Author: Peter KellyPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric carbon dioxide
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
An Analysis of Wildfire Fuel Treatments as a Carbon Offset Project Type
Author: Peter KellyPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric carbon dioxide
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
Issues in Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildfire in the Nation's Forests
Author: Jeffrey D. KlinePublisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437980155
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
Years of fire suppression and increasing constraints on natural and prescribed burning, possibly along with climate change, have altered historical wildfire regimes resulting in increased wildfire severity in the Nation's forests. The growing wildfire threat has motivated increasing interest in reducing hazardous fuels through prescribed burning, thinning, and harvesting. There is debate about whether such fuel treatments are necessary owing to the complexity of the wildfire issue and to general disagreement about whether long-term wildfire impacts present a real problem. This report presents one way of conceptualizing the costs and benefits of fuel treatments and wildfire and reviews issues related to their evaluation. Illustrations. This is a print on demand report.
The Role of Strategic Planning in the Management of Fire-prone Western Oregon Forests for Maximizing Terrestrial Carbon Stocks Over a 100-year Horizon
Author: Michael R. VanderbergPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Carbon sequestration
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Current frameworks for analyzing forest carbon offset projects in disturbance-prone western forests often fail to address the dynamic nature of carbon pathways through time. They do not account for the probability of loss due to wildfire, which can influence the prediction of carbon storage at the end of a planning horizon. In such an environment, optimal treatment regimes over time are dependent on the decisions that affect carbon storage during the analysis period. Silvicultural regimes that include both pyrogenic and biogenic emissions from forests, as well as the storage in wood products, were modeled to demonstrate a method to maximize carbon storage. Stand-level optimization is suggested as a method for demonstrating the development of treatment regimes to enable a full range of carbon storage benefits. These include a reduction in the risk of catastrophic wildfire, increased terrestrial carbon density, and the offset of treatment costs. This methodology may also provide a baseline for a full accounting of forestry carbon offset projects. A model was developed to determine optimal management regimes that maximize the expected value of terrestrial carbon storage for three Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziessi) dominant forests in western Oregon. Carbon storage values for treatment combinations were weighted by the probability of fire occurrence and the loss of carbon due to fire. The model employs probabilistic dynamic programming to determine the optimal timing and intensity of silvicultural treatments by way of thinning-from-below. Also determined are location-dependent management regimes that maximize aboveground carbon storage with fire-suppression efforts. The stand location in respect to roads is examined, specifically in terms of the effect that access distance and slope position have on the optimal timing and intensity of fuel treatments and silvicultural activities. Optimal regimes are determined for a range of forest stands, varying by stand distance-to-road and the slope location of the road above or below the stand. Results suggest that a combination of let-grow and low-level density-reduction thinnings can store more aboveground terrestrial carbon in forests and long-lived wood products than grow-only control scenarios when fire is also present and fire-related emissions are accounted for. Additional expected carbon storage of optimal solutions compared to the 100-year gain for control scenarios ranged from 0 to 46%. This suggests that strategic planning by the optimization model can compete with the hedge method of the Voluntary Carbon Standard risk management, which employs carbon buffer pools to compensate for the risk associated with disturbance and can require the size of the buffer deposit to range from 10 to 60% of the generated carbon credits, depending on the risk class determined for a given project. Results also suggest that both stand location and fire suppression efforts did not impact the maximization of aboveground terrestrial carbon storage in forests and long-lived wood products under moderate fire conditions (21 km hr−1 6-meter wind speed, 31° C air temperature, 40% herbaceous and 70% woody fuel moisture). However, it was shown that stand slope position relative to access roads did impact fire suppression efforts by affecting the response time and the type of suppression effort (e.g., head attack or rear attack). It is hypothesized that both stand location and fire suppression efforts would impact the maximization of aboveground terrestrial carbon in forests and wood products under more severe weather conditions, on steeper slopes, and over larger stand areas.
Assessing Fuel Treatment Effectiveness During Wildfires Under Future Climate Conditions in Southern California
Author: Carrie A. MinerichPublisher:
ISBN: 9781085582988
Category : Fuel reduction (Wildfire prevention)
Languages : en
Pages : 82
Book Description
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is one of the fastest growing land-use types in the United States resulting in increased populations directly vulnerable to wildfire hazards. One way to mitigate fire danger near the WUI is through adjacent fuel reduction treatments. While there is a national priority to reduce fire risk through fuel treatments, the efficacy of such treatments to mitigate fire behavior in a changed climate is unknown. We selected four fuel treatments in southern California intercepted by wildfires within the last decade to evaluate fuel treatment effectiveness under future conditions. We used FlamMap to conduct a change analysis of flame length, fire line intensity, max spot distance, and crown fire activity using 97th percentile weather and fuel moisture representative of historical and projected mid-21st century conditions. We found little change in flame length, fire line intensity, max spot distance, and crown fire activity within the fuel treatment under future conditions. However, increased fire behavior activity 1-2 kilometers from fuel treatments under future climatic conditions could impact the fuel treatment effectiveness. These results have important implications to increase cost-effectiveness of long-term fuel treatment programs by providing suggestions on where to focus on strategic areas that require further reduction of fuels to allow for safe fire management operations, protection of property, life, and egress.
Integrated Management of Carbon Sequestration and Biomass Utilization Opportunities in a Changing Climate
Author: Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Carbon sequestration
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
Forests are important for carbon sequestration and how they are manipulated either through natural or human induced disturbances can have an effect on CO2 emissions and carbon sequestration. The 2009 National Silviculture Workshop presented scientific information and management strategies to meet a variety of objectives while simultaneously addressing carbon sequestration and biomass utilization. The focus areas were: the role of climate change in science and management; silvicultural methods to address carbon sequestration and biomass utilization; alternative silvicultural strategies to address the growth and development of forests; and current applications of computer simulation models or modeling techniques designed to provide decision support.
Variation in Tree Mortality and Regeneration Affect Forest Carbon Recovery Following Fuel Treatments and Wildfire
Author: Christopher Hale CarlsonPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric carbon dioxide
Languages : en
Pages : 57
Book Description
Forest fuel treatments such as thinning and burning have been proposed as tools to stabilize carbon stocks in fire-prone forests in the Western U.S. Although treatments immediately reduce forest carbon storage, losses may be paid back over the long-term if treatment sufficiently reduces future wildfire severity. Less severe wildfire produces fewer direct and indirect carbon emissions, and severely burned stands may be more susceptible to deforestation. Although fire severity and post-fire tree regeneration have been indicated as important influences on long-term carbon dynamics, it remains unclear how natural variability in these processes might affect the ability of fuel treatments to protect forest carbon resources. We surveyed a wildfire where fuel treatments were put in place before fire and estimated the short-term impact of treatment and wildfire on aboveground carbon stocks at our study site. We then used a common vegetation growth simulator in conjunction with sensitivity analysis techniques to assess how timescales of carbon recovery after fire are sensitive to variation in rates of fire-related tree mortality, and post-fire tree regeneration. We found that fuel reduction treatments were successful at ameliorating fire severity at our study site by removing an estimated 36% of aboveground biomass. Treated and untreated stands stored similar amounts of carbon three years after wildfire, but differences in fire severity were such that untreated stands maintained only 7% of aboveground carbon as live trees, versus 51% in treated stands. Over the long-term, our simulations suggest that treated stands in our study area will recover baseline carbon storage 10-35 years more quickly than untreated stands. Our sensitivity analysis found that rates of fire-related tree mortality strongly influence estimates of post-fire carbon recovery. Rates of regeneration were less influential on recovery timing, except when fire severity was high. Our ability to understand how anthropogenic and natural disturbances affect forest carbon resources hinges on our ability to adequately represent processes known to be important to long-term forest carbon dynamics. To the extent that fuel treatments are able to ameliorate tree mortality rates or prevent deforestation resulting from wildfire, treatments may be a viable strategy to stabilize existing forest carbon stocks.
Issues in Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildfire in the Nation's Forests
Author: Jeffrey D. KlineClimate Change on Wildfire Activity
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
Issues in Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildfire in the Nation's Forests
Author: J. D. KlinePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fire prevention
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
Review of Fuel Treatment Effectiveness in Forests and Rangelands and a Case Study from the 2007 Megafires in Central Idaho USA
Author: United States Department of AgriculturePublisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781506142142
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 64
Book Description
This report provides managers with the current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of fuel treatments for mitigating severe wildfire effects. A literature review examines the effectiveness of fuel treatments that had been previously applied and were subsequently burned through by wildfire in forests and rangelands. A case study focuses on WUI fuel treatments that were burned in the 2007 East Zone and Cascade megafires in central Idaho. Both the literature review and case study results support a manager consensus that forest thinning followed by some form of slash removal is most effective for reducing subsequent wildfire severity.