Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina and Virginia.
Wildland Fire Associates prepared an Environmental Assessment, Fire Management Plan, and Hazard Fuel Assessment for the 464-mile Blue Ridge Parkway under contract with the National Park Service. The Environmental Assessment addresses potential impacts to resources and socioeconomic values in and around the Parkway, and is currently being revised from internal agency review. The proposed wildland fire program strategies include suppression of unwanted wildland fire, hazard fuel reduction projects (hurricane and beetle kill trees), and the use of prescribed fire to restore habitat for several fire-adapted species occurring on National Park Service lands and listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. High visitor use on the Parkway combined with a narrow shape presents unique fire management challenges. Mitigation measures have been identified to meet protection objectives for wetlands, cultural resources, threatened and endangered habitats, and wildland-urban areas.