management

The stability of seasonally dry Western mixed-conifer forests is threatened by the history of fire suppression, logging, and now increasing climate-driven aridity. Durable aboveground carbon storage in living trees–a key ecosystem service of these fire-adapted forests–is at risk due to the disruption of natural fire cycles.

Background

Understanding the relative contribution of climate and human factors to wildfires is critical for managing risk across California’s diverse ecosystems, in the United States (US).

Aims

Background

Fire simulation frameworks and decision support systems (DSSs) are critical tools in fire response dispatching that need to consider factors influencing fire spread and suppression difficulty while provide easily interpreted indexes.

Aims

Background

Background

Wildfire suppression is shaped by a complex interplay of environmental conditions, resource allocation and management strategies.

Aims

Background

Background: Wildfire policy has evolved rapidly over the past three decades, necessitating repeated shifts in management and communication strategies for US land management agencies. One growing focus considers the use of “other than full suppression” (OTFS) strategies, where managers use natural ignitions to achieve management objectives when conditions allow.

Mechanical thinning is often prescribed in dry coniferous forests to reduce stand density, ladder fuels, and canopy fuels before using prescribed burning to manage surface fuels. Mechanical mastication is a tool for thinning forests where commercial thinning is not viable.

Background: In collaborative governance, many of the factors that give rise to the need for collaboration are also identified by scholars as undermining its effectiveness. Complex task environments mean that multiple and varied interests are necessary to address problems, but this inherent pluralism may also increase conflict. This suggests a pluralism paradox.

Fuel-reduction and restoration treatments (“treatments”) are conducted extensively in dry and historically frequent-fire forests of interior western North America (“dry forests”) to reduce potential for uncharacteristically severe wildfire.