Whitman Mission National Historic Site - Fire Regime

Before arrival of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman the entire park was covered with tall grasses except along the banks of Mill Creek where a few trees grew. We do not know how often the grass burned before the Whitmans settled at Waiilatpu. Today the park staff, with help from the Umatilla National Forest conduct prescribed burns almost every spring to maintain the role of fire in the ecosystem. The purpose of the burns is to promote the health and vigor of the grasses and to reduce the spread of non-native weeds. By burning in the late fall or early spring, the fire consumes previous years dead, dried grass stems and leaves, but does not damage the grass plants’ roots. Prescribed burning activities usually last only a few days a year. Between 10 and 20 acres are burned each year, and most areas of the park are burned every 3 to 5 years. The park only burns on county “Burn Days” to facilitate smoke dispersal. Any unplanned fires, whether caused by lightning or humans are put out as quickly as possible to protect the park’s resources, and to prevent it from damaging neighboring private lands. The park has the responsibility for fire suppression but carries it out through agreements with the local county fire district and the U. S. Forest Service.