Research and Publications
View report.
This report is intended to introduce policy makers and citizens to issues related to wildfire management and fuel treatments on Idaho’s rangelands. It summarizes the findings of fuel treatment studies on rangelands in Idaho and comparable areas of the western U.S., examines the risks associated with fuel treatment alternatives, summarizes the policies that currently affect fuel treatment implementation, and suggests research and policy alternatives that may increase fuel treatment effectiveness.
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For this study, researchers traveled to two fires—the Gap in California and Gunbarrel in Wyoming—each of which used a different strategy for managing the fire. At each site, they interviewed key agency individuals and asked them about internal and external factors that influenced their fire management decisions. We also interviewed community members to understand whether they sought to influence fire management. Findings did not wholly support conventional wisdom and suggest that internal pressures are as important as external pressure in shaping fire management strategy.
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This paper provides an overview of recent and ongoing invasive species research conducted by Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists in the Intermountain West in order to familiarize managers with the Station
and its products.
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The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of recent prescribed fires, resource benefit fires, and repeated fires in ponderosa pine forests, as well as recent resource benefit fires in pinyon-juniper woodlands. Results are pertinent to fire and fuels managers throughout the southwestern United States who utilize prescribed and resource benefit fire to reduce fuel loads and restore historical forest conditions.
View guidebook.
This guidebook contains science-based principles, processes, and tools necessary to assist with developing adaptation options for national forest lands. Because management objectives and sensitivity of resources to climate change differ among national forests, appropriate processes and tools for developing adaptation options may also differ. Regardless of specific processes and tools, the following steps are recommended: (1) become aware of basic climate change science and integrate that understanding with knowledge of local resource conditions and issues (review), (2) evaluate sensitivity of specific natural resources to climate change (rank), (3) develop and implement strategic and tactical options for adapting resources to climate change (resolve), and (4) monitor the effectiveness of adaptation options (observe) and adjust management as needed.
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This report provides examples of working partnerships can be found in a wide-range of management settings. There is no single formula for building a partnership and partnerships per se are not a panacea; however, through extensive research, we have found a set of characteristics that are common to most partnership success stories. They are described in this guide to be used as a practical reference for agency personnel and citizens who seek to improve collaborative efforts in local communities.
View synthesis.
This synthesis investigates the resistance and resilience differences among the cold and hot desert shrublands of North America. Differences are largely determined by spatial and temporal patterns of productivity but also are affected by ecological memory, severity and frequency of disturbance, and feedbacks among invasive species and disturbance regimes. Strategies for preventing or managing invasive plant/fire regimes cycles in desert shrublands include: 1) conducting periodic resource assessments to evaluate the probability of establishment of an altered fire regime; 2) understanding ecological thresholds associated within invasion resistance and fire resilience that characterize transitions from desirable to undesirable fire regimes; and 3) prioritizing management activities based on resistance of areas to invasion and resilience to fire.
View brief.
This brief produced by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies displays the historic and current range of sage-grouse, identifies sage-grouse management zones, and provides breeding bird density maps.
View news release.
This USFS news release reports on the largest ever study of fuel treatment effectiveness, where USFS researchers found that intense thinning treatments leaving 50 and 100 trees/acre are the most effective in reducing the probability of crown fires in the dry forests of the western United States.
View guide.
This guide assimilates post-treatment vegetation and fuels data from Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) study sites across six Great Basin states into an assessment tool that can help managers better estimate percent cover, stem density and fuel loadings for post-treatment sites. The post-treatment Guide uses photographs and tables to provide the range of values for each vegetation type allowing users to quickly appraise a site by fuel stratum using an ocular estimate.