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Project ID: 06-3-3-14

Year: 2006

Date Started: 07/07/2006

Date Completed: 04/07/2010

Title: Optimizing Spatial and Temporal Treatments to Maintain Effective Fire and Non-Fire Fuels Treatments at Landscape Scales

Project Proposal Abstract: We propose a 3-year project, which includes 1.25 year to integrate existing fire behavior and optimization models into a system for spatially scheduling treatments to maintain effective fire and non-fire fuels treatments at landscape scales, .5 year to test the system on two areas with actual data, and 1.25 year to deliver the system to end users. Land managers are often faced with various obstacles when maintaining effective fuel treatments, such as limited budget and resources, narrow windows for effective prescribed burning conditions, acceptable smoke dispersion, and resource effects. Various modeling systems provide guidance but to address the problem most effectively involves the use of several diverse systems. There is a critical need to merge these systems into one decision support system that streamlines analyses for identifying where and how to treat to maintain desired fuel reduction goals, while meeting given resource and operational constraints. We propose to integrate existing fire behavior, vegetation simulation, and land management planning tools into a system that optimizes maintenance fuel treatment locations in time and space under given resource constraints, and that is immediately deliverable to end users. We will modify the Simulated Annealing algorithm in MAGIS, and use FEE-FVS and FlamMap to predict fuel reduction effects of alternative maintenance treatment locations. This decision support system will be integrated into the current MAGIS framework, so it will utilize the graphical user interfaces, as well as the MAGIS resource scheduling algorithms to evaluate the economic and operational feasibility of fuel treatments. To validate the decision support system, we will develop a spatial and temporal fuel treatments maintenance schedules for the Bitterroot Front Landscape and the Butte North area, and conduct a sensitivity analysis. To ensure that our results are useful to field managers, we will present our results at four to six meetings and two workshops with managers. We will also develop web-based tutorials and an electronic bulletin board for users to share information and ideas. Based on the MAGIS graphical user interfaces, this easy-to-use decision support system will greatly help managers to make better decisions about their fuel management by providing the best spatial and temporal locations of fuel treatments. Our research thus addresses Task 3 of JFSP AFP 2006-3, "Proposals are sought that develop guidance for maintaining effective fire and non-fire fuels treatments, with the aim of supporting long-term fuels management."

Principal Investigator: J. Greg Jones

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: RMRS-Forestry Sciences Lab-Missoula

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Woodam Chung	University of Montana	College of Forestry & Conservation
Co-Principal Investigator	Carl A. Seielstad	University of Montana	Department of Forest Management
Co-Principal Investigator	Hans R. Zuuring	University of Montana	College of Forestry & Conservation
Collaborator/Contributor	Mark A. Finney	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Collaborator/Contributor	Elizabeth D. Reinhardt	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Federal Cooperator	James Saveland	Forest Service	RMRS-Natural Resources Research Center

Project Locations

Consortium

Northern Rockies

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
	8214	NonRefereed Publication	Developing a Decision Support System to Optimize Spatial and Temporal Fuel Treatments at a Landscape Scale
	7866	Computer Model/Software/Algorithm	Spatial and Temporal Optimization Algorithm for Scheduling Fuel Treatments Across a Landscape
	8605	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Optimizing Placement of Fire and Non-Fire Fuel Treatments Over Time at Landscape Scales
	7715	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	FIREMAGIS Workshop
	8212	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	A Decision Support System to Optimize Spatial and Temporal Fuel Treatments
	7863	Dataset (including spatial)	Map PDF of Willow-Gird Project Area on the Bitterroot National Forest, Montana
	7719	Dataset (including spatial)	Data Set for Testing the FIREMAGIS System
	8646	Photo	Compares the expected loss value for a fuel treatment scenario with no action (untreated landscape).
	8648	Photo	OptFuels screen for entering fire scenario conditions for flamMap.
	8647	Photo	Prescribed fire fuel treatment.
	8645	Photo	Compares fire arrival time for a fuel treatment scenario with no action (untreated landscape).
	8649	Poster	Spatial and Temporal Optimization of Fuel Treatments
	7713	Poster	Spatial and Temporal Optimization of Fuel Treatments
	8606	Poster	OptFuels: Spatial and Temporal Optimization of Fuel Treatments

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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