Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helps native prairie in Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower looms in the background during the prescribed fire at Devils Tower National Monument in October 2022. NPS

In October 2022, fire crew staff from the Northern Great Plains Fire Management Zone, Yellowstone National Park, Black Hills National Forest, the city of Oelrichs, South Dakota Fire Department, and Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area completed the Devils Tower West Side prescribed fire project. Funded $160,000 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the project occurred on the western boundary of the park east to the park road. Its purpose was to remove the build-up of dead fuels and woody herbaceous growth and to encourage growth of native prairie grasses and forbs (flowering plants). Prescribed fires return a critical natural process to the landscape, improve the ecosystem's health, and lessen the chance of intense wildfires.

Igniters light while additional firefighters patrol and hold the west edge of the prescribed fire along the park property boundary. NPS

Devils Tower National Monument enacted its first fire management plan in 1991 and first used prescribed fire in the park. Most of the park is covered in a ponderosa pine forest dominated by well-spaced trees and low-growing grasses. The healthy, open forest is maintained primarily by fire and has adapted to its presence as an integral part of the forest ecosystem. The park has ten prescribed fire units, and each unit is burned approximately every 10-15 years.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded projects.

This project was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Wildland Fire, signed on November 15, 2021. It is a historic investment in the restoration and protection of the environment. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Infrastructure (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

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