May 16, 2012: Wildland Fire Assessment Tool

Presenter: Eva Strand & Josh Hyde (NIFTT University of Idaho) WFAT provides an interface between ArcMap, FlamMap 5, and the First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM), combining their strengths into a spatial fire behavior and fire effects analysis tool in GIS. In the webinar, you will learn how to use WFAT to locate potential fuel …

December 14, 2011: Carbon and water balances of southwestern ponderosa pine forests

In this webinar Dr. Thomas Kolb summarized the key findings of a six-year study of impacts of intense fire and fuel-reduction thinning on the carbon and water balances of ponderosa pine forests in Arizona. The results should be of interest to fire and forest managers and climate change scientists who want more information about impacts …

February 15, 2011: Effectiveness of post-fire seeding and herbicide treatments to battle cheatgrass in Zion National Park

Presenter: Andrea Thode (Northern Arizona University) Fine fuels from non-native, annual brome grasses have overcome native plants across much of Zion Canyon in Zion National Park. This invasion threatens the single road that provides access into—and escape from—the canyon, creating a threat to human life should a large wildfire occur there. In addition, native riparian …

October 19, 2011: Fuel Treatment Effectiveness on the Wallow Fire

Presenters: Jim Pitts and Judy Palmer (USFS) A small team was assembled to work with the Apache-Sitgreave National Forest and local partners to assess the effects of the fuel treatments and compile a report with the findings. The report “How Fuel Treatments Saved Homes from the 2011 Wallow Fire” was the product of this effort. …

March 18, 2012: Fire Regime Condition Class Mapping Tool

Presenters: Steve Barrett & Jeff Jones (NIFTT University of Idaho) The FRCC Mapping Tool quantifies the departure of vegetation conditions and fire regimes from a set of reference conditions representing the historical range of variation. The tool, which operates from an ArcGIS platform, derives several metrics of departure (e.g., vegetation composition and structure, fire severity, …

March 2010: Ecological Impact of Mastication

Mike Battaglia (USFS RMRS) presented results from the Joint Fire Science Project on the Ecological Impact of Mastication. Mike reported on the impact of mastication on the chemical and physical conditions of the forest floor, vegetation regrowth, and fuel development. The study included 18 sites across four ecosystems of the southern Rocky Mountains and the …

July 28, 2010: A Synthesis of the Science on Forests and Carbon for U.S. Forests

Dr. Mike Ryan, USDA Forest Service Research Forest Ecologist, presented a scientific synthesis of the forest carbon cycle. The synthesis covers the entire US, but Dr. Ryan focused on the western US for this webinar. Forests play a key role in the carbon cycle and their growth and harvested wood products currently offsets 12-19% of …

Managing Wildfire: Blazing the Trail in the Southwest

Recent changes in federal fire management policy have given fire managers increased flexibility to manage wildfires for multiple objectives. Fire managers can allow one flank of a fire to continue burning through remote backcountry, while actively suppressing another flank that threatens homes, infrastructure, or other values. Fire managers across the Southwest discuss the benefits of the new policy and the continuing challenges of managing fire.

Click here for accompanying “Managing Wildfire” write up containing more detail.


Buffelgrass: Southern Arizona Fights Back

The ecological and economic threat that buffelgrass poses to the community of Tucson and the surrounding area has sparked an unprecedented level of cooperation among land managers, nonprofits, government at all levels, and representatives from the business community. The Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Coordination Center represents a model of cross-­‐jurisdiction cooperation and community engagement in response to an environmental threat.

Click here for accompanying “Buffelgrass” write up containing more detail.


April 18, 2012: First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM)

Presenter: Duncan Lutes (RMRS Fire Modeling Institute, Missoula, MT) FOFEM is a computer program for predicting first order fire effects including tree mortality, fuel consumption, smoke production, and soil heating caused by prescribed fire or wildfire. In this webinar you will learn about the FOFEM algorithms, how to prepare the input data, run the tool …