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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 17(3)

Assessing mitigation of wildfire severity by fuel treatments – an example from the Coastal Plain of Mississippi

Erik J. Martinson A and Philip N. Omi A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.

B Corresponding author. Email: phil@warnercnr.colostate.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(3) 415-420 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06067
Submitted: 18 May 2006  Accepted: 6 September 2007   Published: 23 June 2008

Abstract

Fuel treatments such as prescribed fire are a controversial tenet of wildfire management. Despite a well-established theoretical basis for their use, scant empirical evidence currently exists on fuel treatment effectiveness for mitigating the behaviour and effects of extreme wildfire events. We report the results of a fire severity evaluation of an escaped prescribed fire that burned into an area previously treated with repeated prescribed fires. We observed significantly lower scorch heights, crown damage, and ground char in the treated area. We attribute the moderated fire severity in the treated area to a significantly altered fuel profile created by the repeated prescribed fires. Though our results represent just one treatment area in a single wildfire, they add to a depauperate database and bring us a step closer to defining the conditions under which fuel treatments are an effective pre-suppression strategy.

Additional keywords: longleaf pine, Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, prescribed burning, slash pine.


Acknowledgements

We thank Malia Boyum for field assistance and Tony Wilder for facilitating our field visit and providing fire weather and behaviour information. The present research was supported by the Joint Fire Science Program and McIntire–Stennis Cooperative Forestry Funds.


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