Fire Management

Question 1

What is the fire triangle?

Answer 1

Oxygen, heat, fuel

Question 2

How many acres were burned in the great fire of 1910? (the Big Burn)

Answer 2

3 million

Question 3

What were the causes of the 1988 Yellowstone fires, and how much damage was done by them?

Answer 3

42 by lightning, 9 by humans. Costed $120 million, burned over 793 million acres, and 2 people died

Question 4

What percentage of Californians most destructive wildfires have occurred since 2015?

Answer 4

75%

Question 5

Are there more or less total wildfires in the US today as compared to the 90s?

Answer 5

Less

Question 6

Have more or less acres been burned in the US today as compared to the 90s?

Answer 6

More

Question 7

Have more or less acres per fire been burned during wildfires in the US today as compared to the 90s?

Answer 7

More

Question 8

What are the 5 deadliest wildfires in US history?

Answer 8

1. 1891: Peshtigo, Wisconsin - 1,547
2. 1918: Cloquet, Minnesota - 559
3. 1894: Hinckley, Minnesota - 418
4. 1881: The Thumb Fire, Michigan - 282
5. 2023: Maui, Hawaii - 115

Question 9

How many acres burned during the Aspen fire?

Answer 9

84,750, including Summerhaven

Question 10

How many acres burned during the 2020 Bighorn Fire?

Answer 10

119,987

Question 11

How much did tree densities increase after fire exclusion?

Answer 11

Went from 15-50 trees per acre to 400-1500 per acre

Question 12

When did fire suppression begin?

Answer 12

1880s

Question 13

Why is fire supression bad?

Answer 13

Fire return interval increases, fuel amount and connectivity increases, ignition happens, and then area burned and/or fire severity increases

Question 14

What happened during the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Blaze in New Mexico in 2022?

Answer 14

Two prescribed burns got out of control then joined, leading to a response calling for total fire supression or more prescribed burns to limit the chances of such an event happening again

Question 15

What is the other major factor besides denser forests contributing to more wildfires?

Answer 15

Anthropogenic climate change

Question 16

By what process does anthropogenic climate change make wildfires worse?

Answer 16

Rising temperatures lead to snow melting sooner leading to forests being drier for longer, priming conditions for wildfires to ignite and spread

Question 17

In terms of anthropogenic climate change and wildfires, there is a strong correlation between fuel aridity and …?

Answer 17

The size of forest burned

Question 18

It is estimated that climate change contributed to an additional ______ of forest dire during 1984-2015, nearly doubling the forest fire expected in its absense.

Answer 18

4.2 million hectares

Question 19

What happens when there is ground fire?

Answer 19

Tree stumps and roots burn because of a sub-surface smoldering fire.

Question 20

What happens when there is a surface fire?

Answer 20

Fire burns grass and baby trees along forest floor

Question 21

What happens when there is a crown fire?

Answer 21

Large, intense fire that burns the entire tree including the canopy.

Question 22

Does lighting or people cause more fires?

Answer 22

Between 1992 and 2012 84% of wildfires were ignited by people, and more recently it has been reported that that number is closer to 89%

Question 23

What is the total economic cost of wildfires in the U.S.?

Answer 23

$394 to $893 billion dollars including costs from suppression, property damage, and lost economic activity.

Question 24

How much of the USFS budget is used for wildfire?

Answer 24

More than all of it

Question 25

Is forest thinning alone sufficient to mitigate wildfire hazard?

Answer 25

Thinning alone can sometimes mitigate fire severity but can contribute to higher surface fuel loads if residual logging slash remains. Thinning alone can contribute to high-intensity surface fires if dead biomass is left in place.

Question 26

Can forest thinning and prescribed burning solve the problem?

Answer 26

Although thinning and prescribed burning have been shown to be highly effective, not all forests are appropriate for this treatment (e.g. cold mixed-conifer forest). This approach may also be less appropriate for wilderness areas.

Question 27

Should active forest management, including forest thinning, be concentrated in the wildland urban interface (WUI)?

Answer 27

The majority of designated WUI is in private ownership, and sometimes more difficult to treat than public lands. Treating forests beyond the WUI buffers can modify fire behavior and change the intensity of wildfires arriving at communities.

Question 28

What did the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act do related to wildfires?

Answer 28

It included funding to better manage forests to reduce catastropic wildfires.

Question 29

What does budget for preparedness do?

Answer 29

Increase salaries, health and safety, and trainings

Question 30

What does budget for fuels management do?

Answer 30

Mechanical thinning, prescribed fires, and engaging tribal nation's youth

Question 31

What does budget for burns area rehabilitation do?

Answer 31

Post fire restoration activities, increase climate resilience

Question 32

What does joint fire science budget do?

Answer 32

Increase research to study wildland fire and climate change interactions

Question 33

What are the impacts of new federal budget cuts on USFS?

Answer 33

Hiring freezes and staff reductions (~3,400), funding cuts - freezing 2022 inflation reduction act, and uncertianty - existing projects to reduce flammable vegetation are being postponed

Question 34

Why is wildland urban interface increasing wildfire costs?

Answer 34

Within transition zones between wild and urban environments in the American West, population has grown rapidly in places where plant-water sensitivity drives high wildfire hazard. Options to fight fire are reduced in areas where lives and homes are immediately threatened.

Question 35

How did Jemez Pueblo manage fire?

Answer 35

27 fire/fuel uses occurring in homes, village, agricultural fields and the forest landscape. Fire regime of many, small low-intensity fires reduced forest vulnerability, maintaining resilience of ecosystem, even though overall burned area was larger. It created a working landscape in which properties of fire regime supported livelihoods of residents and there was a much greater acceptance of positive benefits of fire and smoke.

Question 36

What happened after Spanish Colonial impacts on the Jemez Pueblo?

Answer 36

The Hemish depopulation of forested landscapes resulted in a rebound of fuels accompanied by return of widely spreading, frequent surface fires.

Question 37

How did Native Americans rekindle controlled burning?

Answer 37

"Quiet fire" by Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk tribes traditionaly used low intensity perscribed fire to promote growth of crops like acorns and hazel. Tribes are re-establishing burns to maintain cultural identities, leading to trainings and collaboration with california fire fighters in 2014.

Question 38

What is the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network (IPBN)?

Answer 38

Includes tribes and pubelos in New Mexico, Minnesota, and Oregon. Administered by the Nature Conservanct, recieves financial support from USFS and Office of Wildland Fire at U.S. Department of the Inteterior. Ultimate goal is to support tribes in self-determination and self-sufficiency in terms of fire management.