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Project ID: 09-1-06-17

Year: 2009

Date Started: 01/01/2010

Ending Date:  12/31/2013

Title: Temporal Dynamics of Ground, Surface, Ladder, and Crown Fuels and Their Potential Effects on Fire Behavior, Following Dendroctonus ponderosae Epidemics in the Pinus contorta Zone of South-Central Oregon

Project Proposal Abstract: Bark beetles are important mortality agents in North America. These insects have caused mortality over millions of acres during the past 30 or so years. Recently however, the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (MPB) has caused extensive lodgepole pine mortality in the western US. Several waves of MPB have occurred over the past 30 years in central and south-central Oregon which peaked at over 1,000,000 acres in 1986. Currently, over 400,000 acres are being impacted in the area. This extensive mortality from bark beetles, and especially the MPB, has raised questions about the potential for catastrophic fire following widespread mortality. Although there is a major concern about fire behavior following widespread tree mortality caused by bark beetles, recent literature has suggested that there is a lack of specific data concerning how MPB caused mortality influences temporal and spatial aspects of fuels and potential fire behavior. This lack of data seriously limits the ability of fire managers to determine when and if fuels treatments will be effective. Our objective is to answer two of the questions stated in PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT No. FA-RFA09-000, Issue Date: September 24, 2008, Area of Interest, F. Fire, insect outbreak, and windstorm effects on fuel profiles and fire behavior. Specifically for the lodgepole pine forests of south central Oregon, on the Deschutes and Fremont-Winema National Forests, we will address the following: 1. How do fuel profiles (ground, surface, ladder and crown fuels) in lodgepole pine forests change over time in response to MPB epidemics in south-central Oregon? 2. What are the effects of MPB epidemics on future fire behavior in lodgepole pine forests of south-central Oregon and how does fire behavior change over time following the epidemics? We propose a retrospective approach to understanding post-MPB-epidemic fuels for the lodgepole pine type on the Deschutes and Fremont-Winema National Forests in order to reconstruct stand development and ground, surface, ladder, and crown fuels. By selecting stands with different time since MPB epidemic (i.e, developing a chronosequence) these reconstructions will be used to detect temporal changes in stand development and ground, surface, ladder, and crown fuels. To model and estimate the temporal and spatial change in potential fire behavior we will use standard fuel models or, if necessary, custom fuels models from our collected data, in conjunction with the fire behavior algorithms in BehavePlus v 4.0.0, FlamMap, and FARSITE. The dataset will also be provided to federal and state fire managers for fire management applications. These data are clearly needed by forest managers on the Deschutes and Fremont-Winema National Forests to aid prediction of fire hazards following MPB caused mortality.

Principal Investigator: David C. Shaw

Agency/Organization: Oregon State University

Branch or Dept: Forest Resources

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Stephen A. Fitzgerald	Oregon State University	Extension Forestry Program
Co-Principal Investigator	Donald J Helmbrecht	Forest Service	RMRS-Fire Sciences Lab-Missoula
Co-Principal Investigator	Laurie L Kurth	NPS-National Park Service	Mount Rainier National Park
Co-Principal Investigator	Travis J. Woolley	Oregon State University	Forest Resources
Federal Cooperator	Andris N Eglitis	Forest Service	Deschutes National Forest
Federal Fiscal Representative	Gidget C. Bishop	Forest Service	Deschutes National Forest

Project Locations

Consortium

Northwest

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	OR	FS	Fremont National Forest
STATE	OR	FS	Winema National Forest
STATE	OR	FS	Deschutes National Forest

Project Deliverables

There is no final report available for this project.

	ID	Type	Title
	8854	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Mountain Pine Beetle and Lodgepole Pine: Fuel for Fire?
	9458	Poster	Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) in South-Central Oregon: Fuel Dynamics and Consequences for Fire Behavior Through Time
	9457	Poster	Mountain Pine Beetle and Lodgepole Pine in South-Central Oregon: Fuel for Fire?

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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