USFS Study Shows How Fuel Treatments Improve Wildfire Outcomes
USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) Study Shows How Fuel Treatments Improve Wildfire Outcomes
PSW researchers recently published findings that provide strong evidence for the use of fuel treatments to mitigate fire behavior and resulting fire severity even under extreme fire weather conditions. When the 2021 Antelope Fire tore through the Goosenest Adaptive Management Area (long-term research plots set up in northeastern California in the late 1990s), it seemed that 20 years worth of research had been lost. However, shortly after the fire a 2,300-acre study was conducted that demonstrates how reducing canopy bulk density via mechanical thinning treatments can help to limit crown fire behavior for 20 years or more. The findings make a compelling case for doing both tree thinning and prescribed burning to protect forests in the future.
CA Climate Hub Receives USFS Region 5 Partnership of the Year Award
California Climate Hub Receives USFS Region 5 Partnership of the Year Award
The USDA Forest Service Region 5 awarded the California Climate Hub the 2023 Honor Award for Partnership of the Year for their efforts to develop and deliver climate literacy and web-based climate tools trainings. The trainings familiarized participants with relevant information on climate and climate models and provided hands-on experience using two web-based climate data tools: Cal-Adapt and Climate Toolbox. Additionally, the California Climate Hub has designed and delivered a series of workshops focused on the applications of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force’s Regional Resource Kits. The most recent workshop gathered forest managers from local, state, and federal agencies at Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Redding.
Explore the Treatment Dashboard - Take The Survey
Recap: Treatment Dashboard Virtual Workshop
On Tuesday, November 14 the Task Force hosted a Virtual Public Workshop on the CA Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Interagency Treatment Dashboard. The goal of the workshop was to gather input from those using the Treatment Tracking System and Dashboard to improve how data is accessed and displayed, and to ensure we are providing transparency and effective planning information on statewide wildfire resilience treatments.
If you missed the workshop, or want to look back at what was covered, click on the buttons above to watch a video of the presentation from Alan Talhelm, Assistant Deputy Director for Climate and Energy at CAL FIRE, and a key architect of the Dashboard. You can also view and download Alan’s presentation and take a moment to answer a quick survey for gathering additional input on how the Dashboard can be most effective.
$287 Million Available in CAL FIRE Grants for Wildfire Prevention and Forest Health
$287 Million Available in CAL FIRE Grants for Wildfire Prevention and Forest Health
$117 million will be allocated through CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Prevention Grant Program. Awarded projects will address the risk of wildfire and reduce wildfire potential to communities. Funded activities will include hazardous fuel reduction, wildfire prevention planning, and wildfire prevention education with an emphasis on protecting communities, improving public health and safety, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CAL FIRE also conducted a virtual workshop (watch it here) to explain the grant process and requirements. Applications are due January 10, 2024.
$120 million for Forest Health and $50 million for Post-Fire Reforestation and Regeneration projects are open for the solicitation through CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program. Projects are intended to proactively prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore forests to healthy, functioning ecosystems while also sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Applications are due January 15, 2024.
New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects
New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects
On August 29, the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force launched the beta version of a first-of-its-kind Interagency Treatment Dashboard beta that displays the size and location of state and federal forest and landscape resilience projects in California.
The dashboard offers a one-stop-shop to access data, provide transparency, and align the efforts of more than a dozen agencies to build resilient landscapes and communities in California. It reports treatment activities such as prescribed fire, targeted grazing, uneven-aged timber harvest, mechanical and hand fuels reduction, and tree planting. Users can sort treatments by region, county, land ownership and more.
The beta version of the dashboard will continue to be refined to include additional data, including projects by local and tribal entities, along with revisions based on public feedback. An official launch is expected in spring 2024 with more complete data on projects implemented in 2022.
ALERTCalifornia: Using AI to Stay Ahead of Wildfires and Other Disasters
ALERTCalifornia: Using AI to Stay Ahead of Wildfires and Other Disasters
With the shared goal of improving firefighting capabilities and response times, CAL FIRE and UCSD’s ALERTCalifornia has launched an innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation trial. In keeping with the Task Force’s commitment to cross agency partnership and community protection, this collaborative public safety program aims to provide the tools to prepare for, respond to and recover from wildfires and other natural hazards. ALERTCalifornia has deployed a 24-hour surveillance network of 1,032 high-definition, pan-tilt-zoom cameras for efficient monitoring of active wildfires and other disasters. The pilot program enlists AI to identify abnormalities in the camera feeds and promptly notify emergency command centers.
ALERTCalifornia’s field teams continue to erect new cameras to enhance coverage across the state as California endures more frequent natural disasters. Since the start of 2023, new cameras have been installed in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Madera counties.
“The program will spawn invaluable research and mitigation plans that will increase the state’s resiliency towards the new extreme fire risk,” said Neal Driscoll, director of ALERTCalifornia and geoscientist at UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
USFS Issues Old Growth Technical and Reforestation Strategy Reports
USFS Issues Old Growth Technical and Reforestation Strategy Reports
USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior have worked together on two reports required under Executive Order 14072 (4/27/2022) that calls for strengthening the nation’s forests, communities, and local economies.
Mature and Old-Growth Forests: Definition, Identification, and Initial Inventory on Lands Managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management contains the first national inventory of old-growth and mature forests on these lands.
Reforestation Goals and Assessments, and a Climate-Informed Plan to Increase Federal Seed and Nursery Capacity in which DOI and USDA outline an agency-specific target to reforest over 2.3 million acres nationwide by 2030. The report also includes an opportunity assessment of voluntary reforestation (in acres) through federal programs and partnerships.
CDPH Publishes Air Pollution Health Burden Mapping Dashboard
CDPH Publishes California Wildfire Smoke and Air Pollution Health Burden Mapping Dashboard
California Department of Public Health’s dashboard shows the health burden related to air pollution and wildfire smoke. By mapping excess respiratory or cardiovascular-related emergency room visits, the dashboard allows users to visualize the burden in any zip code, as well as how the burden is distributed among races and ages, and proximity to medical facilities, schools, historical wildfires and Air Quality readings. The dashboard is based on data in the publication, Wildfires and the Changing Landscape of Air Pollution-related Health Burden in California. The dashboard was supported in part by a grant from the CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Research Program, as part of California Climate Investments.
Wildfire & Forest Resilience Treatment Tracking and Mapping
Wildfire & Forest Resilience Treatment Tracking and Mapping
At the March 30 Task Force meeting, the Task Force’s Monitoring, Reporting and Assessment Work Group gave an update on their efforts to build an interagency treatment tracker. The group is assembling federal, state, local, private data on planned, active, and completed projects statewide, including those on forests, grasslands, shrublands, and covering approximately 60 different activities (type of work completed). The goals include tracking progress toward state/federal acreage targets; facilitating regional planning and monitoring; and assessing benefits/costs beyond “acres treated.” The Task Force anticipates having a publicly available treatment tracking map and dashboard by summer 2023.
RESOURCES
Planscape now lives on the Task Force website
Planscape Now Lives on the Task Force Website
A collaborative effort between CA Natural Resources Agency, USFS, UC Berkeley, Spatial Informatics Group and Google.org, Planscape is a decision support tool that empowers regional planners to prioritize resilience treatments across the landscape and inform the funding process. Planscape partners provided a demonstration of the tool at the March 30 Task Force meeting. This version of the tool is available for beta testing, with the region-specific scenarios released this summer through fall.