Fact Sheet / Brief
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This study used historical and projected weather to predict changes in landscape composition and structure under two different climates, three restoration strategies, and two different fire management scenarios. They found that, without active restoration treatments, whitebark pine cannot survive. Management intervention actions such as planting rust-resistant seedlings and employing proactive restoration treatments, can return whitebark pine to some high mountain settings in western North America to create resilient upper subalpine forests for the future.
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This study introduces a number of newer concepts and methods related to transboundary risk governance for the state of Arizona. The methods fill a gap in existing risk assessment efforts by explicitly identifying transboundary exposure. We show how the methods and results can be used to better define the scale of risk and design effective risk governance institutions. Improving scale recognition within existing transboundary risk governance systems can help reduce inefficiencies in risk planning.
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The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) has addressed this need by surveying invasive species coordinators in WGA member states and territories Top 50 Invasive Species in the West to develop the “Top 50 Invasive Species in the West.” The compilation of terrestrial and aquatic invasive species includes highly-publicized examples such as cheatgrass, Quagga Mussels, tamarisk and the Emerald Ash Borer. The list also encompasses less well known, but still impactful, examples such as leafy spurge, Red shiner, Russian knapweed, and Golden algae.
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Smoke from wildfires is a public health concern. Smoke affected the entire Pacific Northwest region in 2015, and again in 2017. Scientists developed the BlueSky Modeling Framework that forecasts where smoke will travel, allowing public health agencies and communities to prepare for smoke impacts. Wildfires are here to stay. Scientists predict that with climate change, the annual area burned will continue to increase. Learning to coexist with wildfire means we will have to learn to coexist with some amount of smoke.
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This report concerns a small facet of the JFSP-funded MASTIDON study in which summaries of the physical and chemical fuel properties of the sampled masticated fuelbeds were presented and the relationships of these properties to fuel age were explored. The scientist documented masticated fuelbed characteristics and correlated these characteristics to fuelbed age for ponderosa pine and mixed conifer stands of the US Rocky Mountains that were masticated using four techniques.
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Managing wildfire for resource benefits and ecological purposes refers to a strategic choice to use naturally ignited fires to achieve resource management objectives.
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The 2017 Fire Narrative and Timeline tells the story of successes and challenges, and also addresses emerging technology and science, such as Quantitative Risk Assessment, Risk Management Assistance Teams, and using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones) for infrared and reconnaissance flights.
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This report found that treating low infestations across all three levels of forage production yields a financial gain, ranging from 21 cents to $4.94 per acre. However, treating highly infested areas showed a financial loss of $3.76 to $5.43 per acre, despite the level of forage production. Moderate infestations showed a financial gain with treatment only on sites producing 1,000 or 1,500 pounds per acre of forage.
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Cheatgrass is now found in at least 49 states, although it’s mainly a problem in the semi-arid Great Basin — which stretches across portions of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, and California — since its adapted to thrive in areas with wet winters and hot, dry summers. People are now used to seeing cheatgrass-dominated landscapes, but it’s not what we should see.
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Collaborations and partnerships are increasingly recognized as essential for effective natural resource conservation. In fact, the collaborative partnerships that developed from 2010 to 2015 have been recognized as a key reason why the greater sage-grouse was kept off the federal endangered species list. Whether partnerships between federal and state agencies with private landowners, restoration projects coordinated between non-profit groups and land management agencies, or the thousands of hours negotiating state sage-grouse conservation plans, the collaborative efforts across the West were – and still are – unprecedented.