Prevention Websites
- Fire Adapted Colorado
- Firewise Information
- Colorado State Forest Service
- National Fire Protection Association - Preparing homes for wildfire
Fuels Management
The Rio Grande National Forest is working to address public health and safety concerns, while meeting natural resource objectives, by implementing a combination of prescribed fire and mechanical treatments across the forest. These land management actions reduce the risks of large wildfires and improve the health of the public lands the Rio is tasked with administering.
By raising canopy base heights, reducing surface fuels, and favoring fire tolerant species, both public land and surrounding communities become more resistant to extreme fire behavior. Fuel treatments may also serve to benefit wildlife habitat, increase air quality, and reduce/combat insect and disease infestations.
While the commercial harvesting of timber can also serve to meet fuels treatment objectives, we commonly use the below three methods. A combination of timber sales and fuels treatments is not uncommon.
More information coming
More information coming
Prescribed fires (or burns) are when fire managers purposefully and methodically ignite vegetation on fire with a specific goal to achieve. The two primary types of prescribed fires we use are broadcast burning and slash pile burning. Broadcast burning is a more inclusive method where all of the vegetation may be burnable across the target landscape. When completed, a broadcast burn might have the entire landscape blackened, at least on the surface.
Slash piles burns are conducted after piles were created during hand thinning or mechanical treatments. The piles are strategically placed in openings where very little of the forest canopy will be affected when the piles are on fire. Typically, slash piles are ignited when there is sufficient snow on the ground to act as the primary control feature.
Learn more about the Rio Grande NF's Prescribed Fire Program
Burned Area Emergency Response
Phases of Post-Wildfire Recovery
After a wildfire is contained on federal lands, there are three phases of recovery:
This work, to rehabilitate areas impacted by fire suppression activities, is typically completed by Incident Management Teams and remaining suppression resources as the fire activity subsides.
Known as "BAER" for short, this is a rapid scientific assessment of imminent threats to human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources on National Forest System lands. These "threats" are hazards due to sudden changes to the landscape caused by the fire -- which can dislodge boulders, create weakened trees at risk of falling at any moment, and increase the potential for landslides and flash floods. The scientific assessment is used to identify immediate emergency stabilization measures and helps the agency prioritize funds to be allocated for mitigation activities such as hazard tree removal, rock scaling, and construction of stabilization features (such as rockfall fences) as well as improved alert system and signs about hazards for visitors.
This includes the work to rebuild and repair trails and replace burned infrastructures such as bridges and signs. It can include ecological restoration work in places. -For fires that burned in designed Wilderness areas, the management policy calls for little to no human intervention on the forest's natural regeneration process.