Evaluating Fuel Treatment Effectiveness - Suppression & Effects

We have extensive combined experience with fire suppression and fuel treatments, including three experienced Fire Behavior Analysts, and several Fire Ecologists and Technicians. Each of our three Fire Behavior Analysts also have extensive experience as fuels managers, with over 20 years experience each. Our Fire Ecologists 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 throughout the country. Our collective experience allows us insight into suppression, fire behavior and fuels.

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.

Location	State	Year	Evaluation Type	Types of Treatments Evaluated	Fuel/Vegetation Type
San Bernardino NF	CA	2013	Post-fire, some field data and some anecdotal information	Prescribed fire, mastication	Forest, Chapparral
Sequoia NF	CA	2011	Post-fire, detailed, field data and GIS analysis	Older wildland fires	Forest
Plumas NF	CA	2007	During and post-fire, detailed statistics	Thinning, prescribed fire, mastication, old fires	Forest
Shasta-Trinity NF	CA	2007	During fire	Thinning	Forest
Bitterroot NF	MT	2007	Post-fire, detailed smoke, economics	Wildland fire use	Forest and alpine
Tahoe NF	CA	2007	Post-fire, initial attack evaluation	Thinning	Forest
Sequoia NF	CA	2008	During fire	Wildland fire use, old fires	Forest
Los Padres NF	CA	2006	Post-fire	Prescribed fire	Chaparral, Forest
Okefenokee WF Refuge/Oceola NF	GA/FL	2007	During and post-fire	Prescribed fire	Forest, swamp
Superior NF	MI	2007	Post-fire, detailed statistics	Prescribed fire, thinning/salvage	Forest
Plumas NF	CA	2007	Post-fire, detailed statistics	Thinning, mastication, timber harvest	Forest
Plumas NF	CA	2007	During and post-fire, detailed statistics	Thinning, prescribed fire, mastication, old fires	Forest
Southern CA	CA	2007	Before any fire	Thinning, mastication	Forest
Tahoe NF	CA	2006	During fire	Thinning, prescribed fire	Forest
Ventura County	CA	2005	Clearance around houses	Distance of treatment from house to wildlands	Chaparral
Kaibab NF	AZ	2006	Post-fire	Selective harvest	Forest
Los Padres NF	CA	2007	Post-fire	Prescribed fire	Chaparral

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
• 2013 Mountain Fire Fuel Treatment Effectiveness Summary report about reducing fire behavior, improving fire suppression efforts, and maintaining vegetation on the San Bernardino NF

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