Spatial Optimization of Fuel Management Activities

We describe and assess several methods for scheduling fuel management treatments to achieve timber harvest and landscape pattern goals across space and time. Four landscape patterns of management activities are modeled (dispersed, clumped, random, and regular). The intent is to examine the effects of spatial and temporal placement of fuel management activities on resulting wildfire behavior. The timber harvest goal is a common one related to the management of public land in the intermountain U.S., to achieve and maintain a high level of even harvest volumes. We describe forest planning scheduling processes that provide schedules of activities across both space and time, with the hypotheses that (a) fire effects may be minimized by scheduling activities in a pattern across the landscape, and (b) harvest levels will not be significantly affected by scheduling activities in a pattern across the landscape. Results indicate that while spatial patterns cannot be statistically validated, due to the multi-objective nature of the planning problem, usual examination does suggest the patterns are being designed. In addition, fire behavior, as compared to a control simulation with no scheduled activity, is not minimized by scheduling activities in specific spatial patterns. Two reasons for this result emerge: (1) that the prescriptions used, which were designed to promote the development of forest structure within a desired range of stand density, are not appropriate for contributing to the control of wildfire, and (2) increased harvest levels obscure the pattern of activity, making the impact of the pattern less clear even though harvest levels are not significantly influenced by scheduling them in a pattern across the landscape.