National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Guadalupe Mountains National Park Texas Fire Management Plan August 2005 Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire Management Plan Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire Management Plan Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire Management Plan Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire Management Plan Table of Contents Chapter I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter II. Land Management Planning and Fire Policy .................................................................. 5 Management Policies Statements ................................................................................................. 5 Legislative Mandates.................................................................................................................... 5 Meeting General Management Plan and Resource Management Plan Objectives....................... 6 Chapter III. Wildland Fire Management Strategies........................................................................... 7 Fire Management Plan Goals and Objectives............................................................................... 7 Wildland Fire Management Options ............................................................................................ 8 Physical and Biotic Characteristics .............................................................................................. 9 Historic Role of Fire in Park Ecosystems................................................................................... 14 Fire Management Units .............................................................................................................. 17 Chapter IV. Wildland Fire Management Program Components .................................................... 25 General Implementation Procedures........................................................................................... 25 Wildland Fire Suppression ......................................................................................................... 25 Wildland Fire Use....................................................................................................................... 42 Prescribed Fire............................................................................................................................ 48 Air Quality and Smoke Management ......................................................................................... 55 Non-Fire Fuel Treatment Applications....................................................................................... 56 Emergency Rehabilitation and Restoration ................................................................................ 56 Chapter V. Organizational and Budgetary Parameters ................................................................... 57 Fire Organization........................................................................................................................ 57 FIREPRO Funding...................................................................................................................... 61 Fire Management Teams and Their Responsibilities ................................................................. 61 Interagency Coordination ........................................................................................................... 62 Chapter VI. Monitoring and Evaluation............................................................................................ 63 FMH Vegetation Plots ................................................................................................................ 63 Routine Monitoring .................................................................................................................... 63 Compliance Monitoring.............................................................................................................. 63 Cultural Resources Monitoring................................................................................................... 64 Air Quality and Smoke Management ......................................................................................... 64 Chapter VII. Fire Research ................................................................................................................. 67 Fire History Studies .................................................................................................................... 67 Fire Research at Guadalupe Mountains National Park............................................................... 67 Fire Research Needs at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.................................................... 69 Chapter VIII. Public Safety and Information.................................................................................... 75 Goals and Objectives Relating to Public Safety and Information .............................................. 75 Public and Employee Safety....................................................................................................... 75 Public Information and Education.............................................................................................. 76 Chapter IX. Protection of Sensitive Resources .................................................................................. 79 Cultural Resources...................................................................................................................... 79 i Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire Management Plan Sensitive Plants........................................................................................................................... 85 Sensitive Animals ....................................................................................................................... 89 Unique Sites................................................................................................................................ 91 Sensitive Developments.............................................................................................................. 91 Chapter X. Fire Critiques and Annual Review.................................................................................. 93 Incident Critiques........................................................................................................................ 93 Program Reviews........................................................................................................................ 93 Chapter XI. Consultation and Coordination ..................................................................................... 95 Preparers ..................................................................................................................................... 95 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................... 97 List of Figures Figure I-1. Location of Guadalupe Mountains National Park................................................................. 2 Figure I-2. General area overview........................................................................................................... 3 Figure III-1. Distribution of Vegetation Types at Guadalupe Mountains National Park...................... 13 Figure III-2. FMU 1 and Park Developments Requiring Protection..................................................... 18 Figure III-3. FMU 2 Details.................................................................................................................. 22 Figure IV-1. Guadalupe Mountains National Park Fire History Map................................................... 27 Figure IV-2. Fire size distribution at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.......................................... 28 Figure IV-3a. Bowl RAWS Burning Index........................................................................................... 33 Figure IV-3b. Bowl RAWS Energy Release Component ..................................................................... 33 Figure IV-3c. Bowl RAWS 1000-hr Time-lag Fuel Moisture .............................................................. 34 Figure IV-4a. Pinery RAWS Burning Index......................................................................................... 36 Figure IV-4b. Pinery RAWS Energy Release Component ................................................................... 36 Figure IV-4c. Pinery RAWS 1000-hr Time-lag Fuel Moisture............................................................. 37 Figure IV-5. Multi-year Fuels Treatment Map (2004).......................................................................... 53 Figure VI-1. FMH Plot Locations ......................................................................................................... 65 List of Tables Table III-1. Fuel Models and Fire Behavior in Seven Vegetation Types at Guadalupe Mountains National Park .................................................................................................................................. 21 Table IV-1. Preparedness Staffing Step Up Plan................................................................................... 29 Table IV-2. Annual temperature and precipitation averages for the Bowl RAWS ............................... 34 Table IV-3. Annual temperature and precipitation averages for the Pinery RAWS ............................. 37 Table IV-4. Annual temperature and precipitation averages