Treesearch

In early 2020 the US Forest Service (USFS) recognized the need to gather real-time information from its wildland fire management personnel about their challenges and adaptations during the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. The USFS conducted 194 virtual focus groups to address these concerns, over 32 weeks from March 2020 to October 2020. This management effort provided an opportunity for an innovative practice-based research study. Here, we outline a novel methodological approach (weekly, iterative focus groups, with two-way communication between USFS staff and leadership), which culminated in...

Rangelands worldwide are essential for carbon sequestration, water retention, and habitat to name a few critical benefits. Prescribed fire is used to benefit vegetation and soil and reduce fuels on rangeland sites. What hasn’t been clear is how burning on rangelands may affect microbes in the soil, which are responsible for breaking down woody material. Also missing was an understanding of how the insects that typically call rangelands home respond to these burns.

The desert is hot, dry, and prickly … the perfect combination for wildfires. So, shouldn’t desert plants be used to fire? It turns out that Sonoran desert scrub communities, home to the iconic saguaro cactus, are vulnerable to frequent large or severe wildfires and may not recover for centuries, if at all. Recent publications by Rocky Mountain Research Station ecologists discuss how desert plants respond to fires, and how big, how often, and how hot fires burn in this ecosystem. The Fire Regime Synthesis about Sonoran desert scrub communities and associated Species Reviews are published in...

This qualitative case study evaluates manager and researcher perceptions of the impact of a place-based, collaborative knowledge co-development process and examines the outcomes of that co-development for changes to management approaches. The USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) Rocky Mountain Research Station General Technical Report 373 (GTR-373) is a codeveloped science synthesis that functions as a boundary object providing a framework for planning, designing, and implementing management action for restoration of ponderosa and dry mixed-conifer forests. The process of creating and...

The 2021 Tamarack Fire in California, started by lightning in a national forest wilderness area, burned nearly 70,000 acres and eventually destroyed 24 structures. Because properties were damaged, the public and media scrutinized the fire management response. This fire exemplifies not only the challenges of fire management in land and resource management, but also how shortcomings in the fire response reporting system can make way for misperceptions to dominate the public narrative.

This guide identifies seven primary components that largely determine the outcomes of vegetation treatments to reduce fuels and maintain or increase resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annual plants. The components are (1) characteristics of the ecological type, (2) current, pre-treatment vegetation, (3) disturbance and management history, (4) fuel characteristics and appropriate treatments, (4) treatment severity and ecological response, (6) seeding considerations, and (7) post-treatment monitoring and management. Key questions and a set of tools are provided to assess...

More than 100 years of fire exclusion, logging, grazing, and other human activities have contributed to uncharacteristically high tree densities in the dry conifer forests of the western United States. Mechanical forest treatments using heavy machinery or chainsaws to remove trees are being used widely to create a more open and diverse overstory, especially in situations where prescribed fire is not feasible. It has not been clear how these treatments affect the understory, particularly over longer time frames. To help managers better assess what is happening in the understory, Rocky...

The rivers that flow through National Forest System (NFS) lands provide invaluable ecosystem services. For over 60 million people, they are sources of water for downstream municipalities. Wildlife depends upon their riparian ecosystems for habitat and migration corridors. And rivers also provide recreational opportunities and tourism revenue.

Scientists have spent decades trying to understand how to best promote resilient forests and reduce fuels. A golden endeavor certainly. Is the best approach using a series of prescribed burns? Or is it mechanically cutting trees? Or does the additive effect of both cutting and burning provide the best alchemy?

Wildfire size and severity have increased in recent decades prompting scientists to take a closer look at where fire refugia - forested locations that are burned less frequently or severely than their surroundings - occur on a given landscape. Recently published research to identify potential refugia across upland conifer forests sheds light on the factors that influence where tree survival and recruitment are likely.