Above: NPS photo by Nathan King
On April 6 firefighters conducted the first prescribed fire in Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts west of the District of Columbia. According to the National Park Service it was also the first prescribed fire in Fairfax County, Virginia. (UPDATE April 11, 2018: Katie said in a comment that Fairfax County Park Authority has been conducting prescribed burns in Fairfax County for many years.)
Fire was introduced to the native meadow in order to help the indigenous vegetation flourish while helping to control non-native plants.
The agencies assisting included Prince William Forest Park, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park, and Fairfax County.
The park is about 8 air miles west of the District of Columbia. It was created by legislation passed in 1966 “… for the performing arts and related educational programs, and for recreation use in connection therewith…”
The Fairfax County Park Authority has actually been regularly preforming prescribed burns in Fairfax County for many years. This may have been the first prescribed burn on federal land but not the first one inside the county. https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature/prescribed-burn