Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Fact Sheet: The Fuels Synthesis Project

Overview

Fuels treatment planners often find the challenge of

integrating diverse scientific findings into the design

of their projects a barrier to timely decisionmaking.

With an increased emphasis on treating fuels to reduce wildfire impacts in the United States, the need

for well-documented, accessible scientific information

is becoming ever more crucial. In April 2003, the

USDA Forest Service initiated a project to accelerate

the delivery of research information to fuels specialists and others involved in project planning.

The geographic focus of the ìFuels Planning: Science Synthesis and Integrationî project (known as the

Fuels Synthesis Project) is on the dry forests of the

Western United States. Project goals include developing accessible analyses, protocols, and tools; writing

peer-reviewed documents that synthesize and integrate

Project Co-Leads:

Russell T. Graham

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Sarah M. McCaffrey

North Central Research Station

The Environmental Consequences Team is synthesizing

information about the effects of

fuels treatments on wildlife and

other forest resources (photo

credit: E. Bull).

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-19-WWW Revised

January 2005

Fuels planning: Science synthesis

and integration, an interagency

research/management partnership

to support the Ten-Year Fire Plan.

Synthesizing

Scientific Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

the ecological and social science relevant to fuels treatments; and delivering these

products in a user-friendly format. Target audiences include fuels management

specialists, resource specialists, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning team leaders, line officers in the USDA Forest Service and the Department

of the Interior; community leaders; and educators. Information derived from this

effort is applicable to Categorical Exclusion documents, Environmental Impact

Statements, Environmental Assessments, and NEPA documents.

The Fuels Synthesis Project is organized around four key science topics:

• Forest structure and fire hazard

• Environmental consequences of fuels treatments

• Economic uses of material and costs of fuels treatments

• Public understanding, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to fuels

management

The Forest Structure and Fire Hazard Team is working on new visualization techniques to help fuel

planners in decisionmaking.

Historical Present

Pacific Northwest

Research Station
Teams of scientific experts from public agencies, their

management counterparts, and university researchers

across the country have been engaged in compiling and

synthesizing scientific information available on the four

key topic areas. Products of this effort include decisionsupport tools and peer-reviewed publications (syntheses

of existing information and guidebooks). The initial series of easy-to-digest one-page fact sheets, highlighting

key information and findings, has been completed. Look

for current and future fact sheets in the Rocky Mountain

Research Station (RMRS) Research Note (RN) series:

RMRS-RN-19: Overview of the Project

RMRS-RN-20: Economic Uses

RMRS-RN-21: Social Issues

RMRS-RN-22: Forest Structure and Fire Hazards

RMRS-RN-23: Environmental Consequences

New decision-support tools include:

ï A fuel treatment guidebook that will show the effects of silvicultural and surface fuel prescriptions

for a series of representative stands.

ï My Fuel Treatment Planner, an economic tool to

help managers compare overall cost, revenue, and

economic impacts of different treatment options.

The Fuels Planning fact sheets are based on preliminary findings. Information from fact sheets will be synthesized in an upcoming publication.

ï The Armillaria Response Tool, which helps to identify areas where Armillaria root rot is a potential problem after entry into a stand.

In addition, existing software programs have been enhanced, making them easier to run and to provide output in more useful formats for planning documents. These

include:

• The Smoke Information System, which estimates

smoke production, emissions, and dispersion.

• WEPP-FuME, an enhanced variation of DisturbedWEPP, which estimates the probability of sediment

yield and flooding after disturbance (for example,

burning and logging).

The Economics Team is working on tools to help evaluate treatment costs

and the potential for utilization of hazardous fuels.

The Social Science Team is synthesizing information on the social considerations important in fire and fuels management (photo credit: V.

Sturtevant).

ï The Understory (Plant) Response Model, which provides a comparative evaluation of treatments on understory plantsóuseful where weed invasion or

plants of interest (forage, wildlife habitat, threatened

and endangered species) are a consideration.

ï The Wildlife Response Model, which provides qualitative estimates about the consequences of proposed

treatments (positive, negative, null effects) to most

vertebrate animals in the Interior West.

Social science information will be provided using a pyramid approach. The first source of information will be

basic one-page ìhow-toî fact sheets. For additional detail on all topic areas, fire and fuels managers will be able

to turn to a General Technical Report (GTR) that will

provide a complete synthesis of information on each

topic. We expect the initial GTRs to be available mid to

late 2005. A searchable bibliography will also be provided.

Syntheses will be provided in six key social areas relevant

to fuels management: collaboration, risk communication,

personal responsibility, social acceptability, aesthetics, and

social impacts of wildfire.

All of the information from the Fuels Synthesis Project

are backed by up-to-date scientific findings and have undergone peer review. For more information, please visit

our Web site:

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/

synthesis_index