Description
The Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF), in partnership with the University of Idaho, the Fire Sciences Laboratory, and The Sampson Group, developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) based wildfire hazard-risk assessment. The assessment was completed for the North Zone of the IPNF, including sections of federal, state, and private land, to identify geographic locations with the highest wildfire hazards and risks. The wildfire hazard-risk assessment consists of five models: wildfire hazard-risk (fuel hazard, ignition risk, and precipitation), caribou habitat, timber resources, recreation areas, and human structures. The project area is divided into 201 fire zones. The models identify the distribution of fuel hazards, ignition risks, and important resource values by fire zone. Each model assigns relative hazard scores of very low, low, moderate, high, and very high to the fire zones. It also spatially links output information from the NEXUS Crown Fire Model to forest patches. This is one of the first attempts at spatially linking NEXUS crown fire information to a forest landscape. © University of Idaho 2000. Abstract reproduced by permission.