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Release No. FS-0411 |
Contact: |
Heidi Valetkevitch, (202) 205-1089
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RESEARCH PAPER SUPPORTS FUEL TREATMENTS TO REDUCE WILDFIRE THREATS
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2004 –
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service today released
a new scientific report that illustrates the use of hazardous fuel
treatments as an effective means to reduce the threat of catastrophic
fire to communities. The study also found that these treatments
improve and maintain forest health as called for in the President
Bush’s Healthy Forests Initiative.
“This report provides a valuable summary of our current knowledge
on the relationship between forest structure and wildfire intensity,”
said Deputy Chief of Forest Service Research and Development Ann
Bartuska. “This information can be used to design more effective
fuel treatments.”
More than 80 years of fire research have shown
that physical setting, weather and fuels combine to determine wildfire
intensity and severity. Of these three factors, fuels are the only
ones that can be treated. “Science Basis for Changing
Forest Structure to Modify Wildfire Behavior and Severity”
focuses on the effectiveness of fuel treatments in forests in the
western United States that historically experienced frequent, low-intensity
fires. The report found that thinning brush and trees and conducting
prescribed burns are necessary to reduce the likelihood of extreme
wildland fires known as “crown” fires. In dense forests,
a combination of prescribed fire and thinning is more effective
than either method by itself.
“The effectiveness of treatments that alter fire behavior
and how often these treatments need to be maintained will vary with
forest type, climate, soils, landscape patterns and overall forest
health and productivity,” Bartuska said. “Despite these
variations, the bottom line is that fuel treatments reduce the threat
of intense fires.”
According to the report, states maintaining treatments over time
can restore forests to a more resilient condition and improve forests
health, particularly in ponderosa pine and the drier Douglas-fir
forests. Historically, frequent low-intensity fires cleared these
forests types of brush and grass but left trees alive and healthy.
Extreme fires were uncommon. By excluding fire from the natural
cycle through decades of fire suppression, extended drought and
other changes, the result is greater tree densities and a buildup
of flammable vegetation across large areas of the forest landscape.
The build up of vegetation provides “ladders” for wildfire
to climb into the tree tops. In areas where trees are densely packed,
the fires can spread rapidly from tree-to-tree in a phenomenon known
as “crowning.” Crown fires are intense, fast moving
and nearly impossible for fire fighters to contain. They threaten
communities and damage key resources, including timber, fish and
wildlife habitat, soils and drinking water quality.
Under President Bush’s Healthy Forests Initiative, the federal
land management agencies plan to reduce hazardous fuels on almost
4 million acres of forests and rangelands in 2004 compared to 2.8
million acres in 2003.
“Science Basis for Changing Forest
Structure to Modify Wildfire Behavior and Severity” is
a comprehensive report that includes data from other previously
released peer-reviewed scientific reports published by the Rocky
Mountain Research Stations. These reports studied the relationship
between fuel treatments and wildfire behavior. The full report is
available at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr120.html.
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