Reading the Tea Leaves Season 6 Episode 3 - Seven-layer cake

Wildfires are a result of fuels, weather, and topography. Topography is static, but weather and fuels change constantly and require regular monitoring. One of the techniques used to monitor fuel conditions is analyzing the Seven-Layer Cake. The Seven-Layer Cake consists of: 

• Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI; both 6- and 12-month varieties)
• Change in fine fuel production compared to long term average
• Total fine fuel amount
• Wildfire history
• Density of larger diameter fuels
• Density of invasive annual grasses

In this webcast, USDA Forest Service Research Ecologist Dr. Matt Reeves analyzes rangeland fuel conditions around the western United States and draws parallels to the 2017 fire season in the northern Rockies, especially western Montana. Moreover, conditions in California, northern Great Basin, central and southeastern Arizona, Columbia Basin and eastern Cascades, and parts of the Black Hills region exhibit interesting fuel characteristics. All previous recordings are located on the Reading the Tea Leaves page.

The Forest Service is the world’s leading wildland fire research organization, providing applications and tools to help prevent catastrophic wildfires that threaten lives and communities, damage homes, and adversely affect rural economies.