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Project ID: 05-4-3-15

Year: 2005

Date Started: 05/11/2005

Date Completed: 07/14/2009

Title: Integrated Analysis for Management of Fire and Fuels, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecological Processes, and Conservation of Sensitive Aquatic Species

Project Proposal Abstract: We propose development of a spatially explicit decision support system that integrates knowledge of aquatic species needs into the Fire Effects Planning Framework (JFSP 2004). Hazardous fuels projects increasingly come into conflict with habitat protection needs of threatened, endangered, and sensitive aquatic species. Conflict emerges from uncertainty over whether large wildfires, or the fuels management activities intended to mitigate wildfires, represent a greater threat to the long-term persistence of sensitive species and the quality and extent of their habitats. Managers need to identify landscapes where fuels management, ecological restoration and sensitive species management are in conflict or convergence. Existing information, developed with support from the National Fire Plan and JFSP, indicates that both cases exist, but the relative risks may vary dramatically with landscape and ecological context. To optimize the multiple demands of watershed/habitat protection and improvement and hazardous fuels reduction, managers must weigh the vulnerability and isolation of fish populations and habitats, hydrologic connectivity between hill slopes and critical habitats, and the likelihood of damaging events. In response to AFP 2005-4 Task 3 we propose to develop a spatially explicit aquatic/fire decision support tool and integrate it with the Fire Effects Planning Framework. FEPF is an existing JFSP funded tool that provides managers with the ability to spatially identify and track where fire may provide ecological and social benefits and where it poses risks to accomplishing management goals. FEPF is used at a variety of planning scales to assist in land management plan revision, Fire Management Plan updates, landscape scale fuels treatment planning, and incident support. FEPF currently defines benefits based primarily on vegetative stand condition and considers watershed and fisheries as constraints. With the proposed decision support model the potential benefits to aquatic resources can also be considered. We anticipate significant opportunity for strategically locating fuels treatment to simultaneously resolve both terrestrial and aquatic issues. By integrating this decision support tool into FEPF, which is pursuing an aggressive science delivery and application course, we are able to place this new ability directly and immediately into the hands of managers, facilitating both hazardous fuels reduction and restoration of critical species habitats.

Principal Investigator: Charles H. Luce

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: RMRS-Aquatic Sciences Lab

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Anne E. Black	Forest Service	RMRS-Forestry Sciences Lab-Missoula
Co-Principal Investigator	Paul F. Hessburg	Forest Service	PNW-Forestry Sciences Lab-Wenatchee
Co-Principal Investigator	Carol L. Miller	Forest Service	RMRS-Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
Co-Principal Investigator	Bruce Rieman	Forest Service	RSAC-Remote Sensing Applications Center
Federal Cooperator	Janine E. Powell	Forest Service	RMRS-Rocky Mountain Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Northwest

There are no project locations identified for this project.

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	4655	Refereed Publication	120: Land Use and Land Cover Effects on Runoff Processes: Fire
	4654	Refereed Publication	Landscape Scale Effects of Fuel Management or Fire on Water Resources: The Future of Cumulative Effects Analysis?
	8126	NonRefereed Publication	Evaluating Risks and Opportunities for Gila Trout Management in the Gila National Forest
	8124	NonRefereed Publication	Application of IF3 Decision Support Models for Bull Trout Habitat in Clear Creek, Idaho
	8123	NonRefereed Publication	Avenues for Integration of IF3 Modeling Results with the Fire Effects Planning Framework, FEPF
	8131	Poster	Integrated Analysis for Management of Fire and Fuels, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystem Processes, and Conservation of Sensitive Species
	8125	Poster	Gila Trout Habitat in the Gila National Forest: Current Conditions and Predicted Persistence

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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