Fire

---

Fire has been a natural part of most ecological communities in Wyoming, with frequency of occurence being the variable factor. Some communities, such as most sagebrush, burn at 10 - 110 year intervals, where most coniferous forests burn at intervals of 25 - 100 years or more.

If fire is removed from a community or the frequency is increased, species composition can be dramatically altered. Invasive plants such as cheatgrass, a non-native introduced species that is unpalatable to native wildlife and domestic livestock except for a few weeks in the spring, can become established on the burned sites, resulting in increased burn frequency and perpetuation of the cheatgrass community to the exclusion of native plants.

Fuels Management & Fire Effects on Plants

Many plants are adapted to benefit from fires. Whether it is breaking dormancy, providing bare ground for germination or inducing sprouting, many species respond positively to burns at a natural frequency, and conversely, most species are not adversely affected by historical burn frequencies.

• Effects of Fire on Rare Plants
• Fire Effects Information System
• Wyoming Guidelines for Managing Sagebrush Communities with Emphasis on Fire Management

Wildland Fire/Fuels

• BLM Wyoming Fire Management
• BLM Wyoming Cheatgrass Awareness
• Fire Effects Monitoring & Inventory Protocol
• Joint Fire Science Program