Document

Title

Forest fuel treatments in western North America: merging silviculture and fire management
Document Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Morris C. Johnson; David L. Peterson
Publication Year: 2005

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):
  • Canada
  • coniferous forests
  • crown fires
  • diameter classes
  • disturbance
  • FERA - Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team
  • fine fuels
  • fire hazard
  • fire hazard reduction
  • fire intensity
  • fire management
  • flame length
  • forest management
  • fuel loading
  • fuel management
  • fuel models
  • fuel treatments
  • mortality
  • multiple resource management
  • overstory
  • Pinus ponderosa
  • population density
  • Pseudotsuga menziesii
  • silviculture
  • size classes
  • snags
  • stand characteristics
  • succession
  • surface fires
  • surface fuels
  • vegetation surveys
  • wildfires
Topic(s):
Region(s):
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Record Maintained By:
FRAMES Staff; https://www.frames.gov/contact
TTRS Staff; https://talltimbers.org/contact-us
Record Last Modified: June 1, 2018
FRAMES Record Number: 4399
Tall Timbers Record Number: 19641
TTRS Location Status: In-file
TTRS Call Number: Fire File
TTRS Abstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy 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 the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Description

ANNOTATION: In order to accomplish complex and multiple management objectives related to forest structure, fuels, and fire disturbance, these two disciplines must be effectively integrated in science and practice. The authors have linked scientific and management tools to develop an analytical approach that allows resource managers to quantify and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative fuel treatments in dry interior forests of western North America. ABSTRACT: For many years silviculture and fire management have mostly been separate forestry disciplines with disparate objectives and activities. However, in order to accomplish complex and multiple management objectives related to forest structure, fuels, and fxe disturbance, these two disciplines must be effectively integrated in science and practice. We have linked scientific and management tools to develop an analytical approach that allows resource managers to quantify and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative fuel treatments in dry interior forests of western North America. The principal tool is the Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-NS) for characterizing fuel succession and fire behaviour, and for quantifying and visualizing stand structure. FFE-NS provides a user-friendly framework that facilitates rapid evaluation of thinning and surface fuel treatments intended to reduce crown fire potential and fireline intensity. This approach quantifies fire hazard at small and large spatial scales, assists with treatment priorities and schedules, and generates stand and landscape visualizations that facilitate decisions about appropriate fuel treatments.

Online Link(s):
Link to this document
Citation:
Johnson, Morris C.; Peterson, David L. 2005. Forest fuel treatments in western North America: merging silviculture and fire management. The Forestry Chronicle 81(3):365-368.