Topic: Fuels and Fuel Treatments

Large wildfires, the dominant natural disturbance type in North American forests, can cause significant damage to human infrastructure. One well-known approach to reduce the threat of wildfires is the strategic removal of forest fuels in linear firebreaks that segment forest landscapes into…

Mature and old-growth forests provide critically important ecosystems services and wildlife habitats, but they are being lost at a rapid rate to uncharacteristic mega-disturbances. We developed a simulation system to project time-to-extinction for mature and old-growth forest habitat in the…

The global urgency of more damaging wildfires calls for proactive solutions. Integrating fire-smart fuels management with bioenergy could reduce wildfire risk while providing feedstock for bioenergy. We explore this strategy in off-grid communities in Canada who are heavily dependent on diesel…

Background 

Fuel moisture content is a key driver of fuel flammability and subsequent fire activity and behavior worldwide. Dead fuels passively exchange moisture with the atmosphere while live fuel moisture is confounded by a mixture of seasonal carbon and water…

Background

Record fire years in recent decades have challenged post-fire forest recovery in the western United States and beyond. To improve management responses, it is critical that we understand the conditions under which management can mitigate severe wildfire impacts…

Background

Forest fuel reduction treatments are intended to mitigate negative impacts from wildland fires, protect communities, and support firefighting. Understanding fuel treatment use is important for evaluating treatment effectiveness, which, in turn, can inform the…

Altered fire regimes are a global challenge, increasingly exacerbated by climate change, which modifies fire weather and prolongs fire seasons. These changing conditions heighten the vulnerability of ecosystems and human populations to the impacts of wildfires on the environment, society, and…

Wildfire structure losses are increasing globally and particularly in California, USA. Losses can be mitigated in part by changes to the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ), including both home hardening and defensible space. In the United States, there are local, nation-wide, and industry-based home…

Pile burning of thinned residues is a critical tool to dispose of fuels and to reduce wildfire risk in overstocked, fire-prone forests globally. However, cost estimates of pile burning are limited. In the Western United States, where fuel reduction and pile burning are key strategies to mitigate…

Background: In response to increasing risk of extreme wildfire across western North America, forest managers are proactively implementing fuel treatments.

Aims: We assessed the efficacy of alternative combinations of thinning, pruning and residue fuel…