Fire History of Two Montane Forest Areas of Zion National Park

Authors

Neil E. West, Utah State UniversityFollow
Michael H. Madany

Document Type

Conference Paper

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Proceedings of the fire history workshop; October 20-24, 1980; Tucson, Arizona

Publisher

General Technical Report RM-81, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service

Publication Date

1981

First Page

50

Last Page

56

Abstract

A fire chronology for the last 480 years was developed from 119 partial cross sections of fire scarred ponderosa pine on a large plateau and a small, isolated mesa. Large fires (burning more than 400 ha) occurred nearly every three years prior to 1881 on the plateau. A sharp decline in fire frequency began thereafter, some forty years before the area was obtained by the National Park Service. The fire frequency of the relict mesa near the plateau featured an interval of 69 years. Changes in land use triggered the decline in fires on the plateau.

Recommended Citation

West, Neil E. and Madany, Michael H., "Fire History of Two Montane Forest Areas of Zion National Park" (1981). Wildland Resources Faculty Publications. Paper 1690.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1690