Research and Publications
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Exotic annual grasses and forbs were each reduced by herbicides and by seeding perennial grasses. The combination of herbicide and seeding reduced annuals and led to the largest increases in perennials. Although these outcomes support the intended effects of the treatments, there was high variability in outcomes among studies. Combined use of pre-emergent herbicides and seeding can increase the success of restoration interventions that are aimed at reducing the invasion of exotic annual grasses and increasing perennials after fire in sagebrush steppe. Our analysis revealed, however, that the available literature was not suited to answering more specific questions, in spite of the massive amount of post-fire herbicide and seedings that have been applied in burned sagebrush steppe. Specifically, there were too few topically relevant studies with adequate scientific reporting to properly evaluate differences among specific treatment methodologies, including specific herbicides, that affect restoration success.
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We applied indaziflam in fall 2019 to replicate plots within two sagebrush-steppe sites in the Northern Great Basin, USA: 1) a relatively intact, uninvaded, unburned “core” site and 2) a partially invaded site that burned in the 2015 Soda Wildfire. Vegetation cover, density, and growth responses of native perennials were measured annually to 2024. We asked whether our treatments “defended” and “grew” core sagebrush areas. EAG cover remained <15% in indaziflam-treated plots while increasing to >30% in control plots by the fifth year after treatment at the unburned site but did not differ with treatment at the burned site. Native perennial grasses, forbs, and big sagebrush cover and growth did not differ with indaziflam treatment at either site. Moss cover was temporarily lower in indaziflam-treated plots at the unburned site, and cover of a native annual forb was significantly lower in indaziflam-treated plots throughout the study across both sites. Despite posttreatment drought and apparent patchiness in treatment implementation, our treatments “defended the core” by preventing crossing of the 20% EAG invasion threshold in the unburned site but not did not “grow the core.” Our results provide an example of a case in which proactive protection may be easier to accomplish than reactive restoration. Herbicide treatment effects may be sensitive to weather and application details. Implementation monitoring could help explain variability and improve success.
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The Create a Cultural Burn Pathway workbook, released by the First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) and the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI), aims to help Indigenous Nations create cultural burn programs that reduce wildfire risk and revitalize a core part of our relationship with the land.
Indigenous Nations bring a range of current experience with cultural fire. To meet Nations where they are, FNESS and ILI launched a multi-year community-based research project, involving over 50 Elders and knowledge holders, numerous gatherings and workshops, extensive peer reviews, and multiple edits to the workbook to reflect all the input.
The result is a workbook containing seven worksheets that walk communities through the development of a strong cultural fire program—no matter what stage they are in.
Cultural fire is culture and location specific. So instead of a prescriptive approach, each worksheet poses a set of questions and prompts that can be answered collectively.
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Short-term fire risk reduction and long-term resilience objectives can be complementary within a landscape, but ecosystem resilience is not a guaranteed co-benefit when fire risk reduction is the primary objective. Rather, improving ecosystem resilience cannot be achieved quickly because many desired forest conditions require both deliberate strategic action to guide the location, character, and timing of management as a disturbance agent, as well as adequate time for landscape conditions to improve and resilience benefits to be realized.
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Fire is an ecosystem process managed in the contemporary western U.S. at great expense, but with mixed results— yet it is one that can be re-worked to positive effect by melding ancient burning practices with contemporary scientific findings.
The “natural infrastructure” elements of stone and wood are components of ecosystem processes whose contemporary application, when guided by ancient practices and recent research, can mitigate some of the negative effects of contemporary fire regimes.
The following fact sheet is a summary of our 2025 working paper which considers how scientific research and creative on-the-ground applications that merge ancient and contemporary approaches and techniques can improve both pre-event resilience, and post-event recovery outcomes.
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Geospatial products of land use and land cover are broadly used in many applications. For example, the annual national greenhouse gas inventory uses the National Land Cover Database, the Coastal Change Analysis Program, Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools, the Forest Inventory and Analysis, and the National Resources Inventory to represent the land use and management base of the United States and attribute sources and sinks of greenhouse gas emissions. Federally produced land use and land cover datasets for the United States, including those from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium, set the foundation for developing and informing applications such as land change, conservation, greenhouse gas monitoring, urban planning, agricultural production, ecosystem functions, and water quantity and use. No single land use and land cover product is optimal for all land use and land cover applications. Approaches for defining and mapping land use and land cover classes differ across Federal map products, reflecting the tailoring of product specifications to match specific agency needs. These differing approaches present a challenge when attempting to integrate and harmonize multiple land use and land cover products into single analysis or application frameworks. Nuanced understanding of how these products are designed and produced may not be immediately evident to users; however, the availability of a diverse suite of products also represents an opportunity, providing multiple approaches for observing landscape change. In response to the National Strategy to Advance an Integrated U.S. Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System, this Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium-led interagency report presents (1) the current status of U.S. Federal land use and land cover products (as of May 2024), (2) existing synergies and integration among these federally produced land use and land cover products, (3) inherent challenges of creating a single consistent
framework, and (4) strategies for collectively tackling these challenges to improve coordination and collaboration among data producers and facilitate the adoption of land use and land cover products for greenhouse gas monitoring and a variety of other applications.
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In mountain big sagebrush associations, simulations of prescribed burn fuel treatments indicated that treatments were economically efficient in ecosystems dominated by sagebrush or in the early to mid-phases of pinyon-juniper expansion when compared to expected suppression costs. For low sagebrush, mechanical fuel treatments were not economically efficient, mainly due to higher associated costs. For black sagebrush, mechanical fuel treatments led to increased suppression costs in three of six potential treatment settings largely due to increases in surface fuels and fire behavior.
While wildfire suppression cost savings were the primary benefit, economic benefits included enhanced wildlife habitat, water availability, livestock grazing, and recreational opportunities. This research suggests that if land managers consider treatment costs along with specific sagebrush associations and their resilience and resistance levels, they can plan more effective and efficient fuel treatments.
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• Tree invasion of sagebrush habitat in southwest Montana has caused a 30% decline in the population of Brewer’s sparrows since 1954.
• If nothing is done to prevent tree encroachment, Brewer’s sparrows will decline by 60% in the next 30 years.
• Defending core sagebrush habitat through conifer removal can maintain populations of Brewer’s sparrows into the future
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We found that aspen slows fire progression: as aspen cover on the landscape increased, daily area burned and linear spread rate decreased. Where aspen cover was <10%, daily fire growth averaged 1112 ha/day and maximum linear spread was 2.1 km/day; where aspen exceeded 25%, these values dropped to 368 ha/day and 1.3 km/day. Aspen also serves as a barrier to fire spread, demonstrated through a higher proportion of aspen cover at fire perimeters than in burn interiors. Finally, though favorable fire weather conditions increased fire growth rates, differences between aspens and conifers persisted. Our results affirm that aspen stands can act as a firebreak, with clear applications for vegetation management. For example, interventions that shift conifer to aspen cover could lessen the risk of fire for nearby values at risk (e.g., communities, infrastructure) but still support forest ecosystem function. Further, wildfire-driven conversion from conifer to aspen forest types in some landscapes may produce a negative feedback that could dampen expected increases in fire activity under a warmer and drier climate.
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Our study highlights that fuel characteristics and broadcast burning disproportionally impacted burn severity, with Rx being the most effective and economical treatment. By creating a reproducible framework to explain burn severity, at both global and local scales, we gained nuanced insights about the drivers of burn severity that could inform and enhance fire and fuel management practices across multi-ownership landscapes.