Firefighters from around the region helped Wind Cave National Park staff conduct the 308-acre Headquarters East prescribed fire on Saturday (Nov. 6, 2021). This burn unit consisted of the area between Highway 385 and the visitor center’s north and south access roads. Due to time constraints, the second burn unit known as Headquarters South, was postponed until weather and resource availability allow.
Fire fighters from the State of South Dakota, U.S. Forest Servic, and other National Park Service units assisted with the prescribed burn. All closures in effect during the burn have been lifted.
“We would like to thank our partners who helped make this prescribed fire a success,” said Park Superintendent Leigh Welling. “It is critical to be able to accomplish projects like this when conditions allow. This fire is going to benefit the park for years.”
Fire effects monitors will study the area burned to determine if the fire met resource management objectives. These objectives included reducing fuel loading in ponderosa pine forest, decreasing encroachment of young ponderosa pine onto the prairie, and improving the flow of water into the cave.
This fire represents a continuation of the park’s prescribed fire program which began in 1972. Segments of the park are burned, under favorable conditions, to simulate natural fires. Prescribed fires maintain the balance between forest and prairie, remove the build-up of dead fuels which reduces the chance of a catastrophic wildfire, and rejuvenate the native prairie grasses.
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