Cedar River Fire Hazard Analysis and Fuel Decomposition

Project Description

Fire hazard was assessed to help reconcile ecological restoration efforts and fire management with respect to fuel loadings across the landscape. Specifically, we assessed the following:

1. Characterized vegetation patterns and distribution
2. Described and quantified current and potential wildfire hazard
3. Developed and simulated potential thinnings and surface fuel treatments to identify options for addressing and minimizing fire hazard
4. Developed maps of current and predicted fire hazard

The Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS) was used to quantify fuels for different forest classifications and to predict the characteristics and effects of a fire should one occur during warm, dry weather conditions.

Purpose and Scope

We developed a post-processor to the Forest Vegetation Simulator to convert simulated tree lists and surface fuel data into fuelbeds for the Fuel Characteristic Classification System.