October 2014: Jemez Mountains

We put together a field trip for the JFSP governing board to tour the Jemez Mountains area with a focus on understanding/studying the fires that occurred there over several decades. The field trip materials below are listed in order of each place we stopped. We also have provided a virtual field trip with photos of …

September 17, 2014: Fire management in the Gila National Forest and Saguaro National Park

Presenter: Molly Hunter – Northern Arizona University Fire suppression has been the dominant fire management strategy in the West over the last century. However, managers in the Gila National Forest and Saguaro National Park have allowed fire to play a more natural role for decades. In a newly published report, we summarize the effects of …

August 27, 2014: A panel perspective on regeneration in Southwest pine forests after high severity wildfire

Panelists: Pete Fulé – Northern Arizona University, Collin Haffey – USGS Jemez Field Station, José Iniguez and Suzanne Owen – USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Jim Youtz – USFS Southwestern Region, Joy Mast – Carthage College The Southwest Fire Science Consortium is hosting a panel discussion on regeneration of pine forests after high severity wildfires. …

August 21, 2014: Pinaleño Mountain Range

We conducted a single day field trip to learn about the fire and disturbance history of the Pinaleño Mountain Range in southeastern Arizona. We discussed the disturbance history, primarily from fire and insect, the local management plans to restore mixed conifer and spruce-fir through the Pinaleño Ecosystem Restoration Project, the threatened and endangered species concerns, …

June 11, 2014: People, fire, and insects: Three centuries of disturbance interactions along an ecological gradient of the Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona

Presenter: Kit O’Connor, University of Arizona In the Pinaleño Mountains of Southeast Arizona, a series of high-severity insect outbreaks and fires in recent decades appear to be unprecedented in the historical record.  These disturbances raise concerns about forest resilience and long-term sustainability of one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes in the southwest.  We used …

May 29, 2014: A resilience ecology framework for southwestern forests: Ecosystem shifts, landscape disturbance and climate change

Presenter: Donald Falk, University of Arizona In this webinar, Dr. Don Falk will review the basic concepts of ecological resilience as it applies to fire-adapted ecosystems in the Southwest. He will discussion how these concepts apply to the challenge of maintaining resilience in a rapidly changing world. Lastly, he will explore how maintaining resilience can …

March 12, 2014: Identifying Priority Treatment Areas Across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests

Presenter: Joe Crouse, Ecological Restoration Institute To address concerns regarding how to prioritize treatments across the forests, the Ecological Restoration Institute received funding from the USDA Forest Service to identify priority treatment areas across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. In addition, Forest Service personnel stated a need to identify areas within the Wallow Fire perimeter that …

February 13, 2014: Restoring Composition and Structure in Southwestern Frequent-Fire Forests: A science-based framework for improving ecosystem resiliency

Presenters: Richard Reynolds, Andrew Sánchez Meador, James Youtz, Tessa Nicolet, Megan Matonis, Patrick Jackson, Donald DeLorenzo, Andrew Graves (based on RMRS-GTR-310) Originally intended as pre-work for “Fostering resilience in Southwestern ecosystems: A problem solving workshop” on February 13, 2014. Watch the webinar recording.