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Wildfires burned more area on non-forested lands than forested lands over the past 20 years. This was true for all land ownerships in CONUS and the western US. Burned area increased over the 20-year time period for both non-forest and forest. Across CONUS, annual area burned was higher on non-forest than forests for 14 of the past 21 years (Fig. 1), and total area burned was almost 3,000,000 ha more in non-forest than in forest. For the western US, total burned area was almost 1,500,000 ha more in non-forest than in forest. From a federal agency perspective, approximately 74% of the burned area on Department of the Interior (DOI) lands occurred in non-forest and 78% of the burned area on US Forest Service (FS) lands occurred in the forest.
The interagency Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) is soliciting proposals from both government and non-government entities through several formal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcements beginning July 13th and remaining open through September 28th at 5 pm MT.
Task Statement I – Accelerating science to action in fire-prone ecosystems: Spurring innovation in adaptation through knowledge exchange and place-based partnerships (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to strengthen partnerships among scientists, practitioners, managers, and other interested parties to accelerate the identification and adoption of science-based management strategies that facilitate adaptation to changing fire regimes.
Task Statement II – Effective fire communication and outreach (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to better understand public perception of wildfire management and effectiveness of fire-related communication strategies to inform effective public fire communication and outreach programs.
Task Statement III – Prescribed fire effects on water quality and quantity (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to inform the use of fire in highly valued watersheds by evaluating the effects of prescribed fire on water quality and quantity.
Task Statement IV – Managing carbon emissions in ecosystems with deep organic soils (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to inform effective strategies for managing carbon stores in deep organic soils that are increasingly impacted by wildfire.
Task Statement V – Social equity and wildland fire impacts, mitigation, response, and recovery (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to gain better understanding of a broad range of direct and indirect wildfire impacts borne by different sectors of society, the time horizons over which these impacts occur, and factors that influence the ability of individuals and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recovery from wildfire.
Task Statement VI – Characterizing wildfire risk in wildland-urban interface and urban settings (view NOFO)
The objective of this task statement is to evaluate and improve existing methods to characterize wildfire risk to wildland urban interface (WUI) and urban settings.
GRIN – Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Award (view NOFO)
The JFSP will continue awarding the Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) program for current master and doctoral students in the field of wildland fire and related physical, biological, and social sciences. Proposals must be directly related to the mission and goals of JFSP to be considered, and they must address management- or policy-related questions related to one or more of the following general topic areas: fuels management and fire behavior, changing fire behavior, emissions and air quality, fire effects and post-fire recovery, relative impacts of prescribed fire versus wildfire, or human dimensions of fire.
The Western Forbs: Biology, Ecology, and Use in Restoration project is now a website.
Westernforbs.org is designed to aid seed collectors, seed growers, nurserymen, landowners, restoration practitioners, and land managers as they increase the supply and use of native forbs.
- Species menu tab – Offers complete reviews that synthesize existing research and practical experience available for western forb species. Anything reported on the biology, ecology, seed technology, and use in wildland restoration is included.
- Lookup Table menu tab – Summarizes forb species data in a searchable and filterable table. Included are the data on taxonomy, distribution, biology, ecology, seed supply development, and nursery and wildland restoration knowledge for each species.