Forest Fires in Western Cascadia: Evaluating Drivers and Impacts to Inform Climate-Adaptive Management Responses
Forests west of the Cascade Crest in Oregon and Washington have been shaped by infrequent but severe wildfires that historically occurred at intervals spanning several centuries. Since the mid-1900s, relatively few fires have occurred in the region, resulting in a general lack of understanding of the drivers of these fires, the impacts on ecosystems, and possible management responses. Most of the current regional understanding of fire regimes and impacts instead comes from the drier, interior forests. However, recent fire events between 2014 and 2018 (e.g., the Norse Peak Fire in Washington) have raised concern among land managers in the Pacific Northwest about fire risk in a warming climate.
This project will build a foundational understanding of the climatic drivers of wildfire, post-fire forest response, and adaptation options in the western Cascades. Working with federal, tribal, and state partners, researchers will accomplish this through a two-stage effort. First, researchers will use historical climate records and models of future climate conditions to identify the extreme weather conditions (e.g., late summer drought and dry east winds) that have enabled fires to burn in the past, and determine how these will change in the future. Second, they will measure where two valuable forest resources - trees and huckleberry - are recovering in recently burned areas in western Washington and Oregon, to understand early post-fire recovery dynamics in these forests. The results will then be incorporated into maps that can inform adaptation options for managers seeking to increase the resilience of key forest resources.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Tulalip Tribe, and the National Park Service (NPS) have identified the need for improved information on the climatic drivers of wildfires west of the Cascade Crest and information on how these forests will respond to recent fires. A warming climate and its relationship to fire is a critical resource management concern for treaty resources, planning in the wildland-urban interface, managing for Federally-listed species of concern, and the DNR’s State Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan. Results from this project will inform US Forest Service (USFS) Forest Plan revisions and NPS post-fire planning under a warming climate and guide pre- and post-fire adaptive management by the NPS, USFS, DNR, and several Northwest Tribes.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 5d5c0e1ce4b01d82ce8fbe89)
Forests west of the Cascade Crest in Oregon and Washington have been shaped by infrequent but severe wildfires that historically occurred at intervals spanning several centuries. Since the mid-1900s, relatively few fires have occurred in the region, resulting in a general lack of understanding of the drivers of these fires, the impacts on ecosystems, and possible management responses. Most of the current regional understanding of fire regimes and impacts instead comes from the drier, interior forests. However, recent fire events between 2014 and 2018 (e.g., the Norse Peak Fire in Washington) have raised concern among land managers in the Pacific Northwest about fire risk in a warming climate.
This project will build a foundational understanding of the climatic drivers of wildfire, post-fire forest response, and adaptation options in the western Cascades. Working with federal, tribal, and state partners, researchers will accomplish this through a two-stage effort. First, researchers will use historical climate records and models of future climate conditions to identify the extreme weather conditions (e.g., late summer drought and dry east winds) that have enabled fires to burn in the past, and determine how these will change in the future. Second, they will measure where two valuable forest resources - trees and huckleberry - are recovering in recently burned areas in western Washington and Oregon, to understand early post-fire recovery dynamics in these forests. The results will then be incorporated into maps that can inform adaptation options for managers seeking to increase the resilience of key forest resources.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Tulalip Tribe, and the National Park Service (NPS) have identified the need for improved information on the climatic drivers of wildfires west of the Cascade Crest and information on how these forests will respond to recent fires. A warming climate and its relationship to fire is a critical resource management concern for treaty resources, planning in the wildland-urban interface, managing for Federally-listed species of concern, and the DNR’s State Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan. Results from this project will inform US Forest Service (USFS) Forest Plan revisions and NPS post-fire planning under a warming climate and guide pre- and post-fire adaptive management by the NPS, USFS, DNR, and several Northwest Tribes.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 5d5c0e1ce4b01d82ce8fbe89)