Colin C. Hardy

Chapter 3. Indexing Colorado Watersheds to Risk of Wildfire

Summary We utilized 10 years of fire data from the Colorado Fire Project, in connection with several GIS databases, to illustrate a method of assigning large-wildfire risk indices to the watersheds of the mountainous western side of Colorado. This was done to identify high-risk areas so that other working groups could utilize wildfire locations, sizes, probabilities, and probable effects as a basis for indexing the risks posed to environmental and cultural resources in the State. The basic questions were: (1) where are large wildfires most likely to be experienced in the future, and (2) what kinds of effects might such fires cause? With the data and time available, we are able to answer those questions in a static manner, identifying three regions of the state where clusters of watersheds share higher wildfire risks than elsewhere. We can give general levels of impact on the basis of vegetation types and fuel models, but further detail in the geographic data, vegetative conditions, and the fire weather during the major fire season would move the model from static to dynamic, making it more useful as a decision making tool.

Chapter 9. A Database for Spatial Assessments of Fire Characteristics, Fuel Profiles, and PM10 Emissions

Summary This paper describes the procedures and data used to develop a database of 28 fire, fuels, and smoke attributes for the broad-scale scientific assessment of the Interior Columbia River Basin. These attributes relate to three general areas: (1) fire weather, fuel moisture, and fire characteristics; (2) fuel loading and fuel consumption; and (3) PM10 smoke emissions. The process flow and development protocols for creation of the database are fully described and illustrated, with examples provided where appropriate. This database was developed for application to a certain geographic area with parameters specific to both the biophysical environment and the management issues of that area. However, the methods and protocols used to develop this comprehensive suite of fire-related data are applicable to any ecosystem for which predictions are needed for wildfire hazard, fire potential, biomass consumption, and smoke emissions.

Value and challenges of conducting rapid response research on wildland fires

Rapid Response Research is conducted during and immediately after wildland fires, in coordination with fire management teams, in order to collect information that can best be garnered in situ and in real-time. This information often includes fire behavior and fire effects data, which can be used to generate practical tools such as predictive fire models for managers. Drawing upon lessons learned from fire managers and researchers working on active wildland fires, we identify challenges including high costs, logistics, and safety; understanding and fitting into the fire management organization; building relationships with managers and other researchers; and science delivery. Our recommendations for safer and more effective Rapid Response Research are that researchers must understand the fire organizations and their objectives because a fire manager’s primary responsibility is to manage the fire safely, not support research. In addition, researchers must be prepared with equipment, a “red card” signifying sufficient training and fitness, and appropriate knowledge when arriving to do research on a fire. Further, researchers must have and follow an operations plan. We recommend using a liaison to build strong relationships with managers and sharing what was learned. Science guided by questions that are important to managers is essential to improving both the understanding of wildland fire dynamics and developing strategies to address fire risk, rehabilitation, and restoration, yet researchers must be aware of the challenges of conducting research on active wildland fires.

Stereo photo series for quantifying forest residues in the Douglas-Fir-Hemlock type of the Willamette National Forest.

A series of stereo photographs displays a range of residue loadings for harvested units in the Douglas-fir-western hemlock cover type common to the Willamette National Forest. Postburn residue levels are also represented for the Douglas-fir-western hemlock types. Information with each photo includes measured quadratic means and weights for various size classes, woody fuel depth, and duff depth. The stereo photo series is designed to help forest managers appraise woody residue after both timber harvest and treatment with fire in forest types not previously represented by a photo series.

One-Hundred Years of Wildfire Research: A Legacy of the Priest River, Deception Creek, and Boise Basin Experimental Forests of Idaho

The 1910 fires, which burned more than 1.3 million ha of northern Rocky Mountain forests, provided a mission and management objectives for the newly created Forest Service. By 1911, the Priest River Experimental Station (Forest-PREF) was established in northern Idaho to help meet the needs of the Forest Service. Harry T. Gisborne, whose work was centered at PREF, proved to be one, if not the most influential and far-seeing fire researcher in the history of the Forest Service. Examples of his contributions include the fire danger rating system, fuel moisture sticks, short- and long-term specialized fire-weather forecasting, and the beginnings of predicting fire behavior. After Gisborne’s death in 1949, Jack Barrows, one of Gisborne’s assistants, led the fire program and introduced high-tech approaches to fire research. Barrows was instrumental in creating the state-of-the-art Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The McSweeney–McNary Act (1928) laid the groundwork for a nationwide system of forest experiment stations and experimental forests, and in 1933 Deception Creek (DCEF) and Boise Basin Experimental Forests (BBEF) were established. DCEF was located in a productive mixed conifer forest in northern Idaho. Fire was integral to studies conducted at DCEF on harvesting, regenerating, and tending western white pine stands. Research at BBEF in southern Idaho emphasized timber production within interior ponderosa pine forests and prescribed fire was studied as a means of preparing seedbeds and minimizing grass and shrub competition to trees. Similar to other dry forests of the West, wildfires were aggressively controlled at BBEF, causing portions of it to be overrun with seedlings and saplings, which created dense forests. As such, BBEF was well suited for investigating ways of restoring ponderosa pine forests. After nearly 100 years of fire research, we still strive to effectively manage forests in the face of ever-growing threats of urbanization and unwanted wildfires. Building on the legacy of research accomplished on the Idaho experimental forests and the basic understanding of fire and its effects the early researchers developed, these forests are now more valuable than ever.