Climate change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows

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Climate change is narrowing and shifting prescribed fire windows

In this study, the authors used observed weather and climate data, as well as climate model simulations, to project shifts in the frequency and seasonality of burn windows in the Western United States. Real-world burn plans were used to calculate median upper and lower prescription values for weather, climate, and vegetation parameters. These upper and lower median values determined days that were suitable for prescribed fire (RxDay) at a given location, in both the past and in a warmer climate future.

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Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California

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Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California

This study analyzed a 2-km hourly gridded weather dataset over a 23-year period to investigate the influence of climatological trends on prescribed fire weather windows. The authors explored how prescribed fire windows changed over this period for two California counties: Sonoma County near the coast and Plumas County in the Sierra Nevada, which contrast in land ownership types, vegetation, and climate. These counties represent diverse prescribed fire considerations in regions where recent catastrophic wildfire has drawn interest from land managers. Using burn prescriptions written by experienced local fire practitioners, the authors identified the degree of weather-driven change in prescribed fire opportunities for these two distinct areas within California.

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Forest restoration and fuels reduction work: Different pathways for achieving success in the Sierra Nevada

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Forest restoration and fuels reduction work: Different pathways for achieving success in the Sierra Nevada

This paper examines a 20-year forest restoration study in the northern Sierra Nevada looking at changes in forest structure and composition, fuel accumulation, modeled fire behavior, intertree competition, and economics resulting from four treatment regimes: multiple applications of prescribed fire (Fire), multiple mechanical restoration thinnings (Mech), multiple mechanical restoration thinnings followed by prescribed fire (Mech + Fire), and untreated controls

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Adaptive Strategies for Managing Bishop pine with Fire

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Adaptive Strategies for Managing Bishop pine with Fire

This study investigates Bishop pine's unique fire ecology, seed bank dynamics, and the impacts pine pitch canker infection has on stands.

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Heading fires consume more fuels than backing fires

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Heading fires consume more fuels than backing fires

Researchers from Michigan State University and the USFS Fire Behavior Assessment Team used 15 years of immediate pre- and post-fire fuel and wildfire behavior data to identify the role of fire advancement mode and pre-fire environmental drivers (e.g., topography, fire weather, and fuel loadings) on fuel consumption and fire effects in California mixed-conifer forests.

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Prescription Burning Reduces Alien Grasses in Native Grassland Restoration

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Prescription Burning Reduces Alien Grasses in Native Grassland Restoration

In Southern California, native bunchgrass communities dominated by Stipa pulchra are widely distributed in the state but often share dominance with non-native annual grasses. Restoration of these grasslands is focused on altering the balance of native to non-native grasses to favor the native perennial grasses. This study investigated the impact of burning on vegetation recovery.

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Shaded fuel breaks create wildfire-resilient forest stands in the Sierra Nevada

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Shaded fuel breaks create wildfire-resilient forest stands in the Sierra Nevada

This study leveraged data collected from 20-year-old forest monitoring plots within fuel treatment units that captured a range of wildfire occurrence (i.e., not burned, burned once, or burned twice) following application of initial thinning treatments and prescribed fire.

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Winter burning opportunities in the Sierra Nevada: Research Brief

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Winter burning opportunities in the Sierra Nevada: Research Brief

With narrowing and potentially non-existent opportunities during other times of year, winter may currently be the most realistic and advantageous time to conduct prescribed burns. This study evaluated the effectiveness and feasibility of winter burning to demonstrate its potential utility in mixed conifer forests.

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Forest mid-story interactions with prescribed fire behavior: Research Brief

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Forest mid-story interactions with prescribed fire behavior: Research Brief

The study used models to predict fire behavior differences according to two primary factors: mid-story density (i.e. the ladder fuel layer) and live fuel moisture. This is relevant for prescribed burns because both of these factors can be modified when conducting burns.

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Forest recovery following extreme drought in California: Research Brief

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Forest recovery following extreme drought in California: Research Brief

This study compares post-drought forests to historical forests to understand if the recent tree mortality event shifted forests closer to or further from resilient conditions.

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Photo credit: Historic conditions in a ponderosa pine stand circa 1917. Source: Sierra National Forest Photo HP0313

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Easing Prescribed Fire Liability Laws Increases its Use as a Management Tool: Research Brief

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Easing Prescribed Fire Liability Laws Increases its Use as a Management Tool: Research Brief

A comparison study of different liability lows shows how gross negligence coupled with some key additional regulations would likely result in prescribed fire being more available to managers while also providing safety assurance to the public.

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Prescribed burning in young stands: Research Synthesis

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Prescribed burning in young stands: Research Synthesis

This synthesis draws recommendations from four studies that are relevant to prescribed burning as a fuels reduction method in young stands. Most studies also looked at potential effects of mastication as a fuels treatment in comparison to prescribed burning.

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Prescribed Fire Can Ease Drought Induced Forest Mortality in Mixed Conifer Forests in the Sierra Nevada: Research Brief

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Prescribed Fire Can Ease Drought Induced Forest Mortality in Mixed Conifer Forests in the Sierra Nevada: Research Brief

The authors of this paper investigated whether or not prescribed fire can create conditions that will reduce drought induced mortality in mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada. 

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