Fuels and Fuel Treatments

Background

Background

Forest treatments such as prescribed burns, mastication, and thinning are widely implemented across the western USA to reduce fuels and enhance wildfire resilience. These practices also influence snow accumulation and melt, which, in turn, affect snow storage and duration.

Background

Background

Mature and old-growth forests (MOG) provide essential ecosystem services, yet they face increasing threats. Currently, high-intensity, high-severity wildfires are the main driver for loss of MOG on federally managed forests across the United States. Quantifying MOG forests with greatest exposure to stand-replacing wildfires provides essential information for land managers.

Background

This study investigates the key drivers influencing prescribed fire effects across 16 sites in northern and central California, with particular emphasis on how operational decisions by fire practitioners shape burn outcomes.

Background

In historically frequent fire forests, wildfires are burning larger areas and driving forest loss across western North America, yet they also produce extensive low- to moderate-severity effects that can be leveraged to harden landscapes against future high-severity fire.