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FireScape: A Program for Whole-Mountain Fire Management in the Sky Island Region

Published Article

Arizona

Publication date: November 1, 2013

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The Coronado National Forest’s FireScape program works to remove barriers to fire playing its natural role on the landscape. The FireScape team is nurturing multiple efforts around the Sky Islands that share an approach that includes multiple jurisdictions, investigations by University of Arizona scientists, public engagement, assessing treatment need at the whole-mountain scale, and creatively removing implementation barriers when funding is scarce.

Subject Tags

  • Land management
  • Fire management
  • Forest

Abstract

The Coronado National Forest’s (CNF) FireScape program works to remove barriers to fire playing its natural role on the landscape. A long-term goal is creating landscapes that are able to survive wildfire with biodiversity and key ecological processes intact, especially important in the face of a drier, hotter Southwest. The FireScape team is nurturing multiple efforts around the Sky Islands—no two projects are alike, but those underway share an approach that includes multiple jurisdictions, investigations by University of Arizona scientists, public engagement, assessing treatment need at the whole-mountain scale, and creatively removing implementation barriers when funding is scarce. Clearance for treatments in designated Wilderness is a need across all projects. The FireScape team has completed a fuels map and an analysis of departure from reference condition for southeastern Arizona that covers the CNF and partner lands. Partners have worked together to update Landfire data for this 14 million-acre area. These products provide inputs for fire behavior and effects analyses to support decision making and outreach. The website www.azfirescape.org is a work in progress that displays project information, including maps, reports, and vegetation and fuels data

Citation

Gebow, B., Stetson, C., Falk, D.A. and Dolan, C., 2013. FireScape: A program for whole-mountain fire management in the Sky Island Region. In In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 472-473. Vol. 67, pp. 472-473. https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/44477

TNC Authors

  • Brooke Gebow
    The Nature Conservancy