WWETAC Projects

Project Title: Evaluating soil risks associated with severe wildfire and ground-based logging

Status: Completed

Principal Investigator: Keith M. Reynolds, USDA forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS), Corvallis OR

Collaborators: Paul F. Hessburg, PNWRS; Bob Meurisse, PBS Engineering and Environmental; Dick Miller, private soils consultant

E-mail Contact: Keith Reynolds, kreynolds[at]fs.fed.us

Key Issues/Problems Addressed:

  • Fire effects on soil productivity
  • Effects of logging equipment on soil productivity

General Description: A logic-based analysis of forested soil polygons on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest was designed and implemented with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support System (2, 3) to evaluate risks to soil properties and productivity associated with moderate to severe wildfire and unmitigated use of ground-based logging equipment. Soil and related data are from standard National Cooperative Soil Surveys. The logic-based model developed for this study captures the knowledge of two senior soil scientists (Miller and Meurisse collaborators in this study) with a collective experience of over 70 years in soils field work and research. Adequate GIS data to support such analysis are not always available, so we also developed a companion model for interactive use on field-going PCs. The interactive model allows users to assess individual soil units in the field.

Key Findings:

  1. As part of application development, we present results from one national forest management unit, encompassing 6,889 soil polygons and 69,438 ha. In the example area, 36.1 percent and 46.0 percent of the area were classified as sensitive to impacts from severe wildfire and unmitigated use of logging equipment, respectively, and there was a high degree of correspondence between map units that were sensitive to both wildfire and heavy equipment influences.
  2. Both the GIS-based application and the field-going version are relatively easy to adapt to new geographic areas.
  3. Similarly, both applications are easily extended to include additional relevant topics, such as potential threats associated with invasive species. The ability to extend the logic in this way means that it is relatively easy to account for multiple, potentially interacting effects in a single integrated model.

Deliverables:

  1. GIS-based application to assess impacts to soil productivity from wildfire and logging equipment on large landscapes.
  2. Stand-alone application for field-going computers to assess impacts to soil productivity from wildfire and logging equipment on specific sites.
  3. Publication submitted to Western Journal of Applied Forestry (in review).

Background Citations:

Reynolds, K.M.; Miller, R.E.; Meurisse, R.T.; Hessburg, P.F. [In review]. Logic-based evaluation of expected soil risks associated with wildfire and ground-based equipment. Western Journal of Applied Forestry.

Reynolds, K.M.; Rodriguez, S.; Bevans, K. 2003. EMDS 3.0 user guide. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute.

Project ID: FY06TS9