Forest Thinning to Restore Fire Resilience at Lassen Volcanic National Park

To restore forest health and an ecological and climate-adapted fire regime, staff at Lassen Volcanic National Park (LAVO) in northern California partnered with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and Sierra Institute in 2019 to reduce forest fuel loads within wilderness areas of the North Fork Feather River watershed. Project participants thinned the density of trees using crosscut saws and reintroduced frequent low-intensity fires through prescribed burning to 4000 acres of wilderness at LAVO. Fuels were kept away to preserve historical and federally-owned structures, such as the Drakesbad Guest Ranch. While the thinning work didn’t prevent the damage of the Dixie Fire of 2021, thinned areas were less severely impacted.