Study Sites

The network consists of 12 main sites and 1 satellite site (which has less than the full suite of core treatments):

FFS Study Sites graphic


All of these initial sites represent forests with a historically short-interval, low- to moderate-severity fire regime. Eight sites are in western coniferous forests, ranging from the Pacific Northwest to the Southwest. These sites share the fact that ponderosa pine is an important tree component, but sites vary in composition of other conifers and differ substantially in topographic and soil parameters. Two sites are in the southeastern U.S.--one in the Piedmont and one on the Coastal Plain--and are dominated by mixtures of southern pines with hardwood understories. Rounding out the network is a site in the midwestern oak-hickory type of Ohio. Collectively, these sites comprise a network that is truly national in scope. Depending on the level of interest and support available, future sites in the same or other fire regimes may be added to the network.

  1. NORTHEASTERN CASCADES: north-central Washington, Wenatchee National Forest.
  2. BLUE MOUNTAINS: Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
  3. NORTHERN ROCKY MOUTAINS: University of Montana, northern Rockies, western Montana.
  4. SOUTHERN CASCADES: northern California, Klamath National Forest.
  5. CENTRAL SIERRA NEVADA: Research Station, University of California-Berkeley, central Sierra Nevada, California.
  6. SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA: southern Sierra Nevada, California (satellite to Blodgett Forest Research Station site).
  7. SOUTHWESTERN PLATEAU: Coconino and Kaibab National Forests, northern Arizona.
  8. SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAINS: Santa Fe National Forest, northern New Mexico.
  9. CENTRAL APPALACHIAN PLATEAU: lands managed by the Ohio Division of Forestry and Mead Paper Corporation.
  10. SOUTHEASTERN PIEDMONT: Clemson Experimental Forest, northwestern South Carolina.
  11. FLORIDA COASTAL PLAIN: Myakka River State Park, southwest Florida.
  12. GULF COASTAL PLAIN: Solon Dixon, southern Alabama.
  13. SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN Mountains: Green River, western North Carolina.