Westside Fire Reforestation Project Fuels Report

July 13, 2009

Prepared By: Lois Shoemaker Fire Ecologist

Shasta-Trinity NF

Westside Fire Reforestation Project Fuels Report – July 13, 2009

The Westside Fire Reforestation project area is contained within the Klamath Mountains Bioregion. The Klamath Mountains are characterized by steep terrain, complex geology, and diverse conifer forests (Skinner et al. 2006). The area experiences strong west to east temperature and precipitation gradients creating local variability in the Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters (Skinner et al. 2006). Background and Affected Environment Fire Regime The most extensive fire regime in the Klamath Mountains extends from the lower- to upper-montane ecological zones and is characterized by frequent fires of low- to moderate- intensity (Skinner et al 2006, Taylor and Skinner 1998). A study hear Hayfork found median fire return intervals of 14.5 years in the pre-settlement period (1627-1849), 12.5 years in the settlement period (1850-1904) and 21.8 years in the suppression period (1905-1992) (Taylor and Skinner 1998). Most fires occurred during the dormant season averaging 350ha in size but could grow to over 500ha (Taylor and Skinner 1998). For remote areas in the Klamath Mountains there was not a significant decline in fire frequency until after WWII (Taylor and Skinner 2003, Taylor and Skinner 1998, Skinner et al 2006). Topographic controls significantly affect fire regime characteristics throughout the Klamath Mountains (Skinner et al 2006). Soil productivity, which influences vegetation, and topographic changes control fuel accumulation across the landscape (Skinner et al 2006). Localized disturbance history, including fire, fire suppression and other management activities, may influence the structural characteristics of fuels which can be linked to fire severity (Alexander et al 2006, Skinner et al 2006). Fires burn more frequently and with higher severity on south and west facing slopes and less frequently with lower severity on north and east facing slopes (Taylor and Skinner 1998, Taylor and Skinner 2003, Alexander et al 2006). These mixed-severity fire regime characteristics combined to create heterogeneous multi-aged stands (Taylor and Skinner 1998, Skinner et al 2006). Since the onset of effective fire suppression, fire frequency has been reduced and forests have become more homogenous with fewer openings to allow shade-intolerant species to establish while allowing shade-tolerant species to continue growing in the understory. Fire Occurrence From 1980 thru 2007 the Trinity portion of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest had 2,608 fire starts. These ignitions burned a total of 368,870 acres. Only 5% of the fires exceeded 10 acres with 72% being extinguished at a quarter acre or less. Lightning activity accounted for 63% of the ignitions with the remainder the result of some type of human or mechanical activity. Fuel Profile Proposed treatments are located in areas that burned at high severity during the 2008 fire season. Prior to the 2008 fires, existing plantations were densely stocked with 6-24” DBH trees. The plantations had low height to live crown values and 50-75% canopy closure (see vegetation report). These areas burned at high severity causing significant mortality which has led to areas of dense standing snags.

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Westside Fire Reforestation Project Fuels Report – July 13, 2009

Non-plantation treatment areas were dominated by conifer forests. These areas also burned at high severity resulting in standing dead material however the density and continuity of the fuel profile is less than that found in the plantations. Desired Condition The primary desired condition is the rapid establishment of appropriate forest cover in fire affected areas. In this instance appropriate forest cover is quantified by the establishment 75-100 trees per acres which mimic the naturally occurring species diversity for the area within five years. Natural regeneration is preferred where conditions allow. Environmental Effects Spatial and Temporal Context In this analysis the spatial context for treatments is the project boundary. Effects discussed below should occur within 20 years post-fire. However, in the absence of another disturbance, natural or other, the final fuels profile condition will persist beyond that timeframe. No Action Under the no action alternative no areas would be planted and therefore no site preparation activities would take place. All areas would be left to regenerate under natural conditions relying on sprouting, seed caches, or seed trees in adjacent stands. It is likely shrubs would dominate the site for an extended period of time until the conifer seedlings could establish and grow to heights exceeding the shrubs. Once this occurs, low height to live crown values increase potential for torching (Scott and Reindhardt 2001). Within 1-2 years the fine fuels currently in the canopy would fall to the ground increasing the 1hr surface fuel load, needle drape and essentially removing fine fuels from the canopy. The needles would be followed by branches and boles (Peterson et al 2009). The increase in the amount and continuity of large woody debris (10-1000hr time lag fuel categories) on the forest floor would increase in the fire hazard for the area as this fuel profile (shrubs with intermixed downed woody material) could have high fireline intensities and long residence times. In areas that were not plantations previous to the fire, this same trend should be expected. After wildfire, larger snags and snags in dense patches tend to remain standing longer than smaller diameter trees or open stands (Russell et al. 2006). Proposed Action Under the proposed action some areas would be left to regenerate naturally, some would be planted as is, and some of the previous plantations would receive site preparation prior to planting. The effect of natural regeneration and planting as is would be similar to the no action alternative. The primary difference would be a reduction in the amount of time required for the seedlings to break through the shrub layer in planted areas versus natural regeneration. Flammability may increase in areas plantations where grasses are the dominant understory feature (Weatherspoon and Skinner 1995). Studies suggest conditions of high densities of live and dead fuels near the

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Westside Fire Reforestation Project Fuels Report – July 13, 2009

ground that are potentially found in plantation environments result in higher fire hazard than in naturally regenerating stands (Spies 2007). Plantations on the Hayfork district that burned in 1987 burned ‘completely and severely’ when there had been no site preparation prior to planting (Weatherspoon and Skinner 1995). Units that are site prepped prior to treatment will experience an immediate change in the fuel profile. The vertical fuel structure consisting of dead trees and shrubs will be redistributed to the surface fuel layer through mastication or hand cutting. Mechanical treatments alone will not reduce the amount of fuel onsite. Therefore, there will be little if any reduction in overall fire hazard. Mastication alters the fuel profile by shredding live or dead fuels into smaller chunks. This generally reduces fuel heights/fuel bed depths and increases surface fuel loadings and continuity (Hood and Wu 2006; Kane et al. 2006; Stephens and Moghaddas 2005; Knapp 2008). There can be large variation in the post-treatment surface fuel loading between sites (Kane et al. 2006). Studies show increases in all time-lag fuel categories with the greatest increases occurring in the 1hr and 10hr fuel categories (Knapp et al. 2008) and in the 10hr and 100hr fuel categories (Bradley et al. 2006). Increased surface fuel loading resulted in greater flame lengths and mortality during a prescribed burn of masticated units at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area when compared to un-masticated units (Bradley et al. 2006). However, reports show a lot of variability in fire behavior during prescribed burns in masticated units (Kane et al. 2006). The fire hazard in masticated units may decrease with time as the smaller fuel particles get more compact and/or begin to decompose (Bradley et al. 2006). However, this has effect has yet to be quantified in studies. Hand cutting would also leave all material on site minimizing any fire hazard reduction. This would have a similar effect to the natural regeneration and plant only treatment options. After site preparation, needles and boles would be on the ground as part of the surface fuel layer. Within 1-2 years the needles will fall off the branches leaving large amounts of coarse woody debris intermixed with the regenerating shrubs, hardwoods and conifer seedlings. All proposed treatments do not remove fuel from the unit. The end structure and distribution of fuel will vary with treatment option. However, fire hazard will remain high in the plantation environment regardless of proposed site preparation activities. References Alexander, John D., Seavey, Nathaniel E., Ralph, C. John, Hogoboom, Bill. 2006. Vegetation

and topographical correlates of fire severity from two fires in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of Oregon and California. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 15. 237-245.

Bradley, Tim, Gibson, Jennifer, Bunn, Wendy. 2006.Fire severity and intensity during spring

burning in natural and masticated mixed shrub woodlands. In: Andrews, Patricia L., Butler, Bret W., comps. Fuels management – how to measure success: conference proceedings. 2006 28-30 March: Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 419-428.

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Hood, Sharan, Wu, Ros. 2006. Estimating fuel bed loadings in masticated areas. In: Andrews, Patricia L., Butler, Bret W., comps. Fuels management – how to measure success: conference proceedings. 2006 28-30 March: Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 333-340.

Kane, Jeffrey M.., Knapp, Eric E., Varner, Morgan J. 2006. Variability in loading of

mechanically masticated fuel beds in northern California and southwestern Oregon. In: Andrews, Patricia L., Butler, Bret W., comps. Fuels management – how to measure success: conference proceedings. 2006 28-30 March: Portland, OR. Proceedings RMRS-P-41. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 341-350.

Knapp, Eric E., Busse, Matt D., Varner III, Morgan, Skinner, Carl N. 2008. Masticated fuel beds:

Custom fuel models, fire behavior, and fire effects. Final Report 05-2-1-20. Joint Fire Sciences Program.

Peterson, D. L., Agee, J. K., Aplet, G. H., Dykstra, D. P., Graham, D. T., Lehmkuhl, J. F.,

Pilliod, David S., Potts, Donald F., Powers, Robert F., Stuart, Johm D. 2009. Effects of timber harvest following wildfire in western North America. Portland, OR: Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-776, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 51 p.

Russell, Robin E., Saab, Victoria A., Dudley, Jonathan G., Rotella, Jay J. 2006. Snag longevity

in relation to wildfire and postfire salvage logging. Forest Ecology and Management. 232. 179-187.

Scott, J.H., Reinhardt, E.D. 2001. Assessing crown fire potential by linking models of surface

and crown fire behavior. Res. Pap. RMRS-RP-29. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 59p.

Skinner, Carl N., Taylor, Alan H., Agee, James K. 2006. Klamath Mountains bioregion. In:

Sugihara, Neil G., Van Wagtendonk, Jan W., Shaffer, Kevin E., Fites-Kaufman, Joann, Thode, Andrea E. (eds.) Fire in California’s ecosystems.170-194.

Spies, Thomas A. 2007. Effects of disturbance history, landscape pattern, and weather on

wildfire severity in southwestern Oregon: Implications for management of a fire-prone landscape. Final Report 04-2-1-14. Joint Fire Sciences Program.

Stephens, Scott L., Moghaddas, Jason J. 2005. Experimental fuel treatment impacts on forest

structure, potential fire behavior, and predicted tree mortality in a California mixed conifer forest. Forest Ecology and Management. 215. 21-36.

Taylor, A. H., & Skinner, C. N. 1998. Fire history and landscape dynamics in a late-successional

reserve, Klamath Mountains, California, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 111, 285-301.

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Taylor, A.H., Skinner, C.N. 2003. Spatial patterns and controls on historical fire regimes and forest structure in the Klamath Mountains. Ecological Applications. 13: 704-719.

Weatherspoon, C., & Skinner, C. N. (1995). An assessment of factors associated with damage to

tree crowns from the 1987 wildfires in northern California. Forest Science, 41(3), 430-451.