Fact Sheet / Brief
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Seeding across two years was beneficial as 2021–2022 was warm and dry (less growth) and 2022–2023 was cold and wet (more growth). The perennial seed mix of forbs, grasses, and shrubs used included nine
dryland species. The forbs were most successful, with the best results in the high seeding rate during the cold, wet year. Unexpectedly, the perennial shrubs and grasses hardly germinated. Researchers suspect
perhaps the commercially grown seeds were not adapted to the Reno climate, or there was not enough rainfall. Bethedging like this with high rates of annual seedling, that include different plant groups, and across multiple years, could be helpful for landscapes with unpredictable interannual weather patterns.
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Aspens impede fire spread
- The study found that, as the percentage of aspen cover increased in a burned patch, the daily area burned and maximum linear spread both decreased. This effect increased as the percentage of aspen cover increased. For example, when aspen cover within a daily burn patch was less than 10 percent, the mean burned patch size was 1112 ± 84 ha/day. However, when aspen cover exceeded 25 percent, the mean daily burned patch size averaged 368 ± 43 ha/day. The researchers found similar effects for linear spread.
- These effects remained consistent relative to other vegetation types regardless of weather or climate. So, while particularly dry or windy conditions cause all vegetation types to burn more, aspen stands still burn at a lower rate than conifer stands. Aspens influence fire perimeters
- Aspens were also disproportionally represented at the perimeters of fires—they were 44 percent more abundant in perimeters than burn interiors. While aspen stands will not stop a fire dead in its tracks,
this result indicates that they can alter fire perimeters and potentially help slow fire spread.
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Land managers rely on best available information and relevant research for decision making, but matching the right information to the right questions can sometimes be challenging. To close this gap, when researchers and managers co-produce research from the beginning it is more likely research findings will have practical applications. Recently published work by USDA Forest Service researchers Chris Armatas, Teresa Hollingsworth, and colleagues working at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI) in Missoula, Montana, reflects on both the benefits and tradeoffs of using a co-production approach for developing the ALWRI 10-year science agenda intended to help inform management of wilderness areas.
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This brief distills the collective experience of 250+ fire and wildlife professionals into nine of the most persistent challenges—and provides 36+ practical approaches that are already working on the ground. Drawn from a regional workshop and follow-up webinar series, it highlights field-tested strategies that help align wildlife conservation and fire management through shared tools, proactive planning, and stronger collaboration.
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When the Black Fire ignited in southwestern New Mexico in 2022, it had all the ingredients for disaster: record-high winds, extremely low humidity, and over 131,000 hectares (323,708 acres) of forest fuels to feed on. But something unexpected happened. Instead of becoming another catastrophic megafire, it burned mostly at low to moderate severity. The secret? The landscape had already experienced dozens of previous fires, both planned and natural, that helped tame the beast.
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To restore ecosystem health and reduce the negative impacts of wildfire, scientists and land managers argue that more prescribed fire is needed on the land. However, a lack of effectively trained personnel in the role of “burn boss” is a barrier to increasing safe and effective prescribed burning. Burn bosses are responsible for planning and implementing prescribed burns. There are two key contributors to the shortage of these positions: the first is retirement without replacing personnel, and the second is insufficient training mechanisms necessary to increase the number of personnel capable of responding to the challenges of conducting prescribed burns. This research brief summarizes a case study on the redesign of federal prescribed fire training, utilizing up-to-date understanding of adult learning to enhance training effectiveness.
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To effectively manage fire, land and fire managers need detailed, current local information – for example, the amount of burnable material present, fuel moisture levels, winds, temperatures, and terrain changes across time and space. Managers also need these data to decide where, when, and how to treat a landscape while balancing costs and benefits, projected wildfire risk, and potential impacts.
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A new set of tools developed by the Rocky Mountain Research Station and partners can answer managers complex, spatially related questions in minutes. Raster Tools uses numerous lines of code and mathematical functions that empowers any analyst to model outcomes and create custom tools for natural resource planning and management. For example, managers can use it to determine the cost of specific wildfire treatments, transporting materials, or harvesting on their landscape.
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Researchers at UC Berkeley and the US Forest Service sought to evaluate the influence of forest structure and composition, topography, and weather on fire severity in a third successive fire. They investigated the structural conditions emerging after successive burns, whether these conditions contributed to fire severity, and how these conditions compared to historical estimates. Their study utilized a network of Forest Service field plots in the Plumas and Lassen National Forests that had been initially burned in the Storrie and Rich Fires in 2000 and 2008, reburned in the Chips Fire in 2012, and were then subject to a second reburn in the 2021 Dixie Fire. Plots were sampled in 2017 and 2018 following the Chips Fire and in 2023 following the Dixie Fire.
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When wildland firefighters head into the field, they know the work is dangerous; but until now, agencies lacked detailed data on exactly which activities and hazards posed the greatest threats. A recent analysis of five years of serious firefighter injuries offers new insights.