Fire Ecology Annual Report 2017 - Research & Technology

By Jennifer L. Barnes and Jennifer L. Hrobak

The AKR fire ecology program coordinates research and facilitates the use of scientific data, modeling and technology to address the needs of the fire management program. In 2017 a shared fire research proposal with the Intermountain West was submitted to the NPS fire reserve funds and was funded (see Table 7). Funding from FWS-LCC to assess the extent, cause and impacts of shortened fire return intervals in boreal forests provided funds for field work in Wrangell-St. Elias in 2017 to assess changes after fires that occurred in 2009 and 2016 (as described under the monitoring section of this report). Researchers from University of Montana have completed the tree ring analysis from the tree cores and cross-sections from Wrangell-St. Elias McCarthy University Subdivision fuels treatment area that was funded in FY15 with NPS Reserve Fuels Research. The final CESU report is expected in February of 2018.

Both fire ecologists are part of the interagency Fire Research, Development and Application Committee (FRDAC) for the Alaska Wildland Fire Coordinating Group (AWFCG) and are on the board for the JFSP Alaska Fire Science Consortium. Both ecologists participated in workshops and meetings for an interagency effort to update the Alaska Fuel Model Guide Book.

Table 7. Research workload in 2017.

Park	Are research needs identified in FMP or Monitoring Plan?	# of Proposals submitted in 2017	# of Proposals Funded in 2017	# of Research Projects Supported in 20171	Additional Comments
Wrangell-St. Elias NPPr	Yes	0	0	2	NPS FY15 Reserve Fund FWS-LCC Repeat Fires
Denali NPPr	Under Revision	1	1	1	NPS FY17 Reserve Fund

¹Number of funded research projects, new or ongoing, supported by the fire ecology program including logistical info or support, staffing, etc.