The Alaska Reference Database originated as the standalone Alaska Fire Effects Reference Database, a ProCite reference database maintained by former BLM-Alaska Fire Service Fire Ecologist Randi Jandt. It was expanded under a Joint Fire Science Program grant for the FIREHouse project (The Northwest and Alaska Fire Research Clearinghouse). It is now maintained by the Alaska Fire Science Consortium and FRAMES, and is hosted through the FRAMES Resource Catalog. The database provides a listing of fire research publications relevant to Alaska and a venue for sharing unpublished agency reports and works in progress that are not normally found in the published literature.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 32
The challenges of the 2020 Fire Year have validated the Cohesive Strategy and proven its foundational value for additional success and achievement across boundaries and landscapes in the West. The following pages offer a snapshot of 2020 activities and successes in the Western…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Pennick McIver, Cook, Becker
The number and size of wildfires in the western United States have increased dramatically in the last 30 years. The rising cost of wildfire suppression has become a significant concern for all levels of government, although most attention has been focused on the federal level.…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Molina, Little, Drury, Jandt
Wildfire has become a larger threat to human life and property with the proliferation of homes into the wildland urban interface and warming climate. In this study we explored Alaskan homeowner preferences for wildfire risk mitigation in the wildland urban interface using…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
This report assesses recent forest disturbance in the Western United States and discusses implications for sustainability. Individual chapters focus on fire, drought, insects, disease, invasive plants, and socioeconomic impacts. Disturbance data came from a variety of sources,…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Ellison, Huber-Stearns, Frederick, Coughlan, McCaffrey, Olsen
Smoke from wildland fire presents a serious and growing concern. Mirroring global trends in recent decades, many areas of the US are experiencing increasing wildfire size, severity, and frequency. The health hazard of smoke from wildland fire has been well-documented (see…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Hunter
Prescribed fire can result in significant benefits to ecosystems and society. Examples include improved wildlife habitat, enhanced biodiversity, reduced threat of destructive wildfire, and enhanced ecosystem resilience. Prescribed fire can also come with costs, such as reduced…
Year: 2021
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Bhatt, Lader, Walsh, Bieniek, Thoman, Berman, Borries-Strigle, Bulock, Chriest, Hahn, Hendricks, Jandt, Little, McEvoy, Moore, Rupp, Schmidt, Stevens, Strader, Waigl, White, York, Ziel
The late-season extreme fire activity in Southcentral Alaska during 2019 was highly unusual and consequential. Firefighting operations had to be extended by a month in 2019 due to the extreme conditions of hot summer temperature and prolonged drought. The ongoing fires created…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Woźniak, Aleksansdrowicz
Mapping of regional fires would make it possible to analyse their environmental, social and economic impact, as well as to develop better fire management systems. However, automatic mapping of burnt areas has proved to be a challenging task, due to the wide diversity of…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Jones, McDermott
As we learn to sustainably coexist with wildfire, there is an urgent need to improve our understanding of its multidimensional impacts on society. To this end, we undertake a nationwide study to estimate how megafires (wildfires > 100,000 acres in size) affect US labor market…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Kim, Rodrígues, Robinne
Overall decline of global burned area paradoxically hides a number of economic realities that have increased the likelihood and costs of wildfire-caused disasters. In this critical review, we address the pressing need to identify and incorporate economic elements shaping global…
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Mendelsohn, Sohngen
Deforestation from timber harvests and farmland conversions have led to 565 GtCO2 (billion tons of carbon dioxide) being emitted into the atmosphere. Taking into account natural regeneration on forestland, Houghton (2003, 2008) and Houghton et al. (2012) estimate that…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Taylor
This article develops a theoretical model to analyze the impact of policies to promote defensible space — the most prominent wildfire risk mitigation strategy on private property — on the overall level of defensible space in a community when homeowners’ investment decisions are…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Bernknopf, Kuwayama, Gibson, Blakely, Mabee, Clifford, Quayle, Epting, Hardy, Goodrich
We use a value of information (VOI) approach to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of using satellite imagery as part of Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER), a federal program that identifies imminent post-wildfire threats to human life and safety, property, and critical natural…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Christiansen
Historically, wildland fire fundamentally shaped the American landscape, and it continues to do so today in a highly modified environment. Forest, brush, and range fires were common in 'presettlement' times, and the American Indians realized the important role fire played in…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Rossi, Kuusela
The effectiveness of annual investments in US wildfire management programs has been subject to public criticism. One source of inefficiency may arise from a fragmented budgeting process. In the United States, federal budgets for wildfire management operations are not determined…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Loomis, Sanchez, González-Cabán, Rideout, Reich
This paper reports the results of two hypotheses tests regarding whether fuel reduction treatments using prescribed burning and mechanical methods reduces wildfire suppression costs and property damages. To test these two hypotheses data was collected on fuel treatments, fire…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Englin
Forest fires and their legacy form an inherently dynamic relationship between ecology and human uses of the forest. This paper provides an overview of the dynamic dimensions that are present in the aftermath of a fire. These include the evolution of social benefits as the…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Jandt, Little, Drury, Molina, Lane
This compilation is intended to provide an illustrated overview of the current science of fuelbreaks in Alaska boreal forest, with citations and links to additional reference material for practitioners and the public. Research on fuelbreaks in the high northern latitudes is…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
These proceedings summarize the results of a symposium designed to address current issues of agencies with wildland fire protection responsibility at the federal and state levels in the United States as well as agencies in the international community. The topics discussed at the…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Plucinski
Purpose of Review: Containing and controlling wildfire incidents is one of the main functions of fire management. Understanding how this can be done effectively and efficiently informs many of the preparatory activities undertaken by fire management agencies to limit the impact…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Behrendt, Payyappalli, Zhuang
The estimated cost of fire in the United States is about $329 billion a year, yet there are gaps in the literature to measure the effectiveness of investment and to allocate resources optimally in fire protection. This article fills these gaps by creating data‐driven empirical…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Ager, Houtman, Day, Ringo, Palaiologou
US public land management agencies are faced with multiple, often conflicting objectives to meet management targets and produce a wide range of ecosystem services expected from public lands. One example is managing the growing wildfire risk to human and ecological values while…
Year: 2019
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Two researchers discuss findings from studies on how wildfires affect local economies across the U.S. west, from onset to recovery and beyond.
Year: 2019
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Little
Presented by: Joe Little, University of Alaska Fairbanks
October 25th, 2019
PowerPoint presentation from the first Fall 2019 IARC Salon
Topics include: Forecasting fire suppression costs in the context of changing climate
Year: 2019
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Bhatt
Presented by: Uma Bhatt, University of Alaska Fairbanks, National Science Foundation EPSCoR
October 9th, 2019
PowerPoint presentation from the 2019 Alaska Wildland Fire Coordinating Group Interagency Fall Fire Review and Alaska Fire Science Consortium Fall Fire Science Workshop…
Year: 2019
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES