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Project ID: 01-1-6-01

Year: 2001

Date Started: 09/19/2001

Date Completed: 01/03/2005

Title: Fire and Climate Variability in the Inland Pacific Northwest Integrating Science and Management

Project Proposal Abstract: In order to manage fire regimes based on scientific information, it is critical to quantify the spatial and temporal variation in historical fire regimes, link this variation to climatic variability, and develop tools to identify fire hazard based on these linkages. This project addresses tasks 6 and 7 of the Joint Fire Science Program request for proposals 200 1-1 by linking climate to fire regime characteristics and by developing spatially explicit, empirically based tools for predicting fire risks as a function of climatic conditions. We propose a multi-scale analysis of the relationships between climate and topography and spa tio-temporal patterns in hi storical fire regimes in the inland Pacific Northwest, using existing fire history data from the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests. We will identify the primary constraints on fire occurrence and fire extent at three spatial scales. For individual points within watersheds (small scale), topography likely constrains fire sizes, and the rate of fuel accumulation constrains fire occurrence. Across 36 individual watersheds (medium scale) and three national forests (large scale), climatic variation (e.g., El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and extreme drought likely constrain the area burned and location of large fires. We will develop visual products that map fire hazard based on long-lead climate forecasts and our empirical analysis, These outputs will be used as inputs to the Northeastern Cascades Landscape Analysis Management and MonitOring System (NOCLAMMS) using Ecosystem Management Decision Support System (EMDS) software. By understanding how the dominant processes that drive fire regimes change across scales and incorporating this information in decision support systems, we can improve forecasting of large fire events, promote better allocation of fire suppression resources and provide assessment of spatio-temporal patterns of fire effects.

Principal Investigator: John F. Lehmkuhl

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: PNW-Forestry Sciences Lab-Wenatchee

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	James K. Agee	University of Washington	School of Forest Resources
Co-Principal Investigator	Amy Hessl	West Virginia University	Department of Geology & Geography
Co-Principal Investigator	David L. Peterson	Forest Service	PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances
Collaborator/Contributor	Nathan Mantua	University of Washington	Joint Institute-Study of Atmosphere & Ocean
Collaborator/Contributor	Donald Z. McKenzie	Forest Service	PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances
Collaborator/Contributor	John Schelhas	Forest Service	SRS-Alabama A&M University
Federal Cooperator	John F. Lehmkuhl	Forest Service	PNW-Forestry Sciences Lab-Wenatchee

Project Locations

Consortium

Great Basin

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.")

There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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