Utah Forests Cultural Resources Wildland Fire PA-Appendix B Draft 1/8/01
APPENDIX B
WILDLAND FIRE AND HISTORIC PROPERTY PROTECTION
In defining constraint areas for managing wildland fires use for resource objectives, three
basic threats to historic properties were considered:
1.
2.
3.
Threats from fire itself, or fire intensity,
Threats from fire control activities such as bulldozer lines, hand lines,
retardant drops and staging areas,
Threats from post-fire erosion control or rehabilitation activities.
In the case of a wildland fire managed for resource objectives, the primary threat is from
fire itself and to a lesser degree, associated appropriate management responses
(e.g.control activities such as building line with a bulldozer or other ground-disturbing
equipment). It is expected that the latter-mentioned control activities will be be minimal
owing to the fact that a managed wildland fire relies primarily on natural fuel breaks such
as streams, extensive rock outcroppings, existing roads and other topographic features for
for confinement and control. Because of the low-intensity nature of a managed fire
(confinement to Maximum Manageable Area), ground-disturbing rehabilitation work is
not a typical element of post-fire activities. In cases where rehabilitation work is
required, it is not of an emergency nature as in the case with wildfires.
The list of high and low risk properties that may be affected by fire directly was
developed through a review of available literature on the subject of fire effects on cultural
resources. The primary sources for this review included The Effects of Fire on Cultural
Resources by Hal Keesling, dated 1993 (This can probably be augmented with other
bibiliographic references). This list is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be
amended as provided for in A.l.a.
High Risk:
Historic sites with standing, or down wooden structures or other flammable features.
Rock image sites.
Prehistoric sites with flammable architectural elements and other flammable features.
Prehistoric artifact scatters located in potentially unstable geomorphological settings.
Historic and prehistoric sites with the potential for hearths and datable charcoal or
other fire sensitive deposits.
Prehistoric and historic cemeteries.
Peeled, or scarred pine tree sites.
Aspen art sites.
Traditional Cultural Properties.
Rockshelter Sites
Cultural Landscapes
Utah Forests Cultural Resources Wildland Fire PA-Appendix B Draft 1/8/01
Low Risk:
Prehistoric and historic sites with deeply buried cultural deposits.
Phehistoric artifact scatters in stable settings.
Prehistoric and historic sites with non-flammable surface features.
Historic earthworks.
Sites officially determined ineligible for listing in the NRHP.