摘要:

A workshop involving 35 scientists was held at Pingree Park, Colorado in October, 1996, to develop procedures for evaluating the hazards and risks associated with extreme wildfire events in central and western Colorado. The basic question was: “Can the existing resource data be used to estimate and portray wildfire hazards and risks in sufficient spatial detail to be useful as a strategic planning and communications tool for decisionmakers? The answer, we believe, is “Yes, with some qualifications.” Illustrations of relative wildfire hazards and the related risks to a variety of resources can be developed, and these can guide discussions about strategic planning for wildfire mitigation efforts. The products can be developed within a period of a few months at reasonable cost, and the lessons learned in this exercise can help make the effort more efficient.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_01

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

A wildfire hazard and risk model was developed in a week-long workshop to test the feasibility of using existing resource data and combined expert assessment to help address the increasing concern over wildfires in the Western United States. The goal was to utilize readily-available resource data, translated into a GIS format, to develop and illustrate relative hazard and risk assessments in a format that would be useful to decision makers. This paper discusses the characteristics of the study area, the data that were assembled, and the methods utilized. The results of the hazard and risk assessments are discussed in the papers that follow.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_02

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

We utilized 10 years of fire data from the Colorado Fire Project, in connection with several GIS databases, to illustrate a method of assigning large-wildfire risk indices to the watersheds of the mountainous western side of Colorado. This was done to identify high-risk areas so that other working groups could utilize wildfire locations, sizes, probabilities, and probable effects as a basis for indexing the risks posed to environmental and cultural resources in the State. The basic questions were: (1) where are large wildfires most likely to be experienced in the future, and (2) what kinds of effects might such fires cause?

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_03

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Historic fire suppression efforts have increased the likelihood of large wildfires in much of the western U.S. Post-fire soil erosion and sedimentation risks are important concerns to resource managers. In this paper we develop and apply procedures to predict post-fire erosion and sedimentation risks on a pixel-, catchment-, and landscape-scale in central and western Colorado.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_04

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Fire, especially stand replacing fire, poses a threat to many threatened and endangered species as well as their habitat. On the other hand, fire is important in maintaining a variety of successional stages that can be important for other animals such as elk. Methods are given here on a variety of ways to approach risk assessment to assist in prioritizing areas for allocation of fire mitigation funds. One example looks at assessing risk to the species and biotic communities of concern followed by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. One looks at the risk to Mexican spotted owls. Another looks at the risk to cutthroat trout, and a fourth considers the general effects of fire and elk.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_05

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Historic land use policies and fire suppression practices have resulted in vegetation conditions and fuel loadings on public lands which increase the potential for catastrophic wildfire events. Air quality is an important consideration during wildfire events and in implementing the fire or smoke management practices which reduce the likelihood and/or impacts of such events. Regulations exist at the national, state, and in some cases local level, to protect public health and visibility/scenic values from the air pollution from many sources, including fire. Air regulators can make informed decisions, and better set priorities in support of implementing wildfire prevention actions and management alternatives, if they can identify and rank areas susceptible to wildfire events relative to the potential risk to air quality values. This information can also be used by land managers to better incorporate air quality considerations into their overall analysis of the cumulative socioenvironmental effects of potential wildfire events. This paper describes a screening method which utilizes readily available data sources and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools in conjunction with an air quality dispersion model to rank risks from potential wildfire events relative to public health and visibility air quality values. The screening method is piloted using information from the State of Colorado. The results can be used to indicate and communicate the potential risk to air quality values for those areas which are susceptible to wildfire events.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_06

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

This chapter describes how people, communities and human artifacts can be represented in a spatial information system so that we can anticipate the social effects of wildfire. The chapter describes pertinent social and economic components of a geographic information system for the State of Colorado. It shows how this kind of information system can be used to estimate the physical risk to people and houses, and to draw useful inferences about the nature of secondary, less tangible, and less predictable social effects resulting from wildfire.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_07

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The potential for severe impacts from a wildland fire, with or without a subsequent severe precipitation event, was evaluated in western and central Colorado and in a case-study area, the former Rio Grande National Forest (NF) of the San Juan-Rio Grande NF. The evaluation involved identifying the factors that are conducive to vulnerability and, additionally, the factors that impede or enhance recovery. Forest ecosystem characteristics that can increase vulnerability to the effects of a severe fire, with or without a subsequent severe precipitation event, include: relative flammability of forest floor materials, the location of nutrient storage (above or below ground), depth of soil, site quality, steepness of slopes, propensity to produce hydrophobic soils, and likelihood of mass movement, among others. Ponderosa pine forests appear more vulnerable, with natural regeneration more difficult than for some other types because of the relatively higher flammability of the foliar material in the forest floor, storage of nutrients above ground, and the episodic and infrequent years for good natural regeneration in drier areas.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_08

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

This paper describes the procedures and data used to develop a database of 28 fire, fuels, and smoke attributes for the broad-scale scientific assessment of the Interior Columbia River Basin. These attributes relate to three general areas: (1) fire weather, fuel moisture, and fire characteristics; (2) fuel loading and fuel consumption; and (3) PM10smoke emissions. The process flow and development protocols for creation of the database are fully described and illustrated, with examples provided where appropriate. This database was developed for application to a certain geographic area with parameters specific to both the biophysical environment and the management issues of that area. However, the methods and protocols used to develop this comprehensive suite of fire-related data are applicable to any ecosystem for which predictions are needed for wildfire hazard, fire potential, biomass consumption, and smoke emissions.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_09

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Land managers need vegetation maps to inventory, monitor, and manage ecological resources across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Current vegetation maps usually only describe one vegetation characteristic, such as cover types, across the landscape. Although these maps provide important information for land management, they often fall short of addressing key issues like forest health and ecosystem management. In this paper we present an integrated approach where three different vegetation classifications are used in concert to spatially characterize many ecological attributes such as snag densities, insect susceptibility, and fire behavior across the landscape. Two examples from the Pacific Northwest are used to illustrate how this approach can be used to describe fuel characteristics and resource hazard across multiple scales.

ISSN:1054-9811    

DOI:10.1300/J091v11n01_10

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:2000

数据来源: Taylor