Current efforts to create continuous fuel and predicted fire behavior layers for the Sierra Nevada bioregion have created a need for consistent bioregional modeling and improved modeling of fuels. At the present time, the different subregions of the Sierra Nevada are mapped during different years and with different methodologies, contributing to inconsistent fuel mapping and fire behavior analysis. Further, there is uncertainty about the accuracy of predictions of crown fuels, namely crown bulk density and height to crown base. Predictions are currently based on indirect measurements from Landsat TM derived maps and associated ground data. This project was a combined product of both NASA and Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) funded efforts. The JFSP portion included installation and analysis of a large number of systematically placed field plots. Cooperators at the University of Michigan and Maryland utilized this data and funding from NASA and University sources to analyze the utility of lidar and radar in mapping crown fuels. We focused on lidar and radar for the Sierra Nevada based upon a workshop for landscape monitoring conducted in the late 1990’s. Lidar and radar are both sensors that are able to derive measures from below the top canopy layer. This is important for crown fuel characterization and fire modeling, since the vertical distribution of crown fuels directly influences both the likelihood of crown fire initiation and spread. Lidar has been applied to other regions of the country to map crown fuels but this is the only project that has utilized large footprint, full-waveform lidar. This form of lidar replicates what would be obtained by a satellite based LVIS lidar system that has been deferred by NASA for the current time. This project is relevant to the primary purposes of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) of: fuels inventory and mapping, and development of protocols for monitoring and evaluation.