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Revise Fire Management Plan for Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park » Revise Fire Management Plan for Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park » Document List
The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing to revise the Fire Management Plan for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (the park) in Georgia and Tennessee.
The purpose of the revision is to incorporate new land acquired since 2004 into the park's Fire Management Plan and to add the use of prescribed fire as a potential resource management tool.
The park currently uses a combination of wildland fire suppression and non-fire applications, such as mechanical treatments to create and maintain hazardous fuel breaks along the park's perimeter, maintain defensible space around park buildings, and maintain the park's cultural landscape. The existing Fire Management Plan does not allow for the use of prescribed fire. Fires have been prevented and suppressed for the last 70 to 90 years on most public lands, which has greatly affected the vegetation communities and the historic cultural landscape within the park. There is a need to re-establish the historic cultural landscape, reduce fuel loads within the park, and manage invasive plant species while at the same time protecting visitors, facilities, and resources on and adjacent to the park.
The park is preparing an Environmental Assessment to analyze the effects of the proposed project on the human environment and provide an opportunity for public input in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
The park was established in 1890 "for the purpose of preserving and suitably marking for historical and professional military study the fields of some of the most remarkable maneuvers and most brilliant fighting" in the Civil War. In 2003, Moccasin Bend National Archeological District was added to the park's land base. The park attracts approximately 900,000 visitors each year.
The purpose of the revision is to incorporate new land acquired since 2004 into the park's Fire Management Plan and to add the use of prescribed fire as a potential resource management tool.
The park currently uses a combination of wildland fire suppression and non-fire applications, such as mechanical treatments to create and maintain hazardous fuel breaks along the park's perimeter, maintain defensible space around park buildings, and maintain the park's cultural landscape. The existing Fire Management Plan does not allow for the use of prescribed fire. Fires have been prevented and suppressed for the last 70 to 90 years on most public lands, which has greatly affected the vegetation communities and the historic cultural landscape within the park. There is a need to re-establish the historic cultural landscape, reduce fuel loads within the park, and manage invasive plant species while at the same time protecting visitors, facilities, and resources on and adjacent to the park.
The park is preparing an Environmental Assessment to analyze the effects of the proposed project on the human environment and provide an opportunity for public input in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
The park was established in 1890 "for the purpose of preserving and suitably marking for historical and professional military study the fields of some of the most remarkable maneuvers and most brilliant fighting" in the Civil War. In 2003, Moccasin Bend National Archeological District was added to the park's land base. The park attracts approximately 900,000 visitors each year.