Mount Logan

Wilderness: 

a Southwestern

Ponderosa Pine

Ecological

Restoration Study

by Marcy A. DeMillion and

W. Wallace Covington

Arizona Strip Field Office

Wilderness Restoration

Wilderness areas are important

ecologically, philosophically, and

socially. Because wilderness areas

serve as core areas in the design of

landscape-scale conservation

reserves, it is essential that they be

healthy and fully functioning

ecosystems. Often, however, the

ecological integrity of these areas

has been degraded by human

actions to such an extent that

they bear little resemblance to the

untrammeled wild land areas

envisioned in the Wilderness Act

of 1964. For such wilderness

areas to contribute fully to their

ecological, philosophical, and

social potential, these degraded

wild lands must be restored.

When the Wilderness Act was

passed, it was generally assumed

that areas designated as wilderness

would be more or less in a natural

condition and that, if not, setting

them aside would be sufficient to

allow them to recover with only

minimal management. However, in

some instances, such as wilderness

areas that include ponderosa pine,

changes since Euro-American settlement may be so great that failure

to take an ecological restoration

approach may place wilderness

characteristics in grave jeopardy.

The Mount Logan Wilderness ecological study was completed in 1998,

as a joint research project between

the Arizona Strip, Bureau of Land

Management, and Northern Arizona

University.

The study concluded that overgrazing, logging (previous to wilderness

designation), and fire exclusion

associated with Euro-American

settlement have dramatically altered

forest conditions. These changes

include increases in tree density, fuel

loads, and crown fire risk, as well as

decreases in herbaceous composition

and old-growth trees and snags.

Wilderness Changes

The most pervasive source of

degradation in ponderosa pine

ecosystems is the disruption of the

natural fire regime. The natural fire

regime for the Mount Logan

Wilderness was determined from

thirty-two fire-scarred trees, which

produced 200 fire-scar samples.

Analysis of these samples indicates

that frequent low intensity surface

fires burned every 5 years until

Euro- American settlement in

1870. Since 1870, fire exclusion

has allowed fuel loadings and tree

density to increase steadily, providing prime conditions for severe,

high-intensity crown fires.

That the frequent fires have been

absent from the Mount Logan

Wilderness since 1870 is consistent

with results from a more extensive

data set from just outside of the

wilderness boundary. This date,

RESOURCE NOTES

NO.13 DATE 05/18/00

Range

Forestry

St. George

Arizona

Utah

Fredonia

Mt. Logan

Wilderness

N

Arizona Strip

BLM

Grand Canyon

Parashant

National Monument

Grand Canyon

National Park

Figure 1. Mt. Logan Wilderness Vicinity Map.
along with historical accounts of

settlement and a dendrochronological analysis of thirty-four 20x50 m

ecosystem monitoring plots, provided solid evidence that the keystone

process of frequent fire has been

absent from the Mount Logan

Wilderness for almost 130 years. In

the words of the Wilderness Act,

the Mount Logan Wilderness is no

longer a wild land “...generally

affected by the forces of nature.”

Wilderness Management

Implications

Wilderness threats have been predominantly assumed to be a

consequence of recent or anticipated human intrusions into wild

lands. It is less well known that

cumulative impacts associated with

Euro-American settlement have

created conditions that support

increasingly large and intense

crown fires in some areas. Such

fires are the principal threat to

southwestern ponderosa pine

wilderness areas. Using the best science available, managers, scientists,

and the public must decide how to

reduce this threat. In this regard,

ecological restoration approaches

have the potential to reduce the

threat of crown fires while meeting

wilderness management objectives

determined in the Wilderness Act

of 1964.

Society at large must have a role in

deciding the future management of

our wilderness areas. Because of

social and political conflicts, the

types of wilderness treatments that

are feasible must be addressed and

acceptable alternatives selected.

These wilderness ecosystems can no

longer endure laissez-faire management without losing many of their

wilderness characteristics.

The absence of the natural fire

regime in addition to past practices

of overgrazing and logging have

dramatically changed the Mount

Logan Wilderness forest structure.

These subsequent changes are contrary to the goal in the Wilderness

Act, where man’s imprint is to be

substantially unnoticeable. From an

ecological, philosophical, and social

perspective, now is the time to

change the trajectory of southwestern ponderosa pine wilderness

areas, through ecological restoration, before these ecosystems can

no longer properly function and

wilderness integrity is lost. For further information on the efforts

described above.

Contact:

Marcy DeMillion

St. George BLM

345 E. Riverside Drive

St. George, Utah 84790

Phone (435) 688-3260

Fax (435) 688-3258

mdemilli@blm.gov

Range

Range

Range

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