FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Prescribed fire is used to maintain grassy balds in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Woody species are invading many grassy balds because of fire suppression and decreased grazing. Grassy balds respond well to fall fires. The fuel is less compact and favorable weather conditions last longer in the fall than in the spring.
Well-managed fire improves the quality of harvest, facilitates hunting, improves grass seed production for harvest, provides a tool for harvesting desirable insects for consumption and reduces the populations of others that are unwanted. Fire also greatly improves the quality of plant materials used in basketmaking, such as hazel among others.
Decades ago, managers reintroduced fire into the prairies using Native American traditions and values as a guide (Underwood et al. 2003). Since then, several prairies have been burned repeatedly. In recent years, the use of fire in restoration has been extended to marginal stands of second growth Douglas fir-coast redwood forest. This early effort to restore fire to these uplands forests and prairies will ensure that future wildfires that initiate within and outside the Park's forested boundaries can be managed in ways that are consistant with overall park values and objectives.
Prescribed burning has been used extensively as a park management tool in the Bald Hills since 1992. The application of frequent (every 3 to 5 years), moderate intensity prescribed fires has been successful in eliminating Douglas fir less than 5 feet tall, a significant portion of the encroachment problem. Prescribed burning, particularly in the late summer/fall also limits the spread of exotic grass and other plant species while maintaining native grasses and plant species. If longer periods transpire between burns, Douglas fir will reach heights where only intense fire or manual cutting will remove them.