Management
The Right Fire at the Right Place at the Right Time
- Reduces hazardous fuels, protecting human communities from extreme fires
- Minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease
- Removes unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem
- Reduces hazardous fuels, protecting human communities from extreme fires
- Provides forage for game and improves habitat for threatened and endangered species
- Recycles nutrients back to the soil
- Promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants
Fuels Treatment
The Fuels Management program on the Manti-La Sal National Forest supports the national strategy by restoring and maintaining landscapes, developing fire-adapted communities, and improving wildfire response. Check out the Fuels Treatment Projects Storymap.
Fuels are managed through prescribed fires, also known as prescribed burns or controlled burns. These burns refer to the controlled application of fire by a team of fire experts under specified weather conditions to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire.
Fire can be good for people and the land
After many years of fire exclusion, an ecosystem that needs periodic fire becomes unhealthy. Trees are stressed by overcrowding; fire-dependent species disappear; and flammable fuels build up and become hazardous.
There is such a thing as good fire
For decades, the Forest Service has done just that when it came to wildland fires. But science has changed the way we think about wildland fire and the way we manage it. We still suppress fires, especially if they threaten people and communities, but we understand that fire has a role in nature – one that can lead to healthy ecosystems.