Optimizing Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildland Fire Risk

Abstract

Fuel treatments have been widely used as an effective fire management tool to mitigate catastrophic wildland fire risk in forested landscapes. Fire research efforts of the last two decades have significantly advanced fire behavior modeling and fuel treatment effects analysis, but integrated fuel treatment planning and optimization models have yet to be extensively developed and used, mainly due to the complexity of the planning problem. This paper describes the problem complexity in terms of essential considerations when deciding where, when, and how to perform fuel treatments. Previous studies published in mainstream peer-reviewed journals are summarized and identified by their unique contributions, assumptions, and simplifications. Only a handful studies assessed fuel treatment effects in spatial and temporal contexts and incorporated them into the optimization framework. Most of these existing studies introduced optimization approaches as proof of concept with limited applications. It is hoped that future studies will build on these previous efforts and develop more efficient and integrated optimization approaches that can address multiple concerns simultaneously while producing effective fuel treatment plans for field implementation.

Strategically placed landscape fuel treatments decrease fire severity and promote recovery in the northern Sierra Nevada

“…The natural experiment created when the American Fire burned through half of the Last Chance study site allowed us to quantify treatments' effects on wildfire resistance and forest recovery given realworld constraints on treatment placement. As noted in a recent review (Chung, 2015), there is a pressing need for "more reliable and field-verified data" to develop more efficient fire models appropriate for use by fire managers. Our results meet this need.…”

Empirical Support for the Use of Prescribed Burning as a Fuel Treatment

“…At best, as indicated by leverage studies, PB will replace wildfire area. Given the relatively low return for effort of PB, it is crucial to carefully consider its spatial patterns [22], namely by using adequate optimization methods [76]. Insufficient resources and other constraints can easily preclude treatment of the required fraction of the landscape for PB to have a tangible effect on wildfire extent.…”

Oregon greater sage-grouse : draft resource management plan amendment and environmental impact statement /

“…Experience and modeling in forest ecosystems indicate that fuels treatments on landscapes need to be strategically placed with respect to expected fire spread direction and topography in order to affect potential fire size and fire behavior, particularly since most large wildfires are larger than individual treatment areas (Finney 2001(Finney , 2007Schmidt et al 2008;Chung 2015). When fuels treatments are randomly placed, a larger proportion of the landscape must be treated to have the same effect on fire size and fire behavior as strategically placed treatments (Finney 2001(Finney , 2007.…”