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Project ID: 03-3-2-04

Year: 2003

Date Started: 07/29/2003

Date Completed: 10/04/2007

Title: Prescribed Burning to Protect Large Diameter Pine Trees From Wildfire - Can We Do It Without Killing the Trees We Are Trying to Save?

Project Proposal Abstract: There is growing concern from the National Park Service and the US Forest Service in northern California that prescribed burning to reduce fuel in areas with large diameter and old-growth trees is causing increased mortality of these high-value trees. A probable cause is the extended burning of large duff accumulations resulting from 100 years of fire suppression. Burning when duff moistures are low can lead to root mortality and basal girdling from the duff mounds smoldering. Even with mechanical thinning to reduce ladder fuels and the probability of crown damage, the problem of deep duff mounds and below-ground damage still exists. In order for managers to create successful prescribed bum programs that reduce fuel and restore areas to near historical conditions, information is needed on duff and litter depth, their impacts when burned on tree survivability, and methods for their manipulation that are effective, quick, and inexpensive. This study addresses task 2 of the RFP by implementing an administrative study to meet the local land management need of knowing how to best prescribe burn in areas of large-diameter and old-growth trees to reduce fuels without killing desirable trees. The study will 1) evaluate the economic feasibility and biologic effectiveness of removing duff mounds away from trees to reduce large tree mortality and 2) develop prescribed fire guidelines to reduce damage to large- diameter ponderosa and Jeffery pine in areas of deep duff. By removing duff, managers could potentially burn under a wider range of weather conditions and different seasons, leading to more acres treated with less large-diameter tree mortality and fewer bark beetle attacks. This effort will give prescribed fire managers and line officers better criteria when making prescribed burn decisions for areas containing large diameter trees.

Principal Investigator: Sharon M. Hood

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Mike Lewelling	NPS-National Park Service	Rocky Mountain National Park
Co-Principal Investigator	Kevin C. Ryan	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Federal Cooperator	Sharon M. Hood	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula

Project Locations

Consortium

California

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
	6442	Refereed Publication	Estimating Fuel Bed Loadings in Masticated Areas
	6445	Invited Paper/Presentation	Forest Floor Consumption and Tree Injury After Prescribed Burning Old-Growth Pine Sites in California
	6444	Invited Paper/Presentation	Estimating Fuel Bed Loadings in Masticated Areas
	6446	Poster	Prescribed Burning to Protect Large Diameter Pine Trees From Wildfire-Can we do it Without Killing the Trees We’re Trying to Save?

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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