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What to Expect When Your District is on Fire

Riley Robert Stark

University of Idaho College of Natural Resources

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Earliest infrastructure

navigable routes

Precursor to contemporary travel corridors

A primary recreation resource

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Community ecology

Biophysical environment

Community structure and function

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Increasing in popularity since the end of WWII

Decreasing budgets despite

increasing use.

Large portions of recreation budgets. Fires complicate recreation

management by impacting soils and vegetation.

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Fires will increase from climate change.

Research focuses on to soils and vegetation.

Very little research on fire and recreation.

Nothing on fires and trails

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From many sources, including:

Game trails

Traditional paths

Abandoned transportation

Administrative access

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Recreation trails are a relatively recent development.

Most were built in the Appalachian Mountains.

usually quite steep

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Administrative access.

Fire suppression

Built to accommodate pack animals

Photo credit: Mike Reavis

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Fires are a critical disturbance mechanism. Consumption of plant material

Damage to living plant tissues

Consumption of soil organic matter

Creation of a short-lived hydrophobic layer.

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Ecology

Law and Policy

•Human Dimensions

•Tools and Technology

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Burning of wooden trail infrastructure

wooden bridges

log cribs

water bars

check steps

signs

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Consumes organic matter

Roots => undermines trails

Increases splash, sheet, and rill erosion

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•Increases availability of soil macronutrients • Increases plant growth

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Increased snow accumulation and melt

Avalanching

Higher peak flows of streams and rivers

Washouts near water (bank scour)

Increased seasonal availability of soil water

Longer season of soil movement

Hydrophobic soils increase surface runoff

Increased overland flow amplifies the effects of erosion.

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Fire kills trees whose roots hold soil together.

Mass wasting of soils

Increased surface

runoff

Bank scour near rivers

and streams

Increased maintenance needs

Relocation and reconstruction is often necessary.

Photo Credit: Mike Reavis

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Photo Credit: Eric Kroeger

•Vegetation is consumed by fire. •Post-fire plant community composition depends on local plants’ ability to respond to fire

•Vegetative encroachment

•Problematic until canopy closure. •Additional maintenance is required.

Agee, J. K. 1993. Fire ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests . Washington, D.C.: Island Press. 15

From Gara et al. 1985 16

• Significant barriers to travel •Costly to remove. •Persistent

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•Hazard trees and blowdown can persist for up to 30 years

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Noxious weeds

Exposes garbage

Alters animal habitats.

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Evacuation is often necessary

Fire damages recreation sites

More hikers, fewer stock users and anglers

Displaces some recreation activities

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Edible wild mushrooms often proliferate after fires.

attractive to mushroom pickers.

Photo Credit: Mike Reavis

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Forest visitors support management ignited fires more often than they oppose it.

Short lived interest in immediate effects of fire.

Implications for

public educational opportunities.

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Difficult to traverse

Dangerous

Interesting

Less pleasant

Increased visibility

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Guiding policies for Federal land management agencies:

National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 (USC 16 §§

1—18f3)

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-579)

National Forest Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-588)

National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-190)

Requires comprehensive analysis for major projects

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Wilderness Act of 1964

(U.S. Public Law 88-577)

Provides for a primitive and unconfined type of recreation

Legally limits management options

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Disaster Relief Act 0f 1974

Amended by Stafford

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988

Provides some funding for rebuilding infrastructure

Funding only good for a single year

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GPS/GIS integration

Method of collecting

trail monitoring data

Attractive presentation

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•Landscape level maps can illustrate where fires have potentially impacted trails.

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The resulting data can be used to prioritize current work and estimate future maintenance needs.

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2007 was the worst fire season in Idaho since 1910

Many affected trees will begin falling this year .

Mass wasting will also increase

Forest Service budgets are declining rapidly.

USFS 2013 budgets are $66 million less than 2012

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Increase or reinstate funding

Agency employees or

long-term contracts

Organize volunteer efforts

Develop partnerships

Relocate or close trails

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Agee, J. K. 1993. Fire ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Birkby, R.C., P. Lucchetti, and J. Tempest. 1996. Lightly on the land: the SCA trail- building and maintenance manual. The Mountaineers. 261p.

Borrie, W. T., S. F. McCool, and J. G. Whitmore. 2006. Wildland fire effects on visits and visitors to the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex. International Journal of Wilderness 12(1): 32–35.

Cole, D. 1989. Recreation ecology: what we know, what geographers can contribute. Professional Geographer. 41(2): 143-148.

Dawson, Chad P.; Hendee, John C. 2009. Wilderness Management-Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values. 4th ed. Colorado: Fulcrum. 528p.

Englin, J., and J. Loomis. 2001. The dynamic path of recreational values following a forest fire: a comparative analysis of stats in the Intermountain west. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 31:20. p1837-1845.

Gara, R.I., J.K. Agee, W.R. Littke, D.R. Geisler, J.D. Stewart, and J.D. Driver. 1985. Influence of fire, fungi, and mountain pine beetles on development of a lodgepole pine forest in south-central Oregon. In Baumgartner, D.M., et al. (eds.) Lodgepole Pine: The species and its management.: pp.153-62. Pullman: Washington State University.

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Hall, T. E., and D. N. Cole. 2007. Changes in the Motivations, Perceptions, and Behaviors of Recreation Users: Displacement and Coping in Wilderness. Research Paper RMRS-RP-63. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station

Hessel, A.E. 2011. Pathways for climate change effects on fire: Models, data,

and uncertainty. Progress in Physical Geography. 35:3. 393-407.

Poaj, N.J., P.J. Weisberg, P.C. Impara, J.C. Tappeiner, and T.S. Sensing. 2009.

Influences of climate, fire, and topography on contemporary age

structure patterns of Douglas-fir at 205 old forest sites in western Oregon. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 39: 7. p. 1518-1530.

Proudman, R.D., and R. Rajala. 1981. AMC Field guide to trail building

and maintenance 2nd edition. Appalachian Mountain Club. 263p.

Rathke, D.M., and M.J. Melvin. 1994 Recreation trail design and

construction. Minnesota Extension Service: University of Minnesota College of Natural Resources. 27p.

Ribe, R.G. 1989. The aesthetics of forestry: What has empirical preference research t aught us? Environmental Management. 13(1): 55-74

Schroder, S.L., and I.E. Schneider. 2010. Wildland fire and the visitor experience. International Journal of Wilderness. 16:1. p 20-25.

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Swanson, F.J. 1981. Fire and geomorphic processes. In Mooney, H., et al. (eds.)

Fire Regimes and Ecosystem Processes: Proceedings of the Conference:

pp. 410-20. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report ) WO-26.

USC 16 §§ 1—18f3. The National Park Service Organic Act of 1916. 39 stat 535.

U.S. Public Law 88-577. The Wilderness Act of September 3, 1964. 78 Stat. 890.

U.S. Public Law 91-190. The National Environmental Policy Act of January 1,

1970. 83 Stat. 852

U.S. Public Law

U.S. Public Law 94-579, The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of

October 21, 1976. 90 Stat. 2743

U.S. Public Law 94-588. The National Forest Management Act of October 22nd, 1976. 90 Stat 2949.

Vaux, H.J., P.D. Gardner, T.J. Mills. 1984. Methods for assessing the impact of f fire on forest recreation. General Technical Report PSW-79. United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 13p.

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Mike Reavis: slides 6, 8, 14, 23

Eric Kroeger: slide 12, 15, 22, 25, 28, 32

Gara et al.: slide 16

Vaux, Gardiner, and Mills: Slide 20

All other photos taken by Riley Stark

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