Using Experimental Forests to provide insight to the Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes

Photo Credit

USFS

Research on prescribed fire at the Manitou Experimental Forest can provide insights for adjacent National Forest lands.

The Forest Service’s Experimental Forest and Range network is comprised of geographically dispersed, long-term research sites operated by the Forest Service Research & Development branch. Experimental Forests host troves of valuable long-term observational and experimental data – with some studies dating back more than a century. Many Experimental Forests have past or on-going forest management and wildfire-related research that can be harnessed to answer contemporary management questions. In support of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, this project will use the Experimental Forest and Range network as a framework to inform management decisions about prescribed fire, mechanical fuel treatments, and post-fire forest recovery. 
The research team will first compile information about what wildfire-related research has and is being done on Experimental Forests that is most relevant to the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The team will also summarize the known wildfires and pre- and post-fire management activities that have occurred on Experimental Forests, adjacent Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes, and surrounding public lands. From there, the project team will consult with managers from select Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes to better understand how the research from Experimental Forests can help inform management knowledge gaps related to wildfire.
This project will help illustrate the value of Experimental Forests and Ranges as learning and demonstration sites, and ultimately help to strengthen relationships between the National Forest Systems and Research & Development branches of the Forest Service.

Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscapes Addressed

This project focuses on 13 Experimental Forests that are within or adjacent to nine Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes.

As a part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, the Forest Service has identified 21 priority landscapes in areas where fire poses the greatest threat to at-risk communities and resources. Nine of the 21 priority landscapes intersect with or are near 13 Experimental Forests throughout the western U.S. These 13 Experimental Forests and the related Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes are the focus of this project. While the management history varies by Experimental Forest, all included in this study are considered areas with a high fire risk. Some Experimental Forests have experienced severe wildfires while others are likely to experience severe fire in the future due to the composition and structure of their vegetation combined with intensifying climate influences.  

The variation in management history, forest conditions, and geographic locations make the Experimental Forest and Range network a powerful source of fire and fuel related information. The table below shows the project’s nine focus Wildfire Crisis Strategy priority landscapes and 13 related Experimental Forests.
 

Objectives

The research team will use the Experimental Forest and Range network as a source of knowledge and data to support the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. Further, the team will evaluate how the Experimental Forest and Range network can collectively inform forest and fire management on federal lands, both now and in the future. The specific research objectives are:

1. Collect, document, and synthesize existing knowledge and geospatial information related to fire effects, prescribed burns, control lines, thinning, and post-fire recovery from the 13 Experimental Forests that are within or adjacent to Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes
2. Determine key information and insight that could support managers when they make decisions about fuels, fire, and vegetation on specific forest types that evolved with and depend on fire
3. Deliver available information and insights to managers in an accessible and usable way
4. Make recommendations about how researchers could use the Experimental Forest and Range network to answer fire and fuel related questions in the future

Expected Project Results

Expected Outputs:

• A report that summarizes the existing data, monitoring reports, and publications that relate to mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, post-fire recovery, and fire effects from the 13 study Experimental Forests. The report will further synthesize how this collection of information can guide fuels reduction and other fire management activities that can gradually lower the risk of extreme wildfire events
• Compilation of fire-related data from Experimental Forests into existing open-source data portal
• Customized science delivery products to share knowledge and data products related to fire and fire management for each Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscape. Potential examples include: short fact sheets, technical summaries or appendices to support forest and fire planning, and field demonstrations.

Expected Outcomes:

• Strengthening relationships between the National Forest System and Research & Development branches of the Forest Service using the Experimental Forest Scientists-in-Charge at the interface of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes
• Greater use of the rich collection of existing long-term data from the Experimental Forest and Range network as a resource to study unanswered questions related to fire
• Using the Experimental Forests as demonstration or training sites to grow knowledge and awareness of forest-fire issues, processes, and management practices
• Improved understanding of future data and efforts at Experimental Forests that would support forest management in western fire-prone landscapes