Adaptive Management Services

Fire Behavior Assessment Team

Evaluating Fuel Treatment Effectiveness—Suppression & Effects

We have extensive combined experience with fire suppression and fuel treatments, including three experienced Fire Behavior Analysts, and fire science. Each of our three Fire Behavior Analysts also have extensive experience as fuels managers, with over 20 years experience each. Our fire scientists have extensive experience in fuels and fire effects monitoring and operate a specialized module, the Fire Behavior Assessment Team, that collect data during active wildfires on pre-fire fuels, fire behavior and post-fire conditions. They have collected fire behavior and fuels information at over 80 sites throughout the country in the past 5 years. Our collective experience allows us insight into suppression, fire behavior and fuels together.

What we have done to evaluate fuel treatment effectiveness?

Over the past five years, we have conducted numerous evaluations of fuel treatment effectiveness. This includes during wildfires, after wildfires and before fires occur. This includes evaluations of many different types of fuel treatments across the country, including thinning, prescribed fire, salvage and wildland fire use. There is also one evaluation of the effectiveness of various levels of fuels clearance around structures for firefighter safety. All of these are listed in the Table below, with a link to the reports. Some of the reports that are from work conducted during wildfires are rapidly completed, within a 14 day fire assignment--where there is not always time to "polish" the report.

Documents

• Evaluating the Success of Fuels Treatments On Initial Attack Fires
• NRCS/San Bernardino County Fire Hazardous Fuels Assessment
• Moonlight Fire Behavior Report
• Ham Lake Fire Behavior Report
• An Assessment of the Effects of Fuel Treatments and Previous Wildfires on Fire Behavior and Suppression for the Day and Zaca Fires on the Los Padres National Forest
• Clover Wildland Fire Use Fire Sequoia National Forest
• Fire Behavior and Effects Relating to Suppression, Fuel Treatments, and Protected Areas on the Antelope Complex Wheeler Fire

Reports

• An Assessment of Wildland Fire Use in Areas of the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. 2007. For the USDA Forest Service, Washington Office Fire and Aviation Management, by Sid Beckman formerly of Adaptive Management Services Enterprise Team of the USFS.
  
  
• JoAnn Fites-Kaufman, E. Noonan, and D. Ramirez. 2005. Evaluation of Wildland Fire Use Fires on the Sequoia and Stanislaus National Forests in 2003: Effects in Relation to Historic Regimes and Resource Benefits. Adaptive Management Services Enterprise Team (AMSET), USDA Forest Service, Nevada City, Ca.
  
  
• Moonunit Prescribed Fire March 15 & 18, 2004 Tahoe National Forest
  
  
• USFS and BLM Broad based national fuel treatment effects and effectiveness monitoring

Posters

• Background, methods, and call for feedback on fuel and fire behavior data collection on active wildland fires