ABSTRACT
Yosemite National Park encompasses a broad range of vegetation types, from chaparral stands at 2,000 feet to alpine fell-fields at 13,000 feet. The management of national park lands under the policy of fire exclusion caused many changes. Within wilderness areas, management objectives are determined by the Wilderness Act. Specifically, the act directs that wilderness be “protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions". Both the US Forest Service and the National Park Service have established natural fire zones in areas designated or proposed as wilderness. Fire histories indicate the importance of natural fire in the vegetation types of Yosemite’s wilderness areas. The Starr King Fire was started by a lightning strike on August 4, 1974, in the vicinity of Mount Starr King, just south of Yosemite Valley. Since the Starr King Fire burned within the watershed which is used to supply Yosemite Valley, water quality measurements were available for analysis.
