extension publications and factsheets

This study investigated the long-term response of understory vegetation to two post-fire logging treatments (commercial salvage logging with and without additional fuel reduction logging) in northeastern Oregon. Researchers assessed if there were lasting effects on understory plant cover, species diversity, plant community composition, and exotic species cover in experimental treatment units 15 years post-treatment. The study area is located within the area burned by the 1996 Summit Fire, which burned mostly at high severity although it occurred in dry coniferous forests that historically burned at frequent intervals (14-16 years) and at low severity.

In this study, researchers developed models of freshwater habitat for spring Chinook Salmon in pre- and post-fire scenarios in the Wenatchee River sub-basin of central Washington, where a large number of wildfires have occurred in the past 30 years. They predicted changes in in-stream wood, sediment, and water temperature as a result of wildfires and modeled their influence on habitat quality for three life stages (egg/fry, juvenile, and adult) of spring Chinook Salmon. They also compared their model results with the current and historic distribution of spring Chinook Salmon to better understand if decreasing populations are distributed in ways that correlate with fire impacts on habitats.

Previous research has focused on quantifying fuel loadings and using operational fire behavior models to understand changes in fire severity following MPB outbreaks. In this study however, researchers used direct field measurements taken from the 2012 Pole Creek Fire that burned in lodgepole pine forests in central Oregon’s Eastern Cascade Mountains, which had experienced a MPB epidemic 8-15 years prior to the fire. They examined the combined effects of MPB and fire disturbances on stand structure, and investigated the influence of previous MPB severity and fire weather on subsequent fire severity and cumulative disturbance severity.

In this study, researchers analyzed the influence of pre-incident familiarity, stakeholder affiliation, and primary wildfire response/functional role on communication frequency and efficacy during three western U.S. wildfires ignited on U.S. Forest Service land. All fires occurred in wildland/urban interface areas, and involved a range of parties including Type 1 Incident Management Team response teams, local forest leaders, and responding agencies.

Fire severity refers to the effects of a fire on the environment, typically focusing on the loss of vegetation both above ground and below ground but also including soil impacts. Fire Facts: What is? Fire Severity