This video series “Reading the Tea Leaves” on fuel moisture by Dr. Reeves of the Rocky Mountain Research Station reminds me of what intramural pragmatic FS R&D can be. Researchers who have been paying attention to the same things for their careers become experts. Practitioners give them info, they do research and provide info back to practitioners as researchers and practitioners mutually learn through time.
For me, it’s about researchers engaging directly with the folks their research is supposed to help. Reaching out via mechanisms other than journal publications. Not using more abstract or trendy terminology than is necessary to get the point across. These folks are treasures.
Reeves’ Fuelcasting system is an important component of the Rangeland Production Monitoring System. Both sound extremely useful to me.
Anyway, to the Index:
Who benefits: fuels, wildfire and grazing folks
Scale: West-wide
Time: The current year, comparison to past years
What Questions: How are fuel conditions looking this year in terms of wildfire?
A West-Wide Rangeland Fuel Assessment: Reading the Tea Leaves
In this monthly recorded series, Dr. Matt Reeves – an RMRS Research Ecologist specializing in remote sensing and ecological modeling – will analyze current rangeland fuel conditions across the west, with emphasis on emerging hotspots. New episodes will be posted every month and more frequently as the summer progresses.Projections are based on Reeves’ Fuelcasting system, a new program that provides projections of expected fuel conditions this grazing season. It is an important component of the Rangeland Production Monitoring System.
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Wildfires are a result of fuels, weather, and topography. Topography is static, but weather and fuels change constantly and require regular monitoring. One of the techniques used to monitor fuel conditions is analyzing the Seven-Layer Cake. The Seven-Layer Cake consists of:
Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI; both 6- and 12-month varieties)
Change in fine fuel production compared to long term average
Total fine fuel amount
Wildfire history
Density of larger diameter fuels
Density of invasive annual grasses
In this webcast, USDA Forest Service Research Ecologist Dr. Matt Reeves analyzes rangeland fuel conditions around the western United States and draws parallels to the 2017 fire season in the northern Rockies, especially western Montana. Moreover, conditions in California, northern Great Basin, central and southeastern Arizona, Columbia Basin and eastern Cascades, and parts of the Black Hills region exhibit interesting fuel characteristics. All previous recordings are located on the Reading the Tea Leaves page.