Research and Publications
Visit the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy website.
See also the National Cohesive Strategy’s Western Region website.
The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy is a strategic push to work collaboratively among all stakeholders and across all landscapes, using best science, to make meaningful progress towards the three goals:
- Resilient Landscapes
- Fire Adapted Communities
- Safe and Effective Wildfire Response
Vision: To safely and effectively extinguish fire when needed; use fire where allowable; manage our natural resources; and as a nation, to live with wildland fire.
View article.
This study sampled cheatgrass endophytes and found many fire-associated fungi, including Morchella in three western states (New Mexico, Idaho, and Washington). In greenhouse experiments, a New Mexico isolate of Morchella increased both the biomass and fecundity of its local cheatgrass population, thus simultaneously increasing both the probability of fire and survival of that event, via more fuel and a greater, belowground seed bank, respectively.
View report.
This technical report reviews existing climate models that predict species and vegetation changes in the western United States, and it synthesizes knowledge about climate change impacts on the native fauna and flora of grasslands, shrublands and deserts of the interior American West. Species’ responses will depend not only on their physiological tolerances but also on their phenology, establishment properties, biotic interactions, and capacity to evolve and migrate.
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This paper reviews the nature and characteristics of bark beetle-altered fuel complexes in the conifer forests of the Interior West and the challenges of understanding the effects on extreme fire behavior, including the initiation and spread of crown fires. We also discuss how emerging fire management plans in the U.S. have begun to integrate wildfire management and other forest health objectives with the specific goal of achieving biodiversity and ecosystem resiliency while simultaneously reducing the existence of hazardous fuel complexes.
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This study suggests that both prescribed fire and its mechanical surrogates are generally successful in meeting short-term fuel-reduction objectives in seasonally dry forests in the western and southern United States, making treated stands more resilient to high-intensity wildfire. Although mechanical treatments do not serve as complete surrogates for fire, their application can help mitigate costs and liability in some areas. Desired treatment effects on fire hazards are transient, which indicates that after fuel-reduction management starts, managers need to be persistent with repeated treatment.
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This report outlines a range-wide strategy for maintaining whitebark pine populations in high mountain areas based on the most current knowledge of the efficacy of techniques and differences in their application across communities. The strategy is written as a general guide for planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating fine-scale restoration activities for whitebark pine by public land management agencies, and to encourage agency and inter-agency coordination for greater efficiency. The strategy is organized into six scales of implementation, and each scale is described by assessment factors, restoration techniques, management concerns, and examples.
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This review suggests that when applied, both prescribed fire and its mechanical surrogates are generally successful in meeting short-term
fuel-reduction objectives and in changing stand structure and fuel beds such that treated stands are more resistant and resilient to high-intensity wildfire.
View guide.
This guide was written for anyone interested in learning more about sagebrush species and habitats. It provides descriptions of some of the remarkably diverse sagebrush communities in western North America. It gives identifying characteristics and range maps of 18 species of sagebrush.
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This study reviewed and synthesized the published literature on modifications to fuels and fire characteristics following beetle-caused tree mortality. The literature agreed about responses in many conditions, including fuels measurements and changes in stands with longer times since outbreak. Disagreement or gaps in knowledge existed in several conditions, particularly in early post outbreak phases and crown fire behavior responses.
View brief.
This study discusses the potential of a fungus naturally associated with these Bromus species, which is lethal to the plants’ soil-banked dormant seeds. Study findings open the way to a commercial biocontrol product that may be capable of safely eliminating the seed bank of persistent invasive grasses. Biocontrol could be used in conjunction with other weed control measures and conservation strategies to make sagebrush-steppe lands less susceptible to reinvasion.