 Background:
The U.S. Forest Service is currently writing
and implementing forest management
plans that include prescriptions intended
to minimize the risk of catastrophic
fire. There are several knowledge gaps
regarding the influence of forest stand
characteristics on fire intensity and
it is essential that these knowledge
gaps be eliminated. Future forest management
plans should use the best approach
to balance wildlife needs with the
need to reduce fire intensity to conditions
that more closely approximate pre-settlement
conditions. Management prescriptions
often call for the use of prescribed
fire along with thinning and other
mechanical fuel treatments. Wildlife
managers are concerned with the degree
in which heavy forest thinning may
negatively affect wildlife species
(e.g., loss of thermal cover for ungulates).
Location:
The Rodeo-Chedeski fire burned over 450,000
acres in the summer of 2002. Both our pre-
and post-fire data were obtained on the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest southeast of Heber Arizona
within the fire perimeter.
Approach:
 We
used standardized fire severity measurements
developed by the USDA Fire Lab in Missoula,
Montana. The results will be compared to
data that were obtained in years before the
fire swept through the region. These measurements
involve assessing fire severity through forest
measurements (for example, degree of bark
charring on trees, soil alteration, and percent
of canopy mortality) in areas of low moderate
and high fire severity.
Benefits:
This study fits into challenges and strategies
outlined in the Department's Wildlife 2006
Strategic Plan; specifically under Challenge
4 (Wildlife Habitat) by providing technical
guidance that will allow the Department to
work collaboratively to ensure that habitat
is protected and managed to meet wildlife
objectives. Results from this study will
allow natural resource managers to make information-based
decisions regarding the degree to which forest
stands can be thinned and still maintain
their value to wildlife. Also, these results
will suggest whether current forest management
prescriptions aimed at minimizing severe
fire risk within ponderosa pine forests are
successful in their goal. Such information
will be the basis for science based management
and restoration plans that balance forest
and wildlife population health needs.
For more information
contact:
Mylea Bayless, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway Phoenix, AZ 85086-5000
.
Phone: (928) 213-9591 E-mail: mbayless@gf.state.az.us
Michael Ingraldi, Ph.D., Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway Phoenix, AZ 85086-5000
.
Phone: (928) 523-5625 E-mail: mingraldi@cybertrails.com
|
