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Resource Brief: Wilderness Character and Fire

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Resource Brief: Wilderness Character and Fire National Park Service Program Brief U.S. Department of the Interior Wilderness Character and Fire Wilderness Stewardship Division Division of Fire and Aviation Background The NPS is responsible for the stewardship of 61 designated wilderness areas, totaling over 44 million acres. Per bureau policy, the NPS also manages approximately 26 million additional acres as eligible, proposed, recommended, and potential wilderness. In total, approximately 83 percent of all NPS lands from Alaska to Florida are managed as wilderness. The NPS Wilderness Stewardship Division collaborates with the NPS Division of Fire and Aviation Management to meet the management and stewardship objectives of each respective program, including the preservation of wilderness character. of the environment, stops natural processes that would otherwise occur. Preserving Wilderness Character in NPS The use of motorized equipment and landing of aircraft The 1964 Wilderness Act and NPS policy mandate the also impacts wilderness character. While common to preservation of wilderness character, a holistic concept many fire management operations, use of chainsaws based on the interaction of biophysical environments, or sling loads for helicopter transport degrades the personal experiences, and symbolic meanings. This undeveloped quality in wilderness. These are generally includes five tangible qualities associated with the considered “prohibited uses,” per Section 4(c) of the biophysical environment: Wilderness Act, and their use is only permitted “to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area • Natural - Wilderness ecological systems are for the purpose of this Act,” as determined through a substantially free from the effects of modern civilization minimum requirements analysis. • Untrammeled - Wilderness is essentially free from When fire and wilderness practitioners work together the intentional actions of modern human control and through thoughtful planning and implementation, manipulation including incident action plans, fire management plans, • Undeveloped - Wilderness retains its primeval and wilderness stewardship plans, the NPS can achieve character and influence, and is essentially without resource management objectives of safety, science, permanent improvement or modern human occupation stewardship, at the same time as preserving wilderness • Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation character. - Wilderness provides outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation Resources • Other Features of Value - Wilderness preserves other The following resources provide additional information: features that are of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value Interagency Wilderness Character Toolbox Interagency Fire Management Toolbox These qualities are interrelated and wilderness character Interagency Minimum Requirements Analysis Toolbox preservation often requires thoughtful tradeoffs. Minimum Impact Strategies + Techniques NWCG Resource Advisor Guide (see Appendix H) Wilderness Character in Fire Management InsideNPS for Wilderness Stewardship NPS.gov/wilderness Fire management actions in wilderness have potential to both enhance and degrade wilderness character. For example, managed lightning-ignited fires promote Contacts the natural quality, promoting ecological processes Roger Semler, Wilderness Stewardship Division Chief of fire-dependent landscapes. On the opposite side, [email protected] | 202/513.7200 suppressing naturally-ignited wildfire degrades the untrammeled quality as this intentional manipulation Bill Kaage, Fire and Aviation Division Chief [email protected] | 208/387.5216 MAY 23, 2018.
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