Approach
EASTERN: Projected increases in fire occurrence as a result of climate change are expected to increase demand on fire-fighting resources and may force prioritization of fire suppression efforts to targeted areas. Managers may seek to reduce the spread or intensity of fire by using a fuel break, which is a physical barrier such as a road, bulldozer line, or water body. Establishing fuel breaks can be complementary with actions to reduce the fuel load of the forest itself. Fuel breaks can be created to lessen fire spread and intensity in specific areas, such as the wildland-urban interface, but also have the potential to increase fragmentation. (1) WESTERN: Continued escalations in fire occurrence will increase demand on fire-fighting resources and may force prioritization of fire suppression efforts to targeted areas. Managers may seek to reduce the spread or intensity of fire by using a (1) non-vegetated fuel break, which is a physical barrier such as a road, bulldozer line, water body; or (2) vegetated fuel break, where surface, ladder, and canopy fuel loads have been heavily reduced, resulting in minimal fuel continuity. Establishing fuel breaks can be complementary with actions to reduce the fuel load of the vegetation across the forest. Fuel breaks can lessen fire spread and intensity in specific areas of ecological interest or high-risk areas such as the wildland-urban interface. They can also enhance the opportunity for fast, effective, and safe tactical response during wildfire suppression operations. However, fuel breaks also have the potential for greater habitat fragmentation and increased invasive species spread. Thoughtful site selection and careful methods for creating fuel breaks (e.g., take advantage of natural fuel breaks as much as possible) will help minimize negative impacts of fuel breaks.
Tactics
- Using prescribed fire or mechanical thinning to lower the volume of dense vegetation and reduce flammability within a buffer zone of appropriate size for the landscape.
- Creating fire lines (i.e., areas where all vegetation is removed down to mineral soil) between a flammable stand and the wildland-urban interface or a fire-intolerant stand.
- Establishing fuelbreaks along roads, power lines, and other existing features in order to reduce the spread of wildfire while minimizing additional fragmentation.
- Replacing vegetation with nonflammable materials (e.g., replacing vegetation with local rocks) around high-priority areas.
- Removing edge vegetation and lower branches of perimeter trees of flammable stands (e.g., pine islands) to arrest the path of fire from the ground surface to the tree crown.
- Utilizing natural fuel breaks across the landscape, such as exposed rock outcrops and sparsely vegetation ridge tops, when considering the strategic management of future wildfires (e.g., potential operational delineations).
- Reducing canopy bulk density immediately adjacent to human communities (i.e., wildland-urban interface) to reduce the probability of crown fire spread. Focus more on horizontal heterogeneity across the matrix of the forest to create natural openings...
- Creating fuel breaks around fire-sensitive areas of high natural resource value, such as specific Experimental Forests, Research Natural Areas, Botanical Areas, where altered fire regimes would negatively impact target species of the protected area...
Strategy
Strategy Text
Climate change is projected to increase the potential for severe disturbance events, such as wildfire, extreme wind, and ice storms (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] 2012. These disturbances have the ability to alter community composition and structure over large landscapes. Disturbances can interact with other stressors. For example, extreme wind events can cause tree damage and mortality, which increase the risk of pest outbreaks or wildfire. Even as trends continue to emerge, management will need to adjust appropriately to the changes in natural disturbance dynamics.
1. Swanston, C.W.; Janowiak, M.K.; Brandt, L.A.; Butler, P.R.; Handler, S.D.; Shannon, P.D.; Derby Lewis, A.; Hall, K.; Fahey, R.T.; Scott, L.; Kerber, A.; Miesbauer, J.W.; Darling, L.; 2016. Forest Adaptation Resources: climate change tools and approaches for land managers, 2nd ed. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 161 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-87-2