Alaska Region Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2004
Barnes J. 2004. Alaska Region Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2004
A summary of fire ecology activities and program information for the Park/network including fire effects plot workload, staffing, management objectives and monitoring results, and planning, fire monitoring, communications, and research. Also included are staff accomplishments/areas of focus, future program direction and other optional information (e.g. data analysis graphics or presentations, annual highlights, publications, program challenges, unique solutions to problems, collaboration, photographs of monitoring/fire activities, and suggestions on FFI). Record high temperatures and low precipitation resulted in more than six million acres burned in Alaska during the summer of 2004, the largest fire season on record for the state. Over 130,000 acres burned in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and over 11,000 acres burned in Noatak National Preserve. Wildland fire is a natural process that increases the diversity of vegetation on the landscape by creating mosaics of burned and unburned areas. The purpose of the Alaska Region Fire Ecology program is to obtain baseline data on the natural variability of fire on the landscape, to monitor the effects of fire or mechanical treatments on vegetation, fuels and soil parameters, and to provide fire ecology information to fire managers, other park staff, and the public. Accomplishments this year included the establishment of nine fire effects plots and re-read of 1 historic plot, the coordination of two fire ecology education programs, and the completion of a fire succession and vegetation landcover User’s Guide. A brief description of each project is provided below. Table 1 provides information on the number of plots accomplished during 2004.