Assessing fuel treatments and burn severity using global and local analyses

Abstract

Wildfires in western U.S. dry forest ecosystems have increased in size and severity during recent decades due primarily to more than a century of fire suppression, exclusion of Indigenous fire, and a rapidly warming climate. Fuel treatments have been employed to restore historical forest conditions and mitigate burn severity. However, their influence on burn severity in the context of other environmental variables and firefighting operations has not been extensively explored. The 2021 Bootleg Fire in south-central Oregon provided an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of mechanical thinning (Tx), broadcast burning (Rx), and both treatments combined (TxRx) near the Sycan Marsh Preserve, where pre-fire LiDAR data were also available.

Citation

Sanna, A., Chamberlain, C., Prichard, S.J. et al. Assessing fuel treatments and burn severity using global and local analyses. fire ecol 21, 44 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-025-00387-y