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The Alaska National Park Service Western Area Fire Management program in cooperation with Ancor, Incorporated removed approximately 24 acres of biomass from the vicinity of buildings in the headquarters area of Denali National Park and Preserve. Ancor, a private 8a small business and disabled veteran contractor from Anchorage, Alaska completed the work which began on September 1 and concluded on October 12, 2004. In preparation for a wildland fire event, Ancor created defensible space around park structures in order to reduce the risk of property damage and improve safety for employees, visitors and fire suppression crews. Being the largest hazard fuels project to have taken place in a high visitation frontcountry area rendered the project the first of its kind in Alaska 's national parklands.
The Denali hazard fuels project represented significant work. Being the first of its kind, the fire management team established a precedent and template for Alaskan parklands. Local residents made up 65% of employees hired by Ancor. Due to forecasted large quantities of biomass and limited disposal venues, fire management staff arranged to recycle the material. Denali used cut trees for historic cabin restoration, a dendrochronology project for the Murie Science and Learning Center and as firewood for backcountry cabins. Furthermore, fire management established an atypical partnership in order to reduce biomass removal costs. Ancor transported cut vegetation to a staging area for use in a reclamation project at the Usibelli Coal Mine site in Healy, Alaska. Healy is 12 miles north of Denali 's park headquarters.
The inception of the project, a written project proposal, began in the mid 1990s. Previous superintendents supported the project however, Paul Anderson, the present superintendent, overcame internal resistance and pushed the project forward. Western Area Fire Management and the Regional Fire Communication and Education Specialist focused on two project priorities, effective operational and communication strategies. The fire management team utilized the ICS system throughout the project in order to provide employee and visitor safety, foster a team work ethic, provide succinct communication channels and incentives to Denali employees for support of the project. Fire Management wrote an Incident Action Plan and updated the division assignment list daily. Weekly updates, a two part lecture series on fire risk and FIREWISE concepts in conjunction with an open door policy proved effective in swaying resistant attitudes to ones of understanding. Carl Waters, president and owner of Ancor, Incorporated stated, "The strategies implemented during the hazard fuels project worked wonderfully."
Approximately every 60 years fires burn in the headquarters area; the date of the last fire in the area was 1924. 80 years of vegetation growth around structures resulted in the Denali headquarters being part of the wildland/urban interface. Thick vegetation complicated the ability of firefighters to safely control a wildland fire and protect structures. This contributed to an already difficult task, as it takes additional effort and resources to protect structures in Denali due to the park's relative remoteness. All of these factors contributed to a significant need for a hazard fuels project at Denali.
In the spirit of the National Fire Plan, the Denali hazard fuels project exemplifies a proactive, cost effective, collaborative approach to reduce the wildland fire risk to communities. Carl Waters stated, "This project would not have been such a success without the partnerships."
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