Mesa Verde Bircher Fire Hydrological Impact

The hydrological impact of a severe burn forest fire, when viewed from the vantage point of on-the-ground research hydrologists, is remarkable. While basin-wide impacts are measured in terms of increased curve numbers, increased flooding potential, vegetation and wildlife damage, and generalized potential soil loss via erosion, one can better understand post-fire changes when one also sees and measures detailed hydrological changes on a micro scale. It is then that the truly disastrous nature of a major forest fire hits home. The 2000 Bircher Fire in the heart of the Mesa Verde National Park (MVNP) provided the opportunity for the Wright Paleohydrological Institute (WPI) to document detailed forest hydrology, riparian zone, and channel regime changes and to watch them happen. The opportunity was available because of our ongoing hydrological research in Mesa Verde for the five years preceding the fire, coupled with four years of study after the fire while performing paleohydrology studies under National Park Service (NPS) permits. The story that we saw unfold is not a pretty one in terms of both natural resource damage and loss of cultural archaeological artifacts.