Skip to main content
Author(s):
Heath D. Starns, Douglas R. Tolleson, Robert J. Agnew, Elijah G. Schnitzler, John R. Weir
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Smoke & Air Quality
Smoke Emissions

NRFSN number: 21270
Record updated:

In recent decades, as wildland fire occurrence has increased in the United States, concern about the emissions produced by wildland fires has increased as well. This growing concern is evidenced by an increase in scientific articles investigating effects of wildland smoke on public health, and ongoing research projects assessing wildland smoke hazards. We reviewed primary literature evaluating wildland smoke in the United States and determined that the vast majority of available literature addresses the northwestern and southeastern US. We discovered that a significant knowledge gap exists for the Great Plains, a region where wildfire and prescribed fire occur frequently. In this region, wildfire and prescribed fire are important economically, ecologically, and culturally. Given the paucity of data regarding emissions from Great Plains fuels and the increase in fire occurrence in the region, we suggest that more active research is needed to fill this gap.

Citation

Starns HD, Tolleson DR, Agnew RJ, Schnitzler EG, and Weir JR. 2020. Smoke in the Great Plains, USA: an increasing phenomenon with potential policy and health implications. Fire Ecology 16 (12). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-020-00073-1

Access this Document

Treesearch

publication access with no paywall

Check to see if this document is available for free in the USDA Forest Service Treesearch collection of publications. The collection includes peer reviewed publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports produced by Forest Service employees, as well as science synthesis publications and other products from Forest Service Research Stations.