Fire today ManagementVolume 66 • No. 1 • Winter 2006 PRESCRIBED FIRE CASE STUDIES, DECISION AIDS, AND PLANNING GUIDES United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Dedication This special issue of Fire Management Today devoted to prescribed fire is dedicated to all the individuals from around the world who have been killed or seriously injured while engaged in a prescribed burning operation. This would include fatality incidents in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, the United States, and no doubt other regions of the world. It is our sincerest hope that this publication will in some way contribute to an enduring culture where concern for the safety of personnel involved in prescribed burning is an integral part of the planning and operational procedures in the future. Martin E. Alexander and David A. Thomas Issue Coordinators Editors’ note: This issue of Fire Management Today reprints articles from early editions of the journal, some of them decades old. Although the articles appear in today’s format, the text is reprinted largely verbatim and therefore reflects the style and usage of the time. We made minor wording changes for clarity, added intertitles and metric conversions where needed, and occasionally broke up paragraphs to improve readability. All illustrations are taken from the original articles. Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Fire Management Today is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, at: Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: 202-512-1800 Fax: 202-512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 Fire Management Today is available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/index.html>. Mike Johanns, Secretary Melissa Frey U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager Dale Bosworth, Chief Robert H. “Hutch” Brown, Ph.D. Forest Service Managing Editor Tom Harbour, Director Madelyn Dillon Fire and Aviation Management Editor Paul Keller Editor Carol LoSapio Contributing Editor Martin E. Alexander, Ph.D., and David A. Thomas Issue Coordinators The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and, where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Disclaimer: The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement of any product or service by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Individual authors are responsible for the technical accuracy of the material presented in Fire Management Today. Fire Management today Volume 66 • No. 1 • Winter 2006 On the Cover: CONTENTS Prescribed Fire Case Studies, Decision Aids, and Planning Guides ............................ .5 M.E. Alexander and D. A. Thomas Prescribed Burning in the Florida Flatwoods ............ .21 C.A. Bickford and L.S. Newcomb Vegetation Temperature and Fire Damage in the Southern Pines .......................... .26 George M. Byram Prescribed burning in southern Broadcast Slash Burning After a Rain ................ .28 pine in about 1970. The photo Robert Aufderheide and William G. Morris is from an article by Walter A. Prescribed Burning in the Northern Rocky Mountains ..... .32 Hough (“Prescribed Burning in Charles T. Coston the South Surveyed, Analyzed” [Fire Control Notes 34(1): 4–5]), The Christmas Eve Prescribed Burn .................. .35 a research forester for the USDA Albert A. Thomas Forest Service, Southern Forest Prescribed Burning Techniques in Loblolly and Longleaf Fire Lab, Macon, GA. The article Pine on the Francis Marion National Forest ........... .38 describes the prescribed fire pro- John T. Hills gram in the 13 Southern States Prescribed Burning in Shortleaf–Loblolly Pine on from 1964 to 1971, when more Rolling Uplands in East Texas ..................... .39 than 2 million acres were pre- E.R. Ferguson scribe-burned each year on aver- age, mainly in an arc from South Use of Fire in Forest Management ................... .41 Carolina to Louisiana and mostly Robert D. McCulley for hazardous fuels reduction and Reduction of Fuel Accumulations With Fire ............. .43 site preparation. Photo: USDA Robert M. Romancier Forest Service. Time–Temperature Relationships of Test Headfires The USDA Forest Service’s Fire and and Backfires ................................ .45 Aviation Management Staff has adopted a Lawrence S. Davis and Robert E. Martin logo reflecting three central principles of wildland fire management: Prescribed Burning for Hazard Reduction on the • Innovation: We will respect and value Chippewa National Forest ....................... .47 thinking minds, voices, and thoughts Thomas A. Fulk and Robert Tyrrel of those that challenge the status quo while focusing on the greater good. Prescribed Burning Techniques on the • Execution: We will do what we say we National Forests in South Carolina ................. .49 will do. Achieving program objectives, Zeb Palmer and D.D. Devet improving diversity, and accomplishing A Field Trial for Regulating Prescribed Fire Intensities ..... .52 targets are essential to our credibility. Stephen S. Sackett • Discipline: What we do, we will do well. Fiscal, managerial, and operational dis- Prescribed Nighttime Burns Bring Benefits ............. .54 cipline are at the core of our ability to Stephen S. Sackett and Dale D. Wade fulfill our mission. Rx for Burning on the Apache National Forest .......... .56 Bill Buck Fire Is a Terror … But Also a Tool ................... .60 Richard E. Baldwin Firefighter and public safety is our first priority. Continued on next page Volume 66 • No. 1 • Winter 2006 3 Fire Management today CONTENTS (continued) Stereo Photographs Aid Residue Management .......... .62 Kevin C. Ryan and R.E. Johnson Positive Effects of Prescribed Burning on Wildfire Intensities ............................ .65 James A. Helms The Cole Broadcast Burn .......................... .69 James B. Webb Stage Underburning in Ponderosa Pine ................ .71 John Maupin Preliminary Guidelines for Broadcast Burning Lodgepole Pine Slash in Colorado .................. .72 G. Thomas Zimmerman Underburning To Reduce Fire Hazard and Control Ips Beetles in Green Thinning Slash. .77 Dick Smith, Robert Mrowka, and John Maupin A Matrix Approach to Fire Prescription Writing ......... .79 Steven Raybould and Tom Roberts Underburning on White Fir Sites To Induce Natural Regeneration and Sanitation. .83 Gary J. Petersen and Francis R. Mohr Prescribed Burning of Chained Redberry Juniper Community With a Helitorch ..................... .86 Fire activity following ground Guy R. McPherson, Robert A. Masters, and G. Allen Rasmussen and aerial ignition of the 1,300- Prescribed Fire in the Southeast—Five Steps to a acre (525-ha) “Diamond L” pre- Successful Burn .............................. .90 scribed burn unit on the Buffalo James Lunsford Ranger District, Bridger–Teton How To Estimate Tree Mortality Resulting National Forest in northwest- From Underburning ............................ .96 ern Wyoming, October 1, 2005. Elizabeth D. Reinhardt and Kevin C. Ryan Vegetation/fuel types consisted of trembling aspen, sagebrush, and Author Index—Volume 65 ........................ .101 mixed-conifer stands. The pri- Subject Index—Volume 65 ........................ .102 mary purpose of the burning was to enhance winter and transi- tional ranges for elk by using fire to stimulate aspen regeneration. Photos: Chris Vero, USDA Forest SHORT FEATURES Service, Bridger–Teton National Summary of Steps in a Successful Prescribed Burn ...... .100 Forest, Jackson, WY, 2005. Guidelines for Contributors ....................... .106 Thirteen Prescribed Fire Situations That Shout Watch Out! .............. Inside Back Cover John Maupin Websites on Fire .................... Inside Back Cover Fire Management Today 4 PRESCRIBED FIRE CASE STUDIES, DECISION AIDS, AND PLANNING GUIDES M.E. Alexander and D.A. Thomas ire Management Today and its predecessors collectively have a The use of fire by humans has a long F 70-year record of publishing on and storied history, all aspects of wildland fire manage- as has been chronicled globally by noted fire historian ment. While early on the emphasis Stephen Pyne. was placed on subjects related to fire protection and fire suppression, Internet at the journal’s website Incident Operations Standards it wasn’t too long before articles (http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fmt/). Working Team 2005), they all dealing with prescribed fire began This action has greatly