Research supporting the Dixie National Forest Pine Valley high-risk landscape

Prioritization of sites was performed based on the environmental conditions (climate, topography, soils, and vegetation) within the firesheds as well as fire risk maps that are available through Utah Shared Stewardship. We will conduct several overlapping projects throughout the treatment areas:

Photo Credit

USDA Forest Service photo by Erika Reiter

A group photograph of the project partners meeting for initial ground truthing surveys.

1. Measuring and Monitoring Performance Metrics – We developed an updated version of the field guide for evaluating resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annual grasses within shrubland and pinyon-juniper ecosystems that has been widely used across the Great Basin and tailored it for use within the Pine Valley area. We also provided a Rapid Assessment Monitoring Protocol for collecting site data prior to treatment and assessing general outcomes of treatments.
2. Pinyon-Juniper woodland reduction – We will evaluate treatments designed to prevent fire spread and address uncharacteristic fire. We will compare outcomes for multiple silviculture thinning treatments designed to maintain important ecosystem services (e.g. wildlife habitat) in the short-term while reducing fuels in areas of high wildfire risk. We will also test experimental seeding treatments to increase understory plant community resilience and resistance within areas that lack an understory, but where recovery is likely. 

Pre-treatment monitoring began in summer 2024. An agreement with Dr. Scott Abella at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is providing technicians, a project manager, and a post-doctoral researcher for the project. Jeanne Chambers has also adapted RMRS-GTR-440 and will participate in several other aspects of this research. Treatments were applied by the Dixie National Forest – Pine Valley District starting in the fall of 2024, with two additional sites planned for implementation in 2025.

The video below features interviews from the project partners during the project launch in 2024. The team started with initial ground truthing surveys on the Pine Valley district to build out a comprehensive land management strategy incorporating knowledge of the landscape's fire history and behavior, wildlife, invasive species, rangeland productivity, native understory plants, pinyon juniper woodlands, and shrublands. Project partners describe their role in shaping this locally tailored strategy in coordination with the Pine Valley District Manager and the Dixie National Forest.

Objectives

The objective of this research is to assess the outcomes of vegetation treatments designed to improve habitat conditions for wildlife species associated with shrubland and pinyon-juniper ecosystems and to improve the existing habitat conditions to meet desired conditions within the Dixie National Forest – Pine Valley District. Treatments include silvicultural thinning methods that would decrease fire spread, restore composition/structure to reduce the risks of uncharacteristic wildfire, and seeding treatments that would increase the ecological resilience of understory native plant communities and increase resistance to non-native annual grasses.

Expected Project Results

This research will result in multiple presentations targeted for scientists and resource managers. Outreach will be through webinars, bulletins, and factsheets, such as those produced in the Rocky Mountain Research Station Science You Can Use series and by the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange. Outputs will include several peer-reviewed publications comprised of a new General Technical Report with updated guidance for treatment selection, new indictors of ecological resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasion for southwestern drylands, a predictive framework that identifies species mixes for use in restoration, an understanding of the effects of silviculture thinning treatments on pinyon-juniper woodlands, and others.

Geographies and High Fire Risk Landscapes to be Addressed

Dixie National Forest – Pine Valley District