Landscape-scale fire history studies support fire management action at Bandelier

Fire has long been recognized as a key process determining the ecological structure and function of many southwestern forests (Weaver 1951). Major changes in southwestern fire regimes over the past century (Swetnam 1990) are having correspondingly large ecological effects on southwestern forests, including those of Bandelier National Monument in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico (Allen 1989). Ecologists and managers who seek to understand current landscapes require accurate information on the spatial and temporal variability in past fire regimes. This kind of information provides essential historical context that is needed to properly manage our modern park landscapes.