Marteen Fire Update
Incident: Marteen Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Released: 8/15/2008
The Kaibab National Forest is managing the Marteen Wildland Fire Use for resource benefits 15 miles northeast of Williams. The fire is 310 acres and moving slowly toward Squaw Mountain.
When the fire started by lightning on August 7, forest officials knew they had some new management options to consider that were not available before this season. This year, the Kaibab National Forest is one of 30 sites participating in a pilot program testing proposed changes to the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. These modifications will allow fire managers a full range of management options on naturally ignited fires on federal lands.
An important proposed change in the policy is being able to manage a fire with more than one objective. Under the existing policy, wildland fires will either be managed for resource benefits or suppressed. However, under the pilot program, this modification means officials can consider multiple objectives during the initial evaluation of a fire and can also change strategies as the incident evolves.
Take for example, the Marteen Wildland Fire Use. Instead of suppressing the fire, officials were able to at first monitor it under a confinement strategy. In addition, officials were able to switch to a wildland fire use strategy as the fire grew and it became evident that managing the fire for resource benefits was the appropriate management response to take. These modifications to the current policy give managers more flexibility to manage all incidents depending on specific objectives as conditions change over time.
The next step in the management process of the Marteen Wildland Fire Use will be developing a comprehensive plan for managing the fire throughout the duration of the incident. The plan will identify resource and environmental concerns and outline the specific actions that will be taken as fire approaches certain areas. Fire managers will work closely with resource specialists to ensure land management objectives are being met while providing for public and firefighter safety.
Two additional fires on the forest are being managed under the authority of the pilot program. They are: Oak WFU, 10 miles south of Williams (473 acres) and Newt WFU, 15 miles east of Tusayan (450 acres). There has been little change on the Oak and Newt for two weeks.
For additional information, please contact Punky Moore, Fire Information Officer, (928-635-5653).
