Transcript Slide 1

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Wilderness Fires and Heritage Resources
by Neil Weintraub
South Kaibab Zone Archaeologist
Kaibab National Forest
What are Heritage Resources?
Currently there are more than 60,000 heritage
resources recorded in the Southwestern Region.
Many of these sites are of great importance to
Southwestern Indian tribes including, Hopi, Zuni,
Navajo, Hualapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Apache
and Paiute whose ancestors once lived in the
forests.
Heritage sites hold important cultural, educational
and scientific values for many Americans, and
contain clues for understanding how the
landscapes and cultures of the Southwest came to
be as they are today.
Rock Art


Rock art, either
petroglyphs (pecked)
or pictographs
(painted) are
vulnerable to fire.
If there is time,
clearing vegetation
from these sites can
minimize fire effects.
Artifact Scatters


Artifact scatters are
most vulnerable to
impacts from direct
fire fighting efforts,
especially bulldozer
lines.
They also can be
altered by high
intensity fires.
Prehistoric Structures

Prehistoric pueblos
and other surface
features are most
vulnerable to impacts
from direct fire
fighting efforts, such
as bulldozer lines.
Rock Shelters

Rock shelters preserve
perishable materials
such as roof beams,
arrows, corn cobs and
sandals which are not
normally preserved in
open air sites.
Traditional Cultural Values
Sweat lodges, hogans
. and gathering areas
for special plant
resources are also
vulnerable to wildfire.

Combustible Heritage Resources


For obvious reasons, cabins and railroad
grades are vulnerable to fire.
If there is time, crews and archaeologists
can dig fire lines to try to minimize fire
effects.
Getting Heritage Help!



Hopefully, Dispatch calls local red-carded
archaeologists.
If no local archaeologists are available, the
resource advisor should request at least two to four
(for small fires) and upto 6 to 8 for larger ones.
The Resource Advisor should be able to provide
Off-forest archaeologists maps of site locations
and survey coverages. The resource advisor
should ensure coordination between the local
archaeologists and fire archaeologists.
Wildland Fire Use
Prior to implementing wildland fire use under
the standards in the 2005 guide, local units must
have ensured compliance with NEPA, NHPA,
and ESA requirements…
Therefore, to implement fire-use, a Forest must
have a Programmatic Agreement in place with
the State Historic Preservation Office. This will
consist of the agreement and an approved
strategy plan for the fire-use process
Wildland fire will be used to protect, maintain,
and enhance resources and, as nearly as possible,
be allowed to function in its natural ecological
role…
Heritage Resource Planning/ GIS

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
Archaeologists arriving
will want survey and site
location maps availbable
as soon as possible.
They will want to know
how sites are marked in
the field.
They should identify a
unique flagging scheme
for heritage resource site
protection.
Locating Archaeology Sites
Fire sensitive
heritage layers
Priorites

During the Pumpkin
Fire 2000, crews
wrapped the Historic
Kendrick Lookout
Cabin with Fire Shelter
Material.
Tribal Concerns
Bar Fire - 2006 – crews found Navajo Sweatlodge
in the Upper Basin during Stage I and took
protection measures prior to archaeologists arrival
Fire Camps

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All Fire camps should
be surveyed for
heritage resources –
Forest should identify
potential fire camps
and have them
inventoried.
Camps become muddy
and trucks can damage
resources.
Morning Briefing


Archaeologists should
attend all morning
briefings and identify
sensitive areas.
The Resource Advisor
should ensure that
Heritage Resources
are prioritized in the
daily Incident Action
Plan.
Communication with Crews


Archaeologists should
brief crews in their
division about the
types of heritage
resources that might
be encountered.
Crews can be
invaluable in helping
protect heritage
resources.
Dozer Lines


Bulldozer lines have
the greatest impact on
heritage resources.
It is essential that
archaeologists and
dozer operators work
together to avoid
heritage resources.
Safety Zones


Safety Zones are areas
of high impact. They
should be inventoried
for heritage resources
ahead of time, if at all
possible
Known sites can be
marked ahead of time
in some cases.
Hand Lines


Depending on the
Forest and the type of
fire, hand lines may
also need to be
surveyed.
Hand lines can also be
used to create fire
breaks within heritage
sites with minimal
effects.
Other Protection Measures
Other Protection Measures
Not so desirable effects
What We Learned
 Worth the time to
organize maps and
plan of attack.
 Attend all morning
briefings.
 Give heritage
messages to crews
while in camp.
 Important to retain
heritage marking so
that sites can be
avoided during
rehabilitation phase.