Research and Publications
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In this synthesis of the latest available science, authors challenge the underlying assumptions used to establish most carbon-trading mechanisms, including the notion that lightly managed or unmanaged forests will be more effective at sequestering carbon over long periods than would a combination of managed forests and efficiently produced wood products. They take issue with the measurement systems used to determine trading parameters and find validity in the concerns that many market experts have expressed about additionality and leakage. This report details reasons to look for other solutions to greenhouse gas emission challenges.
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This study highlights that forbs are important for survival of sage grouse chicks, but it can be hard to grow enough forbs under sagebrush canopies dense enough to meet recommended cover levels. Selective thinning and targeted cattle grazing may offer a path to a win/win solution.
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This report synthesizes current information on the effectiveness of post-fire seeding for both soil stabilization and for prevention of the spread of invasive species in rangelands. This information will help federal land managers make more cost-effective decisions on post-fire stabilization and rehabilitation treatments.
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This study was designed to improve the understanding of both individual and community actions that homeowners currently do or might take to protect their home or property, and the barriers that impede homeowners from completing firewise treatments to their home or property.
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This brief shares information about the Citadel fire incident and lessons learned by and from the Great Basin Smokejumpers.
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This review proposes a classification framework for aspen that is defined by key fire regime parameters (fire severity and probability), and that reflects underlying biophysical settings and correlated aspen functional types. Five aspen fire regime types are proposed: (1) fire-independent, stable aspen; (2) fire-influenced, stable aspen; (3) fire-dependent, seral, conifer-aspen mix; (4) fire-dependent, seral, montane aspen-conifer; and (5) fire-dependent, seral, subalpine aspen-conifer.
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This review summarizes fire use in the forests and woodlands of North America and the current state of the practice, and explores challenges associated with the use of prescribed fire. Although new scientific knowledge has reduced barriers to prescribed burning, societal aversion to risk often trumps known, long-term ecological benefits. Broader implementation of prescribed burning and strategic management of wildfires in fire-dependent ecosystems will require improved integration of science, policy, and management, and greater societal acceptance through education and public involvement in land-management issues.
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Opinion piece in the Washington Post by Crystal Kolden, fire ecologist and assistant professor of geography at the University of Idaho, where she heads the pyrogeography lab.
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The key findings of this synthesis are organized along nine topical areas: types of crown fires; crown fire initiation; crown fire propagation; crown fire rate of spread; crown fire intensity and flame zone characteristics; crown fire area and perimeter growth; crown fire spotting activity; models, systems, and other decision aids for predicting crown fire behavior; and implications for fire and fuel management.
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This guide provides information about stakeholder groups to assist managers as they deal with issues facing these systems. The guide was created for land managers to consult as they plan and carry out projects, particularly on public land where groups often have conflicting interests.