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07-1-6-11
2007
06/04/2007
10/28/2011
Tradeoffs in Fire Hazard vs. Societal Benefits in Wildland-Urban Interface Communities
Paradoxically, vegetation is both an asset and a liability to residents living in the wildland-urban interface. The same vegetation that provides both tangible and intangible benefits to society is regularly prone to burn with great intensity and destruction. Therefore, great emphasis is regularly given to vegetation clearance to reduce wildfire risk. However, while fuel reduction treatments may moderate fire risk to residents living in the wildland-urban interface, they will simultaneously impact societal benefits such as air pollution removal and home energy savings that vegetation provides. To investigate this seeming quandary, the proposed research will quantify potential fire behavior (fireline intensity, rate of spread, etc.) versus multiple societal benefits (air pollution removal, energy savings, carbon sequestration, etc.) that vegetation provides in treated and untreated brush- and forest-dominated wildland-urban interface communities. The UFORE (Urban Forest Effects) model will be used to assess societal benefits while various fire behavior prediction systems, including FARSITE, Nexus, and the Fire & Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator will be utilized to assess potential fire behavior across a given landscape for multiple combinations of vegetative composition and structure, weather, and topography. The results of this research will aid land managers and community planners in developing the best strategy for managing vegetation in California's wildland-urban interface.
Christopher A. Dicus
California Polytechnic State University
Natural Resources Management Department

Other Project Collaborators

Other Project Collaborators

Type

Name

Agency/Organization

Branch or Dept

Federal Cooperator

David R. Weise

Forest Service

PSW-Forest Fire Lab-Riverside

Federal Fiscal Representative

Jackie Rountree

Forest Service

PSW-Pacific Southwest Research Station

Project Locations

Project Locations

Fire Science Exchange Network

California

Northwest

Level

State

Agency

Unit

STATE

CA

FS

ALL

Final Report

Project Deliverables

Title
 
Predicted Fire Behavior and Societal Benefits in Three Eastern Sierra Nevada Vegetation CommunitiesView
Shelter-in-Place in the United States: An Historical PerspectiveView
Evaluating Fire Hazard Gains vs. Environmental Losses After Fuel Treatments in the Wildland-Urban InterfaceView
Sheltering in Place as an Alternative to Evacuation During Fires in the Wildland-Urban InterfaceView
Impacts to Fire Risk vs. Environmental Factors After Treating Fuels in the Wildland-Urban InterfaceView
Impacts to Fire Risk vs. Environmental Factors After Treating Fuels in the Wildland-Urban InterfaceView
Fire Down Under: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright TragicView
Applications of the Australian Fire Experience for the United StatesView
Progress Report: FY09View
Effects of Wildland Urban Interface Fuel Treatments on Fire Behavior and Ecosystem Services in the Klamath Mountains of California (J. Large)View
Effects of Wildland-Urban Interface Fuel Treatments on Potential Fire Treatments on Potential Fire Behavior and Ecosystem Services in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California (C. Hamma)View
Long-Term Simulated Wildfire Behavior and Carbon Emissions Following Fuel Treatments in the Klamath Mountains, USAView
Effects of Landscape-Level Fuel Treatments on Carbon Emissions and Storage Over a 50-Year CycleView
Impacts to Fire Risk vs. Environmental Factors After Treating Fuels in the Wildland-Urban InterfaceView
Fire Down Under: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright TragicView

Supporting Documents