Whether fuels management projects may be compromising refuge resource management goals and objectives defined in approved refuge land management plans. Successful fuels treatment and fire effects monitoring starts with planning . The challenges of successful monitoring involve efficient and specific design, and a commitment to implementation of the monitoring project, from data collection to reporting and using results. Rather than develop a standard approach , this reference attempts to provide guidance that will assist field offices think through the many decisions that they must make to specifically design monitoring projects for their site, resources, and issues. Local managers and specialists understand their issues and resources best and, therefore, are best able to design a monitoring project to meet their specific needs.
Methodology is the last refuge of the sterile mind.
That may be an odd statement to find in a methods guide, but the success of a monitoring project does not start with choosing methods. On the contrary, the probability of failure increases as the investigator's thinking becomes method rather than problem oriented. Planning is the selection and prearrangement of events for the predictable attainment of an objective. Planning is the most difficult and even tedious aspect of a project. It requires mental discipline and exercise, which can be frustrating and exhausting even for practiced minds.