JFSP Project Information
You may search JFSP Project Information by the following: Project Number, Title, Principal Investigator, Cooperators or key words contained in a brief description of t
he project.
Demonstration Sites, Admin. Studies and Local Needs
Select a fiscal year for when the Announcement for Proposal was issued for the project:
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05-2-1-05: Management Options to Control Exotic Invasive Plant Species in Association with Fuel Reduction Treatments in a Wildland Urban Interface |
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Becky Kerns |
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This study will compare herbicide, hot foam, and native seeding management options for controlling weed establishment and spread within the Liberty WUI Fuel Reduction Project currently being planned under HFRA authority. The Liberty WUI project is located along the eastern slopes of the Cascades on the Cle Elum Ranger District of the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. Planned fuel reduction activities will be conducted in an area that has been already been invaded by noxious weeds such as diffuse and meadow knapweed (Centaurea diffusa, Centaurea pratensis). We will compare the efficacy and cost effectiveness of herbicide, hot foam, and native seeding experimental treatments to suppress and control weeds prior to and after fuel reduction activities and to enhance native plant diversity and community resilience. We will also examine the effect of fuel reduction activities and weed suppression treatments on plant community structure. |
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05-2-1-07: Post-Fire Studies Supporting Computer-Assisted Management of Fire and Fuels During a Regime of Changing Climate in the Alaskan Boreal Forest |
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Scott Rupp |
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We propose to further develop Boreal ALFRESCO by filling important data gaps and expanding its ability to model climate change. This work will benefit the implementation of the FRCC and LANDFIRE programs in Alaska. Land managers have identified several data gaps regarding fire regimes in Alaska. One gap concerns the relative importance of stand age, stand type, and fire weather/climate in determining burn severity. The first goal of our proposed work is the post-fire assessment of the factors controlling burn severity using the extraordinary 2004 fire season as a natural laboratory. Another gap in our understanding of the boreal forest is the effect of climate change on the fire regime. High latitude forests like Alaska’s are predicted to be affected first and most drastically by anthropogenic climate changes. Our second goal is to enable Boreal ALFRESCO to predict changes in fire regime and fire hazards based on changes in climate. |
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05-2-1-08: Evaluating the Effects of Pinyon Juniper Thinning Treatments at a Wildland/ Urban Interface |
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Matt Brooks |
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This project will examine the effects of salvage logging operations on soil productivity and young tree growth on 7 replicate sites, salvage logged 1 year after the Booth and Bear Butte (B&B) fire. The recent harvest of these timber sales, approved prior to the fire, provide a unique and timely opportunity to study the impacts of salvage logging. Within each site, we will measure the impacts of 3 treatments (burning with no further disturbance, compaction from heavy equipment, and compaction followed by subsoiling) on soil biological, chemical, and physical properties critical to soil productivity and growth of planted tree seedlings. To examine effects of repeated fire, we will continue measuring impacts of burn severity on soil recovery (soil microbe diversity, soil biological activity, soil nutrients) and growth of planted tree seedlings in a subset of 25 previously established paired plots of detrimentally burned and less severely burned soils. This work is critical to successful recovery projects on the B&B and other fire sites in mixed conifer forests throughout central Oregon. |
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05-2-1-45: Does Prescribed Burning in Southern Forests Release Significant Amounts of Mercury to the Atmosphere? |
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Ralph DiCosty |
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This study will: 1) to estimate local and South-wide emission of Hg due to prescribed fire, and 2) to test the hypothesis that Hg in ashen fire debris is leached into and subsequently retained in mineral soil. Increased retention of Hg in mineral soils as a result of fire may mitigate the environmental impact of fire-related emissions because Hg vitalization during future fires would be reduced and the retained Hg would be less likely to enter surface waters as runoff. We plan to estimate emissions by measuring Hg amounts in the forest floor and surface mineral soil soon before and immediately after individual prescribed fires. We will assess fire’s influence on Hg storage in mineral soil by determining Hg in the mineral soil and forest floor of paired areas that have been managed with or without prescribed fires for many years. We intend to make these estimates of Hg release of retention under different local conditions, such as fuel loads, fire regimes, and Hg content of the forest floor and mineral soil. |
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05-2-1-70: Comparison of Live Fuel Moisture Sampling Methods for Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata spp.) in Utah |
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Philip Omi |
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This research aims to improve local knowledge by determining the most appropriate sampling procedures for assessing Live Fuel Moisture (LFM) in Utah’s sagebrush. This will involve analyzing how variability in data collection affects LFM values and recommending a methodology. Sampling methods suggested in the literature as well as those most commonly utilized by field technicians will be compared and statistically analyzed to detect significant differences in resultant LFM values. In addition, final values from each method will be run through the National Fire Danger Rating System to determine if there are differences in fire danger indices and staffing levels using various collection methods. By developing scientifically-sound, standardized methods fire managers will benefit from improved accuracy and comparability of LFM values. Finalized sampling protocols will be published and disseminated to fire and fuels technicians and managers throughout the Great Basin, and field training on the procedures will be accomplished across Utah. |
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05-2-1-81: OK-FIRE: A Weather-Based Decision Support System for Wildland Fire Managers in Oklahoma |
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J. D. Carlson |
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The overall objective of OK-FIRE is to develop a weather-based decision support system to aid wildland fire managers in Oklahoma in their prescribed burning and wildfire anticipation/suppression activities. To this end, the project will have a three-fold emphasis: (1) an expanded suite of products for fire weather, fire danger, and smoke dispersion which incorporate a 3-day predictive component; (2) a dedicated OK-FIRE wildland fire management web site to act as the delivery mechanism for the above products; and (3) regional training and customer support activities for the user groups involved. OK-FIRE will serve as a model for other states or regions which wish to develop decision support systems for wildland fire managers. |
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05-2-1-86: Restoration-Based Fuel Reduction Recommendations for Mixed Pine Forests of Upper Michigan |
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Charles Goebel |
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This project supported by USFWS, BIA, USGS, and USFS, that will 1) develop a better understanding of the fire history regimes, fuel loadings, and forest composition and structural characteristics of pre-European settlement and post-settlement mixed-pine forests; 2) analyze current fire hazard and forest management planning efforts of the different agencies responsible for the stewardship of mixed-pine forest ecosystems; and 3) develop restoration-based fuel reduction recommendations for mixed-pine forest ecosystems of eastern Upper Michigan. These recommendations will be developed through a series of workshops involving a panel of experts and agency representatives and using the data from objectives 1& 2. The outcomes of this research will be disseminated through a variety of outlets, including a workshop of local and regional stakeholders, written reports, an interactive website, and an informational package developed for agency regional offices and visitor centers. |
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05-2-1-87: Effect of Brush Mastication on the Belowground Mycorrhizal Community in a Mixed Hardwood Chaparral |
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Darlene Southworth |
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This project will examine the effect of brush mastication and the burning of masticated debris on the below-ground mycorrhizal community associated with plant roots. Roots will be sampled in soil cores from established plots treated by brush mastication followed by burning. Mycorrhizas will be described by morphological descriptions and by DNA analyses. Hypogeous fungi will be sampled by scuffling set areas. The results will provide information to evaluate the effect of brush mastication on mycorrhizal fungi and to determine its potential benefit or harm to soil organisms. |
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05-2-1-88: Effects of fuel treatments and wildfire on the avifauna of the pine rockland ecosystem in southern Florida |
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Gary Slater |
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Specific objectives of this study are to: 1) determine the relationship between fire management activities and abundance and distribution of breeding and wintering birds and their habitats; 2) determine the effects of different fuel treatments (mechanical thinning, prescribed burning) on the abundance and distribution of breeding and wintering landbirds; and 3) determine the role of fire on the abundance of snags, an important wildland fuel and habitat for wildlife. Results from this study will provide science-based support to land managers in south Florida who are developing fire management strategies aimed at reducing hazardous fuels while maintaining the ecological integrity of this imperiled ecosystem. |
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05-2-1-92: Why Burning Brings Beetles: Fire-Bark Beetle Interactions |
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James Agee |
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Old-growth ponderosa pine have been observed across the West to be dying in greater than expected numbers from the reintroduction of prescribed fire, even with the fires are within expected intensity limits. Mortality is via bark beetles 2-4 years after burning. These trees are important forest structural elements that are important to retain as live trees after fuel treatments. Previous work hinted that season of burning may be responsible, and a previous demonstration project in our area documented mortality in the first two years after burning. This project will carry forward the measurement activity on over 1800 large ponderosa pines, investigate beetle defenses via resin flow measurements, and couple resin flow and quality data to actual mortality. Experimental treatment of trees via burning and artificial pruning and root damage, with associated resin measurements, will attempt to understand these effects as they occur. Results will be linked to management practices and disseminated through a variety of technology transfer outlets. |
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05-2-1-94: Response of Birds, Butterflies, and their Habitats to Management of Wildland Fuels and Fire Regimes |
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Erica Fleishman |
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The proposed project will meet the information needs of local land managers by evaluating responses of birds, butterflies, and their habitats to fire and fuels treatments in Great Basin pinyon-juniper woodlands at multiple spatial and temporal scales. We will leverage existing capacity of JFSP projects and increase understanding of transferability of results by comparing the response of birds to fire in pinyon-juniper woodlands and ponderosa pine forests. By integrating remote sensing and field data, we will evaluate whether the distribution of pinyon-juniper and riparian woodlands and woodland-associated birds has changed during the past 20–25 years. In collaboration with land managers, we will develop and implement efficient methods for transferring spatially explicit data, results, and inferences for applied management. |
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05-2-1-98: Effects of fuels/fire risk reduction treatments using hydro-mow or thinning on pinyon-juniper ecosystem components within the wildland-urban-interface |
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Gerald Gottfried |
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This study is designed to compare soil and vegetation changes among sites within wildland–urban-interface areas treated by a mastication technique using “hydro-mow” equipment or by thinning, and an untreated control. The three treatments will be replicated on three separate sites within the jurisdiction of the Dolores Public Lands Office in southwestern Colorado. Results will be applicable to the immediate Forest Service/BLM lands but will have broader implications since mechanical mastication treatments are currently being applied or planned for other pinyon-juniper interface areas throughout the West. |
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05-2-1-101: Predicting Burn Severity in the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico: Meeting Local Need for Potential Impact of Fire on Fish and Streams |
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Penelope Morgan |
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This research will investigate the broad-scale factors associated with burn severity in the Gila Wilderness, NM. A key question in fire science remains where and under what conditions fires are likely to burn severely. Concerns about the potential impacts of recent, large (49,000 ha) Wildland Fire Use fires in the Gila Wilderness on critical threatened and endangered Gila trout and Gila chub populations, which are now restricted to small, geographically isolated streams in the wilderness, have raised questions about the long-term future of one of the most active and long-term Wildland Fire Use programs in the US. Successful management of Wildland Fire Use programs while protecting critical resources in the Gila Wilderness and elsewhere requires a better understanding of the landscape and vegetation characteristics that are associated with burn severity. We propose two research tasks to address this question. Task 1- Using pre and post-fire high-resolution satellite imagery and ground measures of burn severity, we will address the following questions: 1) how do factors like pre-fire vegetation structure, landscape and topographic position influence the occurrence of high burn severity? 2) How well can comparison of pre and post-fire high-resolution images map burn severity, compared to dNBR and ground measures of severity? 3) how do post-fire effects such as vegetation damage and tree mortality vary with prior treatments? Task 2- Using Landsat satellite imagery, we will build an historical burn severity atlas with which we will assess relationships between landscape factors (slope, aspect, elevation, vegetation type, prior fire history) and burn severity. |
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05-2-1-105: Delayed Tree Mortality Following Fire in Western Conifers |
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Sharon Hood |
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Tree mortality is a large factor in post fire treatment actions, including post fire salvage logging. The Fire Sciences Lab has been studying delayed tree mortality following fire for the past twenty-five years. Forest Health Protection in Region 5 has also tracked mortality following fire for ten years. While many papers have resulted from the studies, there is a large amount of data that has never been analyzed nor reported in the literature. This is an opportunity to extensively analyze the largest dataset on tree injury and mortality following fire in existence. The Fire Lab and FHP have worked cooperatively on tree mortality for the past three years. RMRS and FHP’s close partnership and familiarity with the data place them in a strong position to combine and analyze the data to produce robust mortality models for western coniferous species. |
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05-2-1-106: Comprehensive Fire Effects of Biomass Reduction and Fire for Fuels and Ecosystem Enhancement on a First-Order Watershed in the Southeastern Wildland-Urban Interface |
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Carl Trettin |
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President Bush signed the Healthy Forests Restoration
Act (HFRA) in 2003 for forest ecosystem restoration and protection
from catastrophic wildfire. Since then, the administration pledged
its support for record amounts of high-priority fuel-reduction
projects in our nation’s forests. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo
destroyed many of the stands in South Carolina’s Francis
Marion National Forest (FMNF). Since then, much of the area
has succeded into stands that are susceptible to disease, wildfire,
and threatened and endangered wildlife habitat due to fire exclusion.
These conditions are particularly dangerous for these forests
with respect to their proximity to the wildand-urban interface
as Charleston, SC (expected to triple in size over the next
30 years) is about 20 miles southwest of the forest. |
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