Felling snags and hazardous trees and terracing hillsides to lessen erosion. Restoration of fire lines created by bulldozers Erosion prevention measures like silt fences and straw bales Culvert maintenance or improvement. Every landscape is unique a proposition again exemplified by Los Alamos. That fire included parts of the Bandelier National Monument, and the fire exposed hitherto unnoticed settlement sites of ancient Americans, the Anasazi whose civilization is represented at Mesa Verde. Not only did the fire open new opportunities for archeological study, but it also created the need to protect the new sites.
Wildfires are both bad news and good news.
Many of the after-effects of fires are actually good for ecosystems and ultimately people. At the time when houses are burning, it can be hard to remember that fires are often essential mechanisms by which ecosystems stay healthy and perpetuate themselves. Some tree species need fire in order to release seeds and reproduce. Fire can thin out a forest s understory, giving seedlings the openings they need to flourish. The USGS conducts a wide range of activities and studies that bear directly on post-fire effects.