The National Park Service released an environmental assessment that evaluates the impacts of the proposed fire mitigation plan at Mesa Verde National Park and Yucca House National Monument, a news release from Mesa Verde National Park said Wednesday.
“The FMP EA considers wildland fire management practices, techniques, and tools including ground and aviation operations, suppression, and fire fuels management such as manual, mechanical, and prescribed fire treatments,” the news release said.
Alternative A is the no-action plan, which means that the proposed fire mitigation plan would not be implemented, and wildfires would be suppressed fully as they occur. Existing defensible spaces would be maintained, and “NPS would continue to use common tools and strategies associated with fire suppression efforts.”
Alternative B proposes actions be taken, and is the preferred alternative. The NPS would implement a fire mitigation plan for the parks. Unplanned fires would be managed in the same manner as Alternative A. Additionally, Alternative B would provide “programmatic support and site-specific analysis of proposed fuel treatment projects that are described in the FMP,” the news release said. “The goal is to support and streamline implementation of fuel treatment projects and any future site-specific compliance analyses.”
The NPS requests public feedback on which alternative to implement. There will be a 30-day comment period. Comments can be made on the website and must be received by Aug. 11.
Comments may be made publicly available at any time in their entirety, so the park service urges people to be cautious about including personal information, such as phone numbers or email addresses. People may ask for their name to be withheld by prominently saying so in their comment and checking the “keep my contact information private” box on the website. The park service may still be required to disclose such information, but will honor such requests to the extent of the law.
