Fire management over large landscapes: a hierarchical approach

Abstract

Management planning for fires becomes increasingly difficult as scale increases. Stratification provides land managers with multiple scales in which to prepare plans. Using statistical techniques, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and meetings with land managers, we divided a large landscape of over 2 million acres (White Sands Missile Range) into parcels useful in fire management. Within this hierarchy, 8 fire management areas (FMA), with major roads or drainages forming boundaries, were identified. Within these FMAs were 106 burn units (BU) defined by natural or human fire breaks. BUs can be used as prescribed burn areas or maximum allowable perimeters for fires. An intermediate level was needed between these two units. Using cluster analysis of vegetation data, 22 fire management zones were identified. Using this hierarchy, a large-scale vegetation map, and GIS, we were able to incorporate simplistic risk models based on fuel models, topography, and sites of concern for natural resource managers. The resulting maps provide a landscape view of the fire risk to natural and human resources and allow land managers to take a heads up approach in preventative fire management.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Citation

Boykin, Kenneth G. 2008. Fire management over large landscapes: a hierarchical approach. In: Narog, Marcia G., tech. coord. 2008. Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference: Managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-189. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 201-208