Effectiveness and Efficiency of Fire Hazard Reduction Treatments-"Assessing the Need, Costs, and Potential Benefits of Fire and Mechanical Treatments to Reduce Fire Hazard."

The summer of 2000 emphasized the ecological, social, and economic impacts that severe wildfires can create in Montana and elsewhere in the West. Increasingly, the public and elected officials are searching for management actions that can effectively and efficiently reduce fire hazard and restore sustainable ecological conditions in western forests.

These strategic assessments of fire hazard in Montana and New Mexico are the first of their kind. Utilizing Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and current forest growth and fire hazard models-Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) and the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE), respectively-researchers were able to describe and quantify forest and fire hazard conditions at the statewide level. The reports also include analyses of the effectiveness and cost efficiency of various hazard reduction treatments.

The research was conducted jointly by faculty at the School of Forestry and Bureau of Business and Economic Research at The University of Montana, as part of the cooperative National Joint Fire Sciences Program project "Assessing the Need, Costs, and Potential Benefits of Fire and Mechanical Treatments to Reduce Fire Hazard."

For the full reports, please go to:

http://www.bber.umt.edu/forestproducts/fireReports.asp