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Type: Conference Paper
Author(s): C. A. Kolden; T. J. Brown
Publication Date: 2003

Prescribed fire is generally considered a useful tool in ecosystem restoration and hazardous fuels reduction. There are many variables associated with the decision process and level of control managers can assert over prescribed burning (e.g., risk, safety, contingency, communications, etc.). The chief variable that burn bosses cannot control is the atmosphere - climate and weather. Informal discussions with burn bosses, planning personnel, and Fire Management Officers across the country for five federal agencies and several state and private entities have begun to reveal how climate impacts prescribed burning, and help identify what tools and technologies are being used to better predict burning windows and fire behavior on burns. Five major aspects of prescribed burning were determined to affect prescribed burning, and these aspects were weighted differently across five regions of the country. Trends indicated that burn bosses and on-the-ground personnel often do not utilize the full range of climate information available to them, and there are numerous gaps in the information coverage. This paper discusses the impacts, both real and potential, of climate on prescribed fire. Several recommendations are made to improve the understanding of climate impacts on prescribed burns and increase the opportunities for prescribed burning.

Online Links
Citation: Kolden, C. A., and T. J. Brown. 2003. The impacts of climate on prescribed fire, Second International Wildland Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress and Fifth Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology, 16-20 November 2003, Orlando, FL [program volume and electronic resource]. American Meteorological Society,Boston, MA. p. 164, http://ams.confex.com/ams/FI.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    National
Keywords:
  • ecosystem dynamics
  • education
  • fire control
  • fire danger rating
  • fire hazard reduction
  • fire management
  • JFSP - Joint Fire Science Program
Tall Timbers Record Number: 16502Location Status: In-fileAbstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 41575

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.