Get reliable science

Fire is an ecological and social feature that varies across dominant vegetation types, environmental drivers, and social dynamics. Evidence suggests that future fire regimes may include more frequent and intense fires. Moreover, federal agencies are increasingly aware of the need to strategically allow fire to function while continuing to protect life and property. The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado and Wyoming experienced several fires in the year of 2016 including the Beaver Creek Fire (Colorado and Wyoming) and Broadway Fire (Wyoming). The Beaver Creek Fire was highly complex due to the overlap of jurisdictional boundaries, surface ownership, fire weather, acres burned, and cost of the incident. An analysis of burn severity related to soil and vegetation effects is underway in order to assess ecological responses to wildland fire events in the Rocky Mountains with altered lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) fuel types. We are analyzing ecological responses to wildfire events that have exhibited unusual fire behavior which is likely due to beetle kill epidemics, a century of active wildfire suppression, and global climate change. These results will be important in their application to incident and post-burn management for the future. This study is underway in collaboration with the United States Forest Service, University of Wyoming, and Southern Rockies Fire Science Network. Two years of post-fire results and implications of the project will be shared during the discussion.