Fire Risk Reduction Studies
Overview description: Yukon College has undertaken steps to reduce the hazards of forest fire reaching the College. They have done this by thinning the stand adjacent to the college grounds and by removing much of the fuel load in the this section of forest. They have removed most of the course woody debris in the area, cleared the dead branches from the lower trunks to a height of about 2 meters and removed touching trees. Most of the cleared wood has been chipped and placed back on the forest floor. Before: note: density of the stand, coarse woody debris, ladder fuels on trunks of trees and darkness of the stand. Two studies are being undertaken by the Experiential Science class as part of this initiative. We have a photo record respecting the visual impacts of the thinning. Photos were taken from a number of stations looking into and out of the stand before and after the fire risk reduction exercise. We have also agreed to examine the impacts the thinning has upon the microclimates in sections of the cleared stand compared to an adjacent control stand. After: Note the changes from the above photo. A number of aesthetic questions are raised in this process. Does this level of clearing represent a negative impact upon the forest? Does this really result in a reduction of fire risk. Fuel has been removed but does the clearing result in a higher ground temperature and a drying of the forest floor? Does the “Fire Smart” activity leave increased fine woody debris on the forest floor? Our microclimate studies should go some distance toward addressing these questions. We found that Fire Smart that left substantial fine woody debris on the forest floor increased risk of fire spreading compared to sites where fine woody debris was cleared as part of the Fire Smart process.
Community interest or concern Yukon College and Yukon Wildfire Fire Suppression invested considerable effort and resources to “Fire Smart” the area to the north west of the college. The effectiveness and the nature of the activity appears to be an important question to research.
Duration of study and numbers involved This study was conducted four times in 2000 and 2001
Protocols followed and resources. We set out standard transects and inventories fine and course woody debris in both the Fire Smart areas and in parallel sections of forest.
Contact person and more detailed information Bob Sharp, Scott Gilbert, Alain Dalaire, Kevin O’Connor and Yukon Fire Smart
Overview description: Yukon College has undertaken steps to reduce the hazards of forest fire reaching the College. They have done this by thinning the stand adjacent to the college grounds and by removing much of the fuel load in the this section of forest. They have removed most of the course woody debris in the area, cleared the dead branches from the lower trunks to a height of about 2 meters and removed touching trees. Most of the cleared wood has been chipped and placed back on the forest floor. Before: note: density of the stand, coarse woody debris, ladder fuels on trunks of trees and darkness of the stand. Two studies are being undertaken by the Experiential Science class as part of this initiative. We have a photo record respecting the visual impacts of the thinning. Photos were taken from a number of stations looking into and out of the stand before and after the fire risk reduction exercise. We have also agreed to examine the impacts the thinning has upon the microclimates in sections of the cleared stand compared to an adjacent control stand. After: Note the changes from the above photo. A number of aesthetic questions are raised in this process. Does this level of clearing represent a negative impact upon the forest? Does this really result in a reduction of fire risk. Fuel has been removed but does the clearing result in a higher ground temperature and a drying of the forest floor? Does the “Fire Smart” activity leave increased fine woody debris on the forest floor? Our microclimate studies should go some distance toward addressing these questions. We found that Fire Smart that left substantial fine woody debris on the forest floor increased risk of fire spreading compared to sites where fine woody debris was cleared as part of the Fire Smart process.
Community interest or concern Yukon College and Yukon Wildfire Fire Suppression invested considerable effort and resources to “Fire Smart” the area to the north west of the college. The effectiveness and the nature of the activity appears to be an important question to research.
Duration of study and numbers involved This study was conducted four times in 2000 and 2001
Protocols followed and resources. We set out standard transects and inventories fine and course woody debris in both the Fire Smart areas and in parallel sections of forest.
Contact person and more detailed information Bob Sharp, Scott Gilbert, Alain Dalaire, Kevin O’Connor and Yukon Fire Smart