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This paper integrates a spatial fire-behavior model and a stochastic dynamic-optimization model to determine the optimal spatial pattern of fuel management and timber harvest. Each year's fire season causes the loss of forest values and lives…
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Bark beetle-caused tree mortality in conifer forests affects the quantity and quality of forest fuels and has long been assumed to increase fire hazard and potential fire behavior. In reality, bark beetles, and their effects on fuel accumulation,…
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Thinning and thinning followed by prescribed fire are common management practices intended to restore historic conditions in low-elevation ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. While…
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Many natural resource agencies and organizations recognize the importance of fuel treatments as tools for reducing fire hazards and restoring ecosystems. However, there continues to be confusion and misconception about fuel treatments and their…
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This study examines the use of woody residues, primarily from forest harvesting or wood products manufacturing operations as a feedstock for direct-combustion bioenergy systems for electrical or thermal power applications. Opportunities for…
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ANNOTATION: The costs for harvesting timber for forest fire fuel reduction purposes were estimated for 12 states in the West. These simulation inputs were used to estimate average costs for 12,039 Forest inventory and Analysis plots in the West, and…
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Cambium injury is an important factor in post-fire tree survival. Measurements that quantify the degree of bark charring on tree stems after fire are often used as surrogates for direct cambium injury because they are relatively easy to assign and…
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Designing a fuel-sampling program that accurately and efficiently assesses fuel load at relevant spatial scales requires knowledge of each sample method's strengths and weaknesses. We obtained loading values for six fuel components using five…
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Litterfall and decomposition rates of the organic matter that comprise forest fuels are important to fire management, because they define fuel treatment longevity and provide parameters to design, test, and validate ecosystem models. This study…
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We describe a two-stage model of global log and chip markets that evaluates the spatial and temporal economic effects of government- subsidized fire-related mechanical fuel treatment programs in the U.S.West and South. The first stage is a goal…
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Soils are fundamental to a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Therefore, forest land managers can greatly benefit from a more thorough understanding of the ecological impacts of fire and fuel management activities on the vital services soils provide…
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Nitrogen (N) limits productivity in many coniferous forests of the western US, but the influence of post-fire structure on N cycling rates in early successional stands is not well understood. We asked if the heterogeneity created by downed wood and…
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Fuel treatment effectiveness and non-treatment risks can be estimated from the probability of fire occurrence. Using extensive fire records for western US Forest Service lands, we estimate fuel treatments have a mean probability of 2.0-7.9% of…
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Woody biomass-usually logging slash, tops and limbs, or trees that cannot be sold as timber-is the lowest valued material removed from the forest and presents economic and logistical challenges. This report brings together 45 case studies of how…
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Restoration and fuel treatments in the moist forests of the northern Rocky Mountains are complex and far different from those applicable to the dry ponderosa pine forests. In the moist forests, clearcuts are the favored method to use for growing…
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This chapter presents a stated preference technique for estimating the public benefits of reducing wildfires to residents of California, Florida, and Montana from two alternative fuel reduction programs: prescribed burning, and mechanical fuels…
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With the focus of the National Fire Plan on decreasing fire risk in the wildland-urban interface, fire managers are increasingly tasked with reducing the fuel load in areas where mixed public and private ownership and a growing number of homes can…
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Selective logging, fire suppression, forest succession, and climatic changes have resulted in high fire hazards over large areas of the western United States. Federal and state hazardous fuel reduction programs have increased accordingly to reduce…
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Surface fuel deposition and decomposition rates are important to fire management and research because they can define the longevity of fuel treatments in time and space and they can be used to design, build, test, and validate complex fire and…
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The threat from wildland fire continues to grow across many regions of the Western United States. Drought, urbanization, and a buildup of fuels over the last century have contributed to increasing wildfire risk to property and highly valued natural…
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