Evaluating the potential of forest fuel treatments to reduce future wildfire emissions

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Forest growth, fire behavior, fire spread and emissions models were used to simulate fuel treatments and their potential impacts. The ‘underburn only’ and ‘thin from below + pile burn’ treatments had a minimum annual fire probability (AFP) 5–35% lower than other treatment types to achieve reduced GHG emissions. When AFP was high, the ‘stand density index (SDI) thin + underburn’ treatment reduced GHG emissions 13–54% more than the next best treatment. AFP, forest type and initial hazard level should be primary considerations when selecting a fuel treatment type for reducing future GHG emissions.