The Ohio Hills site of the FFS project is located on the Raccoon Ecological Management Area (REMA), and the Tar Hollow (TAR) and Zaleski (ZAL) State Forests in southeastern Ohio. The study consists of four treatments on the three study areas (REMA, TAR, and ZAL), resulting in 12 experimental units.

The four treatments implemented at each study area are:
(1) untreated control
(2) prescribed fire only
(3) thinning from below
(4) thinning from below followed by prescribed fire

Treatment units (about 20 ha (50 acres)) are forest stands or portions of larger stands all having irregular boundaries. Ten 20x 50 m plots were located within each treatment area to measure the effects on different portions of the ecosystem. A 50x50 m grid of points was established on the ground with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to study landscape changes.

Measuring both the effects of fire and/or thinning on oak regeneration and on components of biodiversity may help to identify thresholds that would be useful for fine-tuning management to achieve more holistic objectives. Measuring the economics and effects of fire and/or thinning on soils, forest plants, trees, forest pathogens, and wildlife should help identify ecological tradeoffs inherent in the application of management activities. Since the Ohio Hills project will collect both ecological and economic data on common sites under similar conditions, managers will be able to assess tradeoffs between these two classes of information.

This is a study plan and establishment report in PDF document that discusses the consequences of fire and fire surrogate treatments at the Ohio Hills Site. Objectives, methods and hypothesis are discussed.

 Get the pdf plan document.

Photos from the Spring 2001 prescribed fires

• Fire line at REMA 3
• Creeping flames
• Fire fighter at rest
• Watching the flames at REMA 4
• Fire at REMA 4
• Forest on fire
• Burning snag
• Setting up the weather station
• Dropping flame at the Zaleski fire
• Smoke & fire at Zaleski
• Recording fire rate of spread
• Fire crew receiving instructions
• Temperature data loggers
• Data logger up close
• Mopping up
• Zaleski fire line

We have constructed animations of prescribed burns at several FFS study areas in southeastern Ohio. The animations are based on "real" temperatures recorded on HOBO data recorders for numerous thermocouple locations in the burned areas. To view the animations and learn more about the details of the prescribed burn and how the animation was done, go to following site.

 Prescribed Burn Animations

(click on map to get maps of study sites)

The Ohio Hills site of the FFS project is located on the Raccoon Ecological Management Area (REMA), the Tar Hollow State Forest (TAR), and the Zaleski (ZAL) State Forest in southeastern Ohio. The study consists of four treatments on the three study areas (REMA, TAR, and ZAL), resulting in 12 experimental units.

The REMA is a 17,000 acre tract of land, owned by the Mead Corporation and co-managed under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station.  The Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest (VFEF) is located within the boundaries of the REMA and is operated under a lease agreement with the Mead Corporation and the Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station.   The VFEF serves as "field headquarters" for the study.  The research areas in the Zaleski State Forest and Tar Hollow State Forest are managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of  Forestry, and are being used for research purposes under a special use permit, and a Memorandum of Understanding between ODNR and the Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station.

The four treatments implemented at each study area are: (1) untreated control, (2) prescribed fire only,  (3) thinning from below, and (4) thinning from below followed by prescribed fire

Treatment units (about 20 ha (50 acres)) are forest stands or portions of larger stands all having irregular boundaries. A 50x50 m grid of points was established on the ground with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to study landscape changes.  Ten 20x50 m plots are located within each treatment area to measure the effects on distinct portions of the ecosystem.

 Maps of the Study Area

Site Management	Daniel Yaussy	USDA Forest Service	dyaussy@fs.fed.us	740-368-0101
Coordination	Mary Boda	USDA Forest Service	mboda@fs.fed.us	740-368-0064
Principal Investigators
Soils	Ralph Boerner	Ohio State University	boerner.1@osu.edu	614-292-8280
Fuels	Brian McCarthy	Ohio University	mccarthy@oak.cats.ohiou.edu	740-593-1615
Vegetation	Todd Hutchinson	USDA Forest Service	thutchinson@fs.fed.us	740-368-0090
	Daniel Yaussy	USDA Forest Service	dyaussy@fs.fed.us	740-368-0101
	Brian McCarthy	Ohio University	mccarthy@oak.cats.ohiou.edu	740-593-1615
Pathology	Robert Long	USDA Forest Service	rlong@fs.fed.us	740-368-0050
	Joanne Rebbeck	USDA Forest Service	jrebbeck@fs.fed.us	740-368-0054
Economics	Roger Williams	Ohio State University	williams.1577@osu.edu	614-688-4061
Wildlife	Don Miles	Ohio University	dmiles2@ohiou.edu	740-593-2317
Companion Studies
Landscape Studies	Louis Iverson	USDA Forest Service	liverson@fs.fed.us	740-368-0097
Deer Exclosures	Dave Apsley	OSU Extension Service	apsley.1@osu.edu	740-286-2177
Fire Behavior	Matt Dickinson	USDA Forest Service	mbdickinson@fs.fed.us	740-368-0097
Mycorrhizal	Carolyn McQuattie	USDA Forest Service	cmcquattie@fs.fed.us	740-368-0062
Fuelbed	Patrick Brose	USDA Forest Service	pbrose@fs.fed.us	814-563-1040
Carbon	Kim Brown	Ohio University	kim.brown@ohio.edu	740-593-1122
Land Managers
VFEF	David Hosack	USDA Forest Service	dhosack@fs.fed.us	740-596-4238
Zaleski & Tar Hollow State Forest	John Dorka	Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources	john.dorka@dnr.state.oh.us	614-265-6690
	Don Karas	Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources	Don.Karas@dnr.state.oh.us	614-265-6701
REMA	Wayne Lashbrook	MeadWestvaco	cwl@mead.com	740-772-3499