Our readings this week expand on efforts to explore the spatial elements of wildfire risk or management. Be prepared to talk about the methods and strategies used to arrive at the outcomes implicated in each reading.
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Please have comments uploaded by Monday at noon. That will give our discussion leads time to prepare.
Thanks, and see you all on Wednesday.
Overarching question:
ReplyDeleteIs creating new boundary classification systems the best approach for managing fires that “know no boundaries”?
Ager et al. ’21:
The fireshed registry uses MTBS data to map large fire occurrence. Areas are prioritized (and funded) by potential for catastrophic fire. Would money be better spent by maintaining those areas that are already in good shape fire-wise (i.e. not yet at risk of catastrophic large fire)?
Also, the fireshed registry described here does not account for social factors. Just because an area might be prioritized for treatment based on exposure, local residents may be strongly against thinning/burns. Should prioritization also take into account how receptive a local community will be to a particular treatment? Is there a way to include this information on the registry?
Gould ’23:
The article suggests that mapped firescapes are a useful decision-making tool. However, the firescape descriptions provided in Section 3.3 are broad and include information that any local fire manager is likely already aware of. Do you see any value in this tool for fire decision makers already well acquainted with their local area?
Thompson ’20:
The PODS system is unique in that it integrates expert-based fire knowledge as well as predictive models. Tenaya made a point in class the other day that the operational and the academic don’t always communicate or work well together, and I would agree. How could operational/firefighter experience be incorporated into the firesheds and firescapes suggested by Gould and Ager?
Ager 2021
ReplyDeleteFigure 8 shows firesheds across the Forest Service regions. Many of the firesheds appear to be clustered together and of distinct ranks despite their close proximity. Something I noticed is how many of these firesheds overlay existing areas of old-growth forests. Do you think that our vast removal of old-growth forests in addition to historic fire suppression has exacerbated conditions and created the firesheds we have today?
Gould 2023
I want to delve further into the data selection and preparation section. For instance, why do you think a minimum threshold of 25% forest cover was utilized for the hexagons? Is this the best percentage to use to capture the effects of mixed landscapes?
Thompson 2020
It is imperative for PODS to be accurate for proper fire management to take place, as fire behavior and other factors may be misrepresented. How may inaccuracies be better remediated within PODS? For instance, LANDFIRE allows all of its users, including the public and not only fire managers, to report inaccuracies if an area’s fuel type is incorrect. Perhaps PODS would excel by being open to more stakeholders?
Ager et al. 2021
ReplyDeleteHow could the Fireshed Registry be replicated across temporal and spatial scales to further be able to apply partnership programs?
Thompson et al. 2020
Can PODS be utilized to have a preplanned plan of fire management dependent on delineation type? I’m thinking PODS may be more beneficial when it comes to extended, managed fires as opposed to initial attack. The idea of PODS is similar to run cards. Dependent on where the fire is called in/what fire indices we are in automatically dictate what minimum resources are dispatched. I asked some fire managers from Oregon if they were familiar with PODS and they shared that they were not.
Gould et al. 2023
This is one of the better (dare I say one of the best) fire articles I’ve read. What I liked so much about this article was how holistically encompassing this study was. There were SO MANY indices, data sources, etc. that this study pulled from to answer their research question and taking firescape mapping into account. I think that this approach is very interesting and useful. How can the concept of firescapes be translated into a readily available information source for fire managers?
Thompson ‘20:
ReplyDeleteThis is my first introduction to PODs, and I found it quite impressive. Though, I’m wondering about it’s effectiveness in real time decisions by fire managers based on how accurate the reported landscape features are (The data layers). Is there a way to incorporate “boots on the ground” corrections to the software? It was mentioned last week that all models were inaccurate, but some could still be useful. I feel if this tool, that’s already incorporating so many different data sets, could incorporate the human component as well or human feedback, it would be the best fire management aid of its type.
Gould ‘23:
It seemed to me that the Firescapes tool needs more development. For example, This mapping tool focuses on the southeastern US, This area is known for being “fire friendly”, meaning many prescribed fires are happening on public and private lands. Is that being taken into account? We know that repeated prescribed burns over multiple years (Or decades) changes the landscape. So, how often are they updating the information?
Ager ‘21:
So one of the main features of the Fireshed registry is to evaluate target areas to reduce wildfire risks and if they should focus management/Resources to those areas. It seems to basically be a cost analysis weigh out. When a target area is chosen, they collaborate with agencies to manage that area. We’ve talked a lot about Insurance regarding WUI areas, could this software be employed by them to reduce premiums for people outside of target areas & ones inside of target areas that are doing their due diligence as landowner? To a higher level, for local governments/state governments to guide where land developers can get permits? I’ve seen a lot of research using the MTBS data, it seems to be a very trusted source across the board for fire management.
Gould et al.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an interesting approach to using numerous variables from multiple categories to map complex, social-ecological “firescapes”, and sort of incorporates the social indicators layer like I mentioned above. The authors had an expert working group of prescribed fire managers but I’m wondering if there should have been an expert working group of social scientists, also? It seems like some big issues with prescribed fire are individual and community -level attitudes and engagement. Could this be factored in somehow? Could there be variables for social resilience in addition to (or instead of) the standard, high-level metrics of social vulnerability (income, ethnicity, etc.)?
Thompson et al.
The collaborative process of developing PODs seems like an advantage, in terms of community engagement, if diverse local landowners, community members, etc. are involved. I like this approach but wonder how decisions are/should be made about who gets to be involved? Are the POD workshops open to anyone or are only certain people invited? In practice, is there emphasis on using PODs to inform mitigation/planning efforts or are they primarily used for fire response?
Ager et al.
Are the POD Atlas and the Fireshed Registry connected to each other/used in tandem, or are they two totally separate products with different applications? I started searching around trying to understand how all these data sets/tools/maps are connected (or not) and got really confused really quickly. Is there a point where the number of tools gets overwhelming? Who is getting trained/providing training on how to use all these different things?
Ager:
ReplyDeleteThe Ager article states that, "The highest 40 percent of building exposure originated from simulated
wildfires ignited on a mere 1 percent of Forest Service and DOI administered
lands (2,853,455 acres)." How does this statistic make you feel? What factors contribute to this?
Gould:
I really like the information and factors that they are explaining throughout the paper. I also really liked the way that they modeled different factors in each community, I thought this was well done. How can we make the information in this paper more readily available for both IC's and citizens. Who would this information be most important to, Citizens or IC's?
Thompson:
"Based on the current implementation of these tools in management, we envision that POD
Summarization and Atlas products will be updated on an annual or biannual basis to best reflect
current landscape conditions." Is this the best frequency to be updating the information? Should you be measuring and updating on a more regular basis? What would be an ideal return interval for sampling to provide the most up-to-date information to the public?
Thompson:
ReplyDeleteHow well do Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) actually work when wildfires are burning out of control? Do they make a real difference in firefighting efforts compared to traditional methods, especially in extreme fire conditions?
Gould:
What practical steps can be taken to make wildfire safety more accessible for everyone, especially those who may struggle with resources or evacuation plans?
Ager:
What are some specific examples where the Fireshed Registry has successfully influenced wildfire management decisions or planning?
1. What on-ground examples exist showcasing the benefits of intersecting social vulnerability and firescapes? Is this type of analysis just a form of tokenism?
ReplyDelete2. What collaborative dynamics are needed to maintain and implement PODs? Is this a revolving process? What knowledge is utilized (e.g., explicit, implicit, tacit) to generate these management and planning units?
3. Socially, what data is needed to understand whether the identified objectives of treating priority firesheds can be met?
Gould et al.
ReplyDelete1. When discussing the methods for the social and cultural characteristics they describe multiples and end with "overall vulnerability", what does that mean?
Thompson et al.
2. In the introduction they talk about wanting to help with fire suppression and I cant help but wonder that if our goal is to live with fire and view fire as a necessary part of our landscapes, how can we get there when suppression is still a prevalent objective?
3. How can the PODs Atlas be used in initial responses to a newly detected ignition?
4. Also, while I understand that there are limitations to the amount of resources we can gather/update but isn't updating the atlas on an annual or biannual basis enough?
1) How can we better facilitate the crossover between firesheds & PODs and operational wildland firefighting? Since there is significant overlap between these and LANDFIRE, WFDSS, IFTDSS, etc. in the sense of planning and mapping, how can we ensure that this actually trickles down into how we operate out in the field? How can we further expand upon this and promote better integration of fire risk transmission research into operational efforts and promote the expansion and promotion of this crossover knowledge base?
ReplyDelete2) From a top down approach, PODs may make a lot of sense, but oftentimes, when we look from the bottom up, their delineations don’t always match up to local treatment and mitigation priorities. How can we encourage local level land managers to feel comfortable in providing this feedback and how can we get upper-level planning management to incorporate it into future iterations of these networks? One example that I can think of that take this into account is the WFMRD&A, but this group is pretty standalone and isolated in terms of having a group that stays working there for years without much turnover and field reporting unless given from folks in details or gathered while out on assignment…
3) What practical steps, applications, and resources can we promote and make available to communities with limited accessibility (CWPPs, evacuation plans, PBAs, resources in general, etc.) to ensure they are both accurately/fairly represented in wildfire risk transmission and planning and equipped to deal with wildland fire affecting their communities, resources, landscapes, etc.? This is mostly relating to the Gould paper, but applies to all three articles.
Apologies for the tardy response, I haven’t had any help with childcare this week until 2pm today as my husband was out on assignment.