Treesearch

A forum which includes an opening essay by Peter Alpert and a series of five response essays.

Although the use of prescribed fire as a management tool is widespread, there is great variability and uncertainty in the treatment costs. Given specific site variables and management objectives, how much will it cost to use prescribed fire? This paper describes the FASTRACS database, a tool that has been developed to aid managers in addressing this question.Other publications in this series

In many North American forests, post-European settlement fire suppression efforts have resulted in the excessive accumulation of forest fuels and changes to the historic fire regime, thereby increasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires (Cooper 1960; Dodge 1972; Covington and Moore 1994). To reduce this risk, it is necessary to develop treatments that will remove excess fuels while moving forests toward historical structural conditions and disturbance intervals, an approach currently being attempted in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests (see Covington et al. 1997; Fule...

In the face of rapidly changing public and political attitudes toward fire and fuel planning, one thing remains constant: the fuel planner is ultimately responsible for making decisions on the land. This fact sheet discusses the options for fuel treatments, and the need, development, and use of the MS Excel-based tool, My Fuel Treatment Planner.Other publications in this series

Confidence in decisionmaking can often come from knowing if others in similar circumstances would choose the same management strategy. Researchers at the USDA FS Pacific Northwest Research Station and the University of Saskatchewan have developed a Selection Criteria Analysis for answering this very question. This fact sheet discusses factors affecting the choice of treatment, such as site characteristics and management objectives; and how the Selection Criteria Analysis balances the factors in the decisionmaking process.Other publications in this series

Mastication, or mulching, is a mechanical fuel treatment that changes the structure and size of fuels in the stand. This fact sheet describes the kinds of equipment available, where mastication should be used, and treatment factors affecting cost.Other publications in this series

Knowing the cost of fuel reduction treatments and associated activities, such as hauling cut trees, is essential for fire and fuels planning. This fact sheet explores the main factors that determine the cost of hauling cut trees and points the user to an interactive tool that can help plan for those and other expenses.Other publications in this series

With increased interest in reducing hazardous fuels in dry inland forests of the American West, agencies and the public will want to know the economic impacts of fuel reduction treatments. This fact sheet discusses the economic impact tool, a component of My Fuel Treatment Planner, for evaluating economic impacts.Other publications in this series

We monitored changes in vegetation and channel morphology along reaches of two perennial streams, Limestone Canyon and East Cedar Creek, on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona starting in the fall of 1995. Enormous wildfires caused extensive erosion and runoff in the watersheds containing the sites in 2002 and 2003, respectively. All reaches within the Limestone Canyon site suffered severe channel downcutting, lateral erosion, and removal of herbaceous and shrubby vegetation from the streamsides. At East Cedar Creek, the channel aggraded without noticeable bank erosion, and...

The largest wildfire in Arizona history damaged many important springs and wetlands on the western half of the White Mountain Apache Reservation in the summer of 2002. With support through the Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation plan for the fire, we conducted assessments of dozens of these wetland sites. Two large wet meadows, Swamp Spring and Turkey Spring, were eroding rapidly in the wake of post-wildfire floods. The erosion was not only sending great volumes of ancient wetland soils to downstream rivers, but the downcutting of the stream channels threatened to leave both meadows so...