A JFSP Fire Science Exchange Network
Bringing People Together & Sharing Knowledge in the Northern Rockies
Bringing People Together & Sharing Knowledge in the Northern Rockies
Post-epidemic fire risk and behavior
Year Published: 2014
Description:
Citizens, government officials, and natural resource managers are greatly concerned about potential impacts of the mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic on fire hazards and risk. Some mountain towns are surrounded by dead and dying trees. In the Rocky Mountain Region of the Forest Service, the MPB epidemic threatens over 250,000 acres of the wildland-urban interface (WUI; USDA Forest Service 2011). This post-epidemic landscape also poses hazards for firefighter safety due to heavy fuel loads and unpredictable fire behavior. Abundant snags are especially dangerous for firefighters working in beetle-killed forests.
Citation: Parsons, Russ; Jolly, Matt; Langowski, Paul; Matonis, Megan; Miller, Sue. 2014. Post-epidemic fire risk and behavior [Chapter 3]. In: Matonis, M.; Hubbard, R.; Gebert, K.; Hahn, B.; Miller, S.; Regan, C. Future Forests Webinar Series, Webinar Proceedings and Summary: Ongoing Research and Management Responses to the Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak. Proc. RMRS-P-70. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 19-28.
Topic(s): Fire Ecology, Insects & Disease, Fire & Bark Beetles, Fire & Wildlife, Invertebrates, Mountain pine beetles, Risk
Ecosystem(s): Subalpine wet spruce-fir forest, Subalpine dry spruce-fir forest
Document Type: Conference Proceedings
NRFSN number: 13708
Joint Fire Science Program
The Northern Rockies Fire Science Network is one of 15 regional fire science exchanges sponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program (FireScience.gov).
