CEMML Wildland Fire

Naturally occurring and human induced wildland fires on military installations present a serious risk to people, infrastructure, quality training areas, and the natural environment. During the summers of 2000 and 2002, wildfires burned across millions of acres throughout the western U.S., including portions of several military installations. The size and intensity of these fires are unprecedented in recent times and are likely a precursor to events in the coming years. Fire suppression alone has proven ineffective in managing the wildfire threat. For this reason, additional facets must be added to wildfire management programs to compensate for the shortcomings of a pure wildfire suppression policy.

The Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) provides a wide variety of fire management products and services to assist military land managers and range operations personnel in protecting against the risk of wildland fire.

Pre-Suppression Planning

• Integrated Wildland Fire Management Plans
• Fire history analysis
• Fuel load distribution analysis
• Vegetation and fuels mapping
• Customized fire danger rating systems
• Fire behavior prediction and analysis
  • One dimensional BEHAVE fire behavior simulations
  • Two dimensional FARSITE fire spread and behavior simulations    
• Custom Fuel model development
• Risk analysis and project prioritization
• Wildfire Prevention Analysis or Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies
• Wildfire Situation Analysis
• Planning for wildland fire for resource benefit (also known as prescribed natural fire)
• Location of prescribed fire units and development of prescriptions to meet specific objectives

Munitions Use and Range Operations Planning

A significant risk of fire is inherent in military training. Many munitions commonly used by the Armed Forces are also ignition sources. Consequently, the number of potential ignitions on military installations is far greater than on most public lands.

CEMML provides:

• Determination of which munitions pose the greatest ignition risk
• Development of fire danger rating systems tailored to the unique needs of military trainers
• Recommendations of alterations in training that will reduce ignition and fire risk without compromising the ability of trainers to maintain a high level of combat readiness
• Determination of which ranges - considering fuels, ignition sources, climate, and topography - pose the greatest risk of fire escape
• Recommendation of containment strategies to compartmentalize or otherwise isolate ranges from other valuable resources

Restoration of Fire to High Risk Ecosystems

Fire suppression over many decades has had a number of unforeseen effects, one of which is the conversion of fire adapted ecosystems into decadent, late successional systems. This has occurred most commonly in the high frequency, low fire intensity fire regimes of the western U.S. such as the pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine communities, but is widespread. It has resulted in degraded habitat for many species of plants and animals and left these ecosystems at far greater risk of catastrophic wildfire.

CEMML provides:

• Determination of areas at highest risk
• Prioritization and planning of restoration burn areas and optimum rotation schedules
• Written burn plans
• Determination of the interactions between fire and natural resources
• Restoration and rehabilitation of burned areas

Hazardous Fuels Reduction

One hundred years of fire suppression has left tens of millions of acres of public and private lands with unnaturally high fuel loads. This situation contributes to increasingly severe fire behavior, allowing conflagrations to grow larger in less time despite coordinated efforts to contain them. Alternatively, removing fuels before a fire occurs, or burning fuels under controlled conditions reduces the fire risk at lower cost and allows managers to govern the timing and intensity of the impacts on the surrounding natural and human environment.

CEMML provides:

• Fuels management methodologies
• Solutions to urban interface issues
• Vegetation and fuels mapping
• Development of partnerships for small diameter fuel utilization

Additional Resources at CEMML

CEMML is uniquely positioned to address the research and management issues of wildland fire. As part of the College of Natural Resources within Colorado State University, we have access to world class research facilities and highly qualified faculty, including specialists in wildfire science. CSU is home to the most extensive university based wildfire ecology and management program in the country and includes the Western Forest Fire Research Center, which is dedicated to defining and solving the most difficult issues of wildland fire in the West. We also have relationships with the Forest Service Fire Sciences Labs in Missoula, MT and Riverside, CA and the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Additionally, because CEMML already has programs at many military installations and an extensive Geographic Information System (GIS) database at CSU, much of the infrastructure necessary for state of the art fire management planning is already in place.

Current Contracts

Department of Defense, Legacy Resource Management Program

Wildland Fire Risk Assessment of Western Military Installations

Kansas Army National Guard, Kansas

Develop an Integrated Wildland Fire Management Plan

Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

Develop an Integrated Wildland Fire Management Plan

U.S. Army Hawaii

Pre-Suppression Wildland Fire Management Plan for Various Management Units at Makua Military Reservation

U.S. Army Hawaii

Pyrotechnic Fire Risk Modelling at Makua Military Reservation

U.S. Army Hawaii

High Resolution Wildland Fire Risk Assessment for Makua Military Reservation

U.S. Army Hawaii

Wildland Fire Technical Assistance in Support of Section 7 Consultation for US Army Garrison Hawaii

U.S. Army Hawaii

Pre-Suppression Wildland Fire Management Plan for Kaluakauila Management Unit

U.S. Army Hawaii

Environmental Assessment for Implementation of the U.S. Army Hawaii Integrated Wildland Fire Management Plan, Oahu and Pohakuloa Training Areas

CEMML Wildland Fire Publications

Integrated Wildland Fire Management Plan: Oahu & Pohakuloa Training Areas, October 2003 (Contact Andrew Beavers )

CEMML TPS 02-02, Analysis of Fire History and Management Concerns at Pohakuloa Training Area (4.65 MB)

CEMML TPS 01-12, Creation and Validation of a Custom Fuel Model Representing Mature Panicum maximum (Guinea Grass) in Hawaii (863 KB)

CEMML TPS 01-11, Wildland Fire Risk and Management on West and South Ranges Schofield Barracks, Oahu (4.49 MB)

CEMML TPS 99-9, Analysis of Fire Management Concerns at Makua Military Reservation (5.95 MB)

Point of Contact: Andrew Beavers, Fire Ecology and Management Specialist, (970) 491-1005, Andrew.Beavers@ColoState.EDU

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