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The Northwest Fire Science Consortium works to accelerate the awareness, understanding, and adoption of wildland fire science. We connect managers, practitioners, scientists, and local communities and collaboratives working on fire issues on forest and range lands in Washington and Oregon.

Learn more about NWFSC...


JFSP Regions

JFSP Logo

NWFSC is one of
fifteen regional exchanges
sponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program.

UPCOMING WEBINAR:

Strategies to reduce wildfire smoke in frequently impacted communities in SW Oregon

Tuesday March 21, 12pm PT

More info & Register HERE.

Hot Topics

Multi-Objective Scheduling of Fuel Treatments to Implement a Linear Fuel Break Network

Authored by P. Belavenutti; A.A. Ager; M.A. Day; W. Chung; Published 2022

We developed and applied a spatial optimization algorithm to prioritize forest and fuel management treatments within a proposed linear fuel break network on a 0.5 million ha Western US national forest. The large fuel break network, combined

Using soil moisture information to better understand and predict wildfire danger: a review of recent developments and outstanding questions

Authored by E.S. Krueger; M.R. Levi; K.O. Achieng; J.D. Bolten; J.D. Carlson; N.C. Coops; Z.A. Holden; B.I. Magi; A.J. Rigden; T.E. Ochsner; Published 2023

Soil moisture conditions are represented in fire danger rating systems mainly through simple drought

Environmental justice analysis of wildfire-related PM2.5 exposure using low-cost sensors in California

Authored by A.L. Kramer; J. Liu; L. Li; R. Connolly; M. Barbato; Y. Zhua; Published 2023 Highlights • Wildfire may exacerbate health disparities & environmental justice concerns. • Low-cost PM2.5 sensors improve wildfire impact assessment. • Increases in PM2.5 correlate with wildfire activity (

The interactional approach to adaptive capacity: Researching adaptation in socially diverse, wildfire prone communities

Authored by T. Paveglio; Published 2022

This article outlines an approach for understanding the ways that local social context influences differential community adaptation to wildfire risk. I explain how my approach drew from Wilkinson’s interactional theory of community during

High-severity burned area and proportion exceed historic conditions in Sierra Nevada, California, and adjacent ranges

Authored by J.N. Williams; H.D. Safford; N. Enstice; Z.L. Steel; A.K. Paulson; Published 2023

Although fire is a fundamental ecological process in western North American forests, climate warming and accumulating forest fuels due to fire suppression have led to wildfires that burn at

High-severity fire drives persistent floristic homogenization in human-altered forests

Authored by J.M. Weeks; J.E.D. Miller; Z.L. Steel; E.E. Batzer; H.D. Safford; Published 2023

Ecological disturbance regimes across the globe are being altered via direct and indirect human influences. Biodiversity loss at multiple scales can be a direct outcome of these shifts. Fire, especially in dry forests, is

The outsized role of California’s largest wildfires in changing forest burn patterns and coarsening ecosystem scale

Authored by G. Cova; V.R. Kane; S. Prichard; M. North; A. Cansler; Published 2023 Highlights • We evaluated trends for 1,809 fires that burned 1985–2020 across California forests. • Top 1% of fires by size burned 47% of total area burned across the study period. • Top 1% (18 fires)

Use of the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) for full suppression and managed fires within the Southwestern Region of the US Forest Service

Authored by S.D. Fillmore; T.B. Paveglio; Published 2023

Background: United States federal wildland fire policy requires the use of formal decision support systems (DSS) for fire incidents that last for an extended time. However, the ways that

Lizards' response to the sound of fire is modified by fire history

Authored by L. Alvarez-Ruiz; J.G. Pausas; D.T. Blumstein; B.J. Putman; Published 2023 Highlights • Lizards surviving wildfires are more alert to fire sound than those in unburned areas. • Lizards living in urban areas reacted to fire sound similarly to wildfire survivors. • Both natural and human-driven disturbances can shape the