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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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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.
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This synthesis chapter presents an assessment of the conservation effects of rangeland planting practices – both the assessment of the direct benefits of specific planting techniques recommended in the range planting standard, and assessment of specific conservation effects of alternative vegetation states.
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This paper predicts moderately more frequent drought for the Great Basin with climate change.
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This study compared mechanical and chemical treatments to control crested wheatgrass and found that effective control can require secondary treatments to reduce the seed bank and open stands to dominance by seeded native species. Manipulation of crested wheatgrass stands to restore native species carries the risk of weed invasion if secondary treatments effectively control the wheatgrass and native species have limited survival due to drought.
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This paper provides a historical perspective on fire in the Pacific Northwest. A warmer climate could bring more fire to the westside of the Cascade Range where summers are typically dry and will probably become drier. We can also expect longer fire seasons. The biggest concern for the future will be an increase in extreme weather events, which can lead to conditions that produce large and rapidly spreading wildfire.
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The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of restoring native plant species to crested wheatgrass-dominated rangeland by testing five suppression treatments. Results suggested that suppression treatments were not effective and therefore did not improve restoration of native species in crested wheatgrass stands. Native species establishment may require subsequent management to favor persistence of native species and retard crested wheatgrass.
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Results of this study indicate that native grasses more readily establish in synchrony with crested wheatgrass than native shrubs, but once established, native shrubs are more likely to coexist and persist with crested wheatgrass because of high niche differentiation (e.g., not limited by the same resource). Results also suggest that developing strategies to minimize interference from crested wheatgrass seedlings emerging from seed banks will enhance the establishment of native species seeded into crested wheatgrass–dominated communities.
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This paper provides a decision framework that integrates fire regime components, plant growth form, and survival attributes to predict how plants will respond to fires and how fires can be prescribed to enhance the likelihood of obtaining desired plant responses.
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This study investigated downy brome and seeded species responses to variable rates of imazapic in two plant communities (salt desert shrub and Wyoming big sagebrush). Overall, imazapic was useful for helping establish desirable perennial species, but unless downy brome is reduced below a critical threshold, favorable precipitation can return sites to pretreatment levels within two years.