Historical and current fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests at Zion National Park, Utah: Restoration of pattern and process after a century of fire exclusion

•Abundant tree regeneration occurred after fire exclusion beginning after 1879.•Timing of recent management fires are comparable to intervals between historical fires.•Stand and fuel structures are responding in characteristic fashion to recent fires.•Recent fires are building on the latent resiliency of ponderosa pine forests in Zion.•Questions remain about extent and dynamics of shrubfields adjacent to pine forests.