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USFS Report released August 4, 2015

August 4, 2015 article in Washington Post

USFS fuel treatment effectiveness assessment.

The third of four (4) recorded PowerPoint presentations given during the "Preparing For Large Wildfires in New Mexico" workshop series, April 2018.This is the recorded PowerPoint version presented by Mary Stuever. This was the fourth presentation in the 3-hour workshop.

A century of fire exclusion in dry forests across the United States has resulted in high fuel loads and increasing dominance by fire-intolerant vegetation. Federal, state, and private agencies have adopted a goal of managing forests to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire. Forest managers use a variety of tools to create desired conditions within forests; the most common are prescribed fire and mechanical thinning. These two treatments may be used separately or in combination, depending on restoration goals for the forest stand. Before these treatments can be applied, managers must justify their choice by documenting the effects of the treatment on other ecosystem components, such as understory vegetation. Understory vegetation in fire-dominated landscapes often has adapted to regrowing in frequent, low-severity fire regimes. Because fire releases nutrients and, by opening the canopy, allows light to the forest floor, the understory response is positive (e.g., increased growth or reproduction).

All ecosystems are dynamic, changing due to growth, succession and disturbances. Modeling large landscapes in the United States requires the collective knowledge of experienced and knowledgeable vegetation and fire experts. In collaboration with hundreds of colleagues, LANDFIRE produced more than 1,000 state-and-transitions models and descriptions — one for every ecosystem (called Biophysical Settings or BpS) mapped by the Program. The result is a major contribution to basic and applied vegetation ecology across the country.

Today, Governor Susana Martinez joined Housing for Emergency Evacuated and Displaced (HEED) Founder Kristin Derr, Mayor Richard J. Berry, and New Mexico State Forester Tony Delfin at the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque to discuss ways in which New Mexicans can help evacuated families and receive information about fire activity during this wildfire season.