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Project ID: 11-1-8-4

Year: 2011

Date Started: 10/01/2011

Ending Date:  09/30/2014

Title: How Do Pile Age and Season of Burn Influence Combustion and Fire Effects?

Project Proposal Abstract: Typical hazardous fuel reduction treatments target small diameter trees for removal producing large amounts of woody material, much of which is piled and burned on site. Little is known about how physical characteristics and the environmental conditions under which piles are burned affects atmospheric emissions, carbon pools and fluxes, soils, and vegetation. We propose experimental pile burns in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and the Southwest (SW) to provide managers in these regions with new information documenting the effects of burning piles of increasing age under different environmental conditions. Specifically we will measure combustion rate and duration, fuel consumption, charcoal production, burn intensity (above and below ground heat fluxes), changes in soil properties (nutrient levels and hydrophobicity), adjacent tree damage, surface vegetation responses, and changes in invasive species prevalence after pile burning. We will identify one location in each region that has undergone a typical "thin from below" silvicultural fuel treatment in the summer of 2011, construct, characterize, and instrument 100 piles (50 in the PNW and 50 in the SW), and burn replicate piles (n=5) at six-month intervals to test the effects on the above-listed measures of increasing age (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 years since piling) under two different seasons (spring vs. fall). Deliverables will include peer-reviewed publications documenting the research results; manager-focused fact sheets, webinars, and field visits; archived data; and an enhanced version of the Piled Fuels Biomass and Emissions Calculator in a format that is compatible with the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System. Providing fuel and fire practitioners with detailed, quantitative information about the effects of pile burning will inform key management decisions about when to burn and how to minimize potential negative emissions, soil, carbon, and vegetation impacts.

Principal Investigator: Clinton S. Wright

Agency/Organization: Forest Service

Branch or Dept: PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Budget Contact	Rebecca A. Slick	Forest Service	PNW-Pacific Northwest Research Station
Co-Principal Investigator	Alexander M. Evans	Forest Guild
Co-Principal Investigator	Karen A. Haubensak	Northern Arizona University	College of Engineering, Forestry & Natural Sciences
Federal Cooperator	Clinton S. Wright	Forest Service	PNW-Seattle-Managing Natural Disturbances
Grants and Agreements Contact	Christina T. Bui	Forest Service	PNW-Pacific Northwest Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Northwest

Southwest

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	WA	FS	Wenatchee National Forest
STATE	NM	BIA	Pueblo of Santa Clara

Project Deliverables

There is no final report available for this project.
There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

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