In western Wyoming we met up with Diane Abendroth, Fire Ecologist and Ron Steffens, Fire Monitor who both work as part of Teton Interagency Fire, which brings together the Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger Teton National Forest for co-operative fire management.
Diane explained that the Fire Monitoring Handbook (FMH) was developed in the western parks in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and was subsequently applied to parks across the country. The fuel sampling methodology however, was designed around the large charismatic mega trees and was much more applicable for those western parks than as a one size fits all monitoring approach. As Dianne commented - “You ride the horse you are feeding".
Over time it became apparent that it would be more appropriate to design fuel sampling around locally specific requirements and questions. As a result custom iterations of the Fuel Monitoring Handbook plots have been developed at the local level to take account of individual ecosystems. The bespoke plot methodology can then be used, for example, to analyse if the objectives of a particular prescribed fire were met, or perhaps to look at the regeneration of particular plants after fire.
Some of the monitoring plots are permanent, however most are set up as temporary or random plots. Naturally the sites locations are recorded with a GPS and can be re-visited if necessary. The methodology applied is less comprehensive and time consuming to set up and read (monitor) than the FMH plots. This means more plots can be established and read to provide a more robust statistical sample size. The data collected are generally quantitative although some of the plots employ qualitative assessment as with the Burn Severity Composite Burn Index that rates post fire effects (as in Grand Canyon NP) to calibrate the Landsat Fire Severity imagery. The main point was that the focus is only on collecting the data required.
The next day Diane and Ron took me for a hike through a burnt area that had partly experienced two fires in close succession. It was fascinating to see the regeneration and the relatively slow rate of re-accumulation of fuels compared with home. I especially enjoyed hiking the back-country in such a beautiful national park on such a spectacular day. The Tetons towered overhead as elk called and wandered close by. Just brilliant!
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| The Tetons |
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| regeneration of the forest |
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| elk |
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| Diane & Ron |
Thanks Diane and Ron!
