Forest Surveys and GIS Applications on the Nez Perce Reservation GIS on Fire! Worley - Plummer, Idaho May 11, 2005 Rich Botto, Nez Perce Tribe

Development of Forest Surveys Prior to 1970s – Appraisals Prior to 1970s – Appraisals timber volume and value timber volume and value 1974 – First permanent CFI plots installed 1974 – First permanent CFI plots installed forest management plans forest management plans sustainable harvest rate sustainable harvest rate 1987 – Initiated stand based inventory system 1987 – Initiated stand based inventory system silvicultural planning silvicultural planning harvest scheduling harvest scheduling FireMon program FireMon program monitoring forest fuels monitoring forest fuels fire management planning fire management planning

Comparison of Forest Surveys

Pre-harvest cruising Pre-harvest cruising 1 or 2 timber sales 1 or 2 timber sales 3 to 5 cutting permits 3 to 5 cutting permits Annual Inventory Goals

Pre-harvest cruising Pre-harvest cruising 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years YEAR CFI PLOTS Annual Inventory Goals

Pre-harvest cruising Pre-harvest cruising 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years 5,500 acres of stand exams to ensure 10% of land base updated 5,500 acres of stand exams to ensure 10% of land base updated MSMT YRACRES , , , , , , , , , , , , ,291.48

Pre-harvest cruising Pre-harvest cruising 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years 456 CFI plots measured every 10 years 5,500 acres of stand exams to ensure 10% of land base updated 5,500 acres of stand exams to ensure 10% of land base updated WUI/HFR treatments WUI/HFR treatments Annual Inventory Goals

Data Analysis & Reporting Forest Projection System (FPS) Forest Projection System (FPS) Appraisals Appraisals Stand exams Stand exams

Data Analysis & Reporting Forest Projection System (FPS) Forest Projection System (FPS) BIA Analysis Program, Northwest Regional Office BIA Analysis Program, Northwest Regional Office CFI plots CFI plots

Data Analysis & Reporting Forest Projection System (FPS) Forest Projection System (FPS) BIA Analysis Program, Northwest Regional Office BIA Analysis Program, Northwest Regional Office FireMon Data Analysis Software FireMon Data Analysis Software Fuels monitoring plots Fuels monitoring plots

Future Inventory Needs What is the composition of forest fuels at the stand level ? What is the composition of forest fuels at the stand level ? Canopy, snags, ladder fuels, shrubs, nonwoody, litter-lichen-moss, and ground fuels Canopy, snags, ladder fuels, shrubs, nonwoody, litter-lichen-moss, and ground fuels Fine scale vs. coarse scale assessments Fine scale vs. coarse scale assessments What are the effects of WUI/HFR treatments on fire hazards at the landscape scale? What are the effects of WUI/HFR treatments on fire hazards at the landscape scale? Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC)

GIS Applications FPS growth model calibration (clumpiness index) FPS growth model calibration (clumpiness index) Stem mapping CFI plots Stem mapping CFI plots Forest events geodatabase Forest events geodatabase Documenting forest management practices (current and historical) Documenting forest management practices (current and historical) Linking historical photographs Linking historical photographs Fire hazard mapping using FVS (Forest Vegetative Simulator) Fire hazard mapping using FVS (Forest Vegetative Simulator) Fire and fuels extension model Fire and fuels extension model

Stem Mapping Acquire a GPS location for all trees >5” Dbh on the fixed 1/5 acre plot (6627 live tree records) Acquire a GPS location for all trees >5” Dbh on the fixed 1/5 acre plot (6627 live tree records) XY coordinate of plot center pin XY coordinate of plot center pin Distance to tree Distance to tree Azimuth to tree Azimuth to tree Calculate offset and GPS locations for each tree Calculate offset and GPS locations for each tree

Click on plot 604

Forest Management Geo-Database Documenting forest management activities (historical, present, and planned) and creating Activity_IDs for your GIS shapefiles Documenting forest management activities (historical, present, and planned) and creating Activity_IDs for your GIS shapefiles

Practice Types  Planting  Precommercial thinning  Commercial thinning  Overstory removal/reduction  Sanitation/salvage  Prescribed fire  Mechanical site prep  Pruning  Mechanical brush reduction  Livestock grazing/browsing  Shelterwood  Seed tree  Clearcut  Free thin  Single tree selection  Group selection  Chemical application Event Types  Plant  Thin  Harvest  Fire  SitePrep  HFR  Cruise Forest Management Geo- Database Forest Events  Type of Event  Event Status  Contract Name  Contract Number  Administrator  Start Date  End Date  Approval Status  Map Status Activities  Event  Activity_ID  Type of Practice  Unit  Year  Tract Name TABLES Activities ForestEvents EventTypes PracticeTypes TractNames PracticePoly

 Excel Spreadsheets Export Utilities GIS Shapefiles Reports  Activity_ID (s) for current projects  Summary Reports Forest practices by tract and time period Forest Management Geo- Database  Activity_ID  Practice  Unit#  Year  Tract Name  Acres

Fire Hazard Mapping (FVS-FFE) Torching and Crowning Indices Torching and Crowning Indices Surface fire Surface fire Passive crown fire Passive crown fire Active fire Active fire Attributes Attributes Surface fuels, surface fuel moisture, canopy base ht, slope, wind effects Surface fuels, surface fuel moisture, canopy base ht, slope, wind effects Canopy bulk density, slope, surface fuel moisture Canopy bulk density, slope, surface fuel moisture

Fire Hazard FVS-FFE

Other Fire Hazard/Risk Mapping* (Coarse Scale) Fire Severity Fire Severity Proportion of above ground biomass removed Proportion of above ground biomass removed Fuel Hazard Fuel Hazard Containment difficulty Containment difficulty Fire Regime Condition Class Fire Regime Condition Class Departure from historic baseline Departure from historic baseline *Idaho Interagency Assessment of Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and Ecosystems, December 21, 2004

Fire Severity

Fuel Hazard

FRCC

Future Inventory Needs Integrate a fuels inventory program at the stand level Integrate a fuels inventory program at the stand level Canopy, snags, ladder fuels, shrubs, nonwoody, litter-lichen- moss, and ground fuels Canopy, snags, ladder fuels, shrubs, nonwoody, litter-lichen- moss, and ground fuels

Thank you!