Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team

FIELD WORK IN THE RANGELANDS OF EASTERN OREGON

Throughout the summer of 2008, FERA’s field crew has made several trips to the rangeland of southeastern Oregon to collect fuels data and photographs of sites in support on research being conducted by Louisa Evers, an employee of the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service. By having a picture with vegetation data, Evers and other managers will be able to assess fire regime condition class (FRCC), use the Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) or fuel models to assess fire hazard, and have data relevant to aspects of rangeland management, The ability to assess sage grouse habitat is the most critical need. All data collected will be entered into the Digital Photo Series.

HURRICANE PHOTO SERIES ASSISTS IN ASSESSING FOREST DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE IKE

Recent hurricanes in the southeastern U.S. prompted forest managers to contact FERA and request unpublished materials to assist in inventorying forest damage from high winds which accompany these storms. Photos and fuel loading information, which will be published in a stereo photos series, were provided to the incident command team from this ongoing work funded by the Joint Fire Science Program. In addition, 23 FCCS fuelbeds were created for mapping by Landfire to assess forest damage.