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Abstract
Fire managers are required to evaluate and justify the effectiveness of planned fuel treatments in modifying fire growth, behavior and effects on resources and assets. With the number of models currently available, today’s fire manager can become overwhelmed when deciding which model to use. Each model has a required level of expertise in order to develop the necessary data, run the model(s), and analyze and interpret their associated outputs. In addition, each model has an appropriate temporal and spatial scale for its use, e.g., stand level versus landscape level. Traditional fuel treatment analyses have focused on stand level changes in fire behavior and effects. This approach does not to account for the topological effects of treatments in modifying fire growth, fire behavior and fire effects. To fully investigate fuel treatment effectiveness requires the examination of the spatial interaction of fuel treatments. This requires the use of spatial models to analyze and display these effects.
Parent Publication
Citation
McHugh, Charles W. 2006. Considerations in the use of models available for fuel treatment analysis. In: Andrews, Patricia L.; Butler, Bret W., comps. 2006. Fuels Management-How to Measure Success: Conference Proceedings. 28-30 March 2006; Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 81-105
