![]() ![]() But with the Dixie fire roaring closer, firefighters sought to do more to try to save what they could, including the Kohm Yah-mah-nee visitor center and nearby towns.Ĭrews spent days using heavy machinery to clear fuels around fire lines, and then, when the wind allowed for it, they set another fire in the path of the oncoming blaze. Prescribed burns and natural fires had already reduced much of the vegetation in some parts of Lassen. ![]() Staff often worked 16-hour days mapping out the blaze and figuring out how to protect the park and buildings, Richardson recalled. Map of the Dixie fire, shown in red, on a gray map of northern California.īy early August, Lassen closed completely to give firefighters unimpeded access. The park was anticipating more record visitation amid the Covid-19 pandemic from travelers eager to see the world’s largest volcanic dome, explore trails leading to waterfalls and hydrothermal features, and trek along the Pacific Crest Trail.īut as the Dixie fire burned across the Sierra Nevada, Lassen staff closely monitored the blaze, and soon closed two remote entrances and halted backcountry overnight camping. ![]() While less popular than Yosemite or Joshua Tree, Lassen typically received over 500,000 annual visitors. In July 2021, it had recently fully reopened after the winter’s below-average snowpack melted. It was created after the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak to preserve the area for future study, becoming only the 17th national park. Lassen Volcanic national park, located in far northern California at the southern end of the Cascades, has been shaped by disaster. ‘Not the type of fire that normally occurred’ The recovering ecosystem in this off-the-beaten path national park serves as a reminder of the threats to the US’s wild places and offers lessons about how to protect public lands in an era of climate crisis. However, there is evidence of resilience among the devastation – sprouts emerging from the scorched soil and the black and green mosaic of the mountains. A third of the burn area saw the sort of high-severity fire that kills most trees and bakes the nutrients from topsoil. The blaze, California’s largest ever single fire, burned almost 70% of Lassen. Jim Richardson, Lassen Volcanic national park superintendent, poses for a portrait in his office on 24 August 2023. ![]()
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