Fire Managers Make Plans to Initiate Range Prescribed Burn on North Rim of Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon, AZ. – National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service fire managers, working together as the North Zone Fire Management Unit, are making preparations to initiate a prescribed burn on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Called the Range Prescribed Fire, the southern most part of its 2300 acre burn unit is located approximately 1.5 miles north of the North Rim campground. Hwy 67 is the eastern boundary of the burn unit; and the W1a road is its western boundary.

The Range Burn Unit is composed of mixed conifer forest with some aspen and ponderosa pine and has seen little fire in recent years. The Range Prescribed Fire will be a first-entry burn for approximately 2/3 of this burn unit.

Weather permitting, aerial and ground ignition operations are expected to begin within the next week and to last for approximately two days. Visitors can expect to see smoke and helicopter activity associated with these operations. Park visitors may also see residual smoke and fire monitoring activities for up to two additional weeks. Due to potential smoke impacts on Hwy 67, visitors to the North Rim are advised to use caution when driving in and around the park.

Preparation of cultural resources within the burn unit and coordination with the Arizona Department of Environment Quality to ensure appropriate air quality standards are met during the fire are already underway.

Prescribed fires are used by fire managers as a tool to achieve defined resource objectives. With the Range Prescribed Fire, North Zone fire managers hope to reduce the hazardous buildup of vegetation that has resulted from the lack of fire in this part of the forest and to maintain natural processes in a fire dependent ecosystem.

More information about the Range Prescribed Fire will be available once the burn is initiated. For general information about fire at Grand Canyon National Park or to learn more about the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the park’s Fire Management Plan, please visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/grca/parkmgmt/fire_info.htm.

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