Restoration and Hazardous Fuel Reduction

Background

As wildfires in the western US grow in both size and intensity, forest policymakers and managers seek effective ways to mitigate and adapt to increasing wildfire risk.

In forests adapted to frequent fire, fuel treatments aim to restore resilience by disrupting the horizontal and vertical fuel continuity that drives catastrophic crown fires. Although foundational, traditional plot-scale measurements cannot capture the continuous structural patterns that influence fire behavior at stand or landscape spatial scales.

Background

Forest treatments such as prescribed burns, mastication, and thinning are widely implemented across the western USA to reduce fuels and enhance wildfire resilience. These practices also influence snow accumulation and melt, which, in turn, affect snow storage and duration.

Background

Background

Background

Background

Reduced fire frequency is recognized as a main cause of piñon–juniper (Pinus–Juniperus L.) expansion in western North American sagebrush steppe and grasslands. Piñon–juniper woodland control using prescribed fire and mechanical treatments have increased the past three decades with the goal of restoring sagebrush steppe plant communities.