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Postfire Management

Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists study many aspects of the post-fire environment including growing seedlings for outplanting, reforestation, salvage logging and post-fire erosion.

Featured Work

  • The Target Plant Concept is intended to help managers plan reforestation projects, coordinate with nursery managers, and ultimately choose plants and techniques that are best suited for management objectives.
  • Researchers are determining why, when, and where severe wildfires are likely to occur and how they may lead to forest conversion. Read How a Forest Disappears: Conversion of Forest to Nonforest Vegetation Following Wildfire to learn more.
  • For nearly 12 years, the Field Guide for Mapping Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity has provided BAER teams with consistent methodologies, tools, and terminology to quickly and accurately identify postfire conditions. Rocky Mountain Research Station Research scientists and colleagues created the field guide, which is now available in Spanish, along with a Science You Can Use and infographic with more information, also available in Spanish.
  • A new suite of tools, WEPP, WEPPcloud and ERMiT, allow managers to predict hillslope erosion, watershed peak flows, and sediment yields from wildfires, prescribed fires, and forest management activities.
  • The Southern Rockies Reforestation Tool (SRRT) identifies climatically and topographically suitable sites to plant ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir seedlings after wildfire in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists and collaborators developed SRRT plus a handy user guide and video overview of the tool.
  • Sagebrush ecosystems provide vital habitat to a wide array of wildlife species, including greater sage-grouse and pygmy rabbits. However, in recent decades, sagebrush ecosystems have been reduced or degraded by a wide range of disturbances including large wildfires. To help restore and protect these ecosystems, scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station and elsewhere have utilized research gardens and climate projections to help develop a software tool called the Climate-Smart Restoration Tool. The Tool helps land and resource managers to match seeds with geographic areas, or “seed zones,” under current and projected environmental conditions and is presented on a state-of-the-art geospatial platform.
  • The Reforestation, Nurseries and Genetic Resources (RGNR) group serves as a center of reforestation, nursery, and tree improvement expertise within the Forest Service. The RGNR team is made up of regional specialists and Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists whose goal is to provide current, relevant technical assistance and technology transfer to the growers and users of native plants for conservation, reforestation, and restoration purposes.
  • After Fire: A Toolkit for the Southwest is an online resource that provides information on existing post-fire resources to increase the capacity of individuals, communities, private landowners, and other resource managers to implement management actions to reduce risks associated with these post-fire hazards.

 

Burned Area Emergency Response Tools

Tools

  • ERMiT Erosion Risk Management Tool
    • ERMiT is a web-based model that estimates erosion, in probabilistic terms, on burned and recovering forest, range, and chaparral lands with and without the application of erosion mitigation treatments (mulch, erosion-barriers, and seeding).
    • When post-fire erosion threatens a value-at risk, ERMiT output can provide BAER/ESR teams with two inputs needed for the VAR Calculation Tool--the probability that an erosion event will occur and the probability of treatment success.
  • VAR Calculation Tool for Assessing Post-fire Values-at-Risk
    • The spreadsheet-based VAR Calculation Tool supports the VAR valuation framework developed for BAER/ESR post-fire assessment teams. This values-at-risk assessment process is described in Assessing Post-Fire Values-at-Risk with a New Calculation Tool (RMRS-GTR-205).
  • Peak Flow Calculators
  • BAER Burned Area Reports DB
    • BAER Burned Area Reports DB is a searchable database containing post-fire assessment information from four decades of US Forest Service Burned Area Reports (FS 2500-8 forms). We have compiled information from approximately 1500 reports and other information when available, mostly from the western US, into the database. New reports are added annually.


Treatment Syntheses


Field Guides

  • Field Guide for Mapping Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity
    • Parsons, Annette; Robichaud, Peter R.; Lewis, Sarah A.; Napper, Carolyn; Clark, Jess T. 2010. Field guide for mapping post-fire soil burn severity. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-243. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 49 p.
    • Also available in Spanish
    • Read more in the Science You Can Use
  • Soil Burn Severity Field Data Sheet and Key fillable forms
    • This form is a guide for 10 observation points at a single field stop. It will not always be necessary to record 10 observations if site variability is low; however, if variability is high, more observations may be needed. The purpose is to quickly record information to document observations of soil burn severity and provide support and rationale for post-fire treatments. This form will also provide metadata to describe site conditions. The data collected here may be used as inputs to hydrologic models.
  • Field Guide for Assessing Post-Fire Infiltration and Water Repellency
    • Robichaud, P.R.; Lewis, S.A.; Ashmun, L.E. 2008. New procedure for sampling infiltration to assess post-fire soil water repellency. Res. Note. RMRS-RN-33. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 14 p.
  • MDI Test Data Analysis Spreadsheet for Assessing Post-fire Soil Water Repellency
    • Excel spreadsheet
    • The MDI test data analysis spreadsheet allows the user to estimate the degree and extent of post-fire soil water repellency using mini-disk infiltrometer measurements. The MDI test and post-fire assessment sampling method were developed for use by BAER/ESR assessment teams, and are described in New Procedure for Sampling Infiltration to Assess Post-Fire Soil Water Repellency (RMRS-RN-32).
  • Ash Sampling Protocol
    • Sheppard, B.; Robichaud, P.R. 2024. Wildfire Ash Measurement Protocol. Moscow, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 1 p.
       

Catalogs

  • BAERCAT -- Burned Area Emergency Response Treatments Catalog (currently unavailable)
    • The Burned Area Emergency Response Treatments Catalog presents treatment descriptions, installation instructions, monitoring tools, and references that BAER assessment and implementation teams may use to inform post-fire stabilization treatment decisions. 266-page PDF
Last updated April 15, 2025
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