The Future of Fire and Fuels Management: Adapting Fuels Treatments in a Changing Climate
April 11, 2016 • Portland, OR • Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Overview
This workshop culminates the Available Science Assessment Project (ASAP), sponsored by the Northwest Climate Science Center (NW CSC), through which EcoAdapt and the Institute for Natural Resources are evaluating the science behind fire and fuels management climate adaptation actions in Northwest national forests, with a focus on prescribed fire. This project focused on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana forests, but findings may be more broadly applicable.
The workshop will build on interviews with national forest managers who manage resources under shifting fire regimes, a systematic mapping of relevant literature, and an earlier science review panel discussion of the state of the science behind prescribed fire use under changing climate conditions. We are now bringing managers and scientists together for broader discussions regarding fuels management in the context of climate change in order to:
- Document social and expert knowledge of how fuels management is changing in response to shifts in climate and fire regimes;
- Explore opportunities for further integration of scientific research and climate-informed management;
- Discuss agency plans and priorities for managing fire (with specific reference to the role of prescribed fire) under changing climate conditions;
- Describe the intended management application of desired future research and products on fire and fuels management;
- Develop partnerships between fire experts and forest/fire managers to ensure future research is addressing specific management needs;
- Explore and develop new methods for managing fire and fuels in a changing climate; and
- Help identify and refine funding priorities in the area of fire regimes and climate change.
Information gathered from this meeting will help focus the NW CSC’s future calls for fire-related research, and stimulate the possibility of crafting an OpEd piece for peer-reviewed journals, such as Fire Ecology.
This workshop will be held in conjunction with the 5th International Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference and hosted in collaboration with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium and Northern Rockies Fire Science Network.
Agenda & Speakers
Speakers and Facilitators:
Rachel M. Gregg, EcoAdapt
Whitney Reynier, EcoAdapt
Lisa Gaines, Institute for Natural Resources
Jeff Behan, Institute for Natural Resources
Carrie Berger, Northwest Fire Science Consortium
Corey Gucker, Northern Rockies Fire Science Network