Big Thicket National Preserve, Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2011
Author unknown. Big Thicket National Preserve, Fire Ecology Annual Report: Calendar Year 2011
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). Big Thicket National Preserve started the year in a 20 inch rain deficit from 2010, with a 2011 rainfall total of 42 inches, 13 inches below average. The droughty winter set the stage for the longest and most severe drought in east Texas, which fueled the most intense fire season in recent history. Big Thicket remained in severity from April to September with a total of 11 wildfires in the Preserve, including the 797 acre Pipeline Road Wildfire. In spite of a very busy year fighting fire, the fire ecology program still completed monitoring workloads, tracked live fuel moisture trends, managed fire NEPA, coordinated longleaf pine restoration plantings, attended meetings, submitted proposals, improved GIS data for the Preserve, and conducted several presentations. The most noteworthy accomplishment for the year is that there were no injuries sustained from working in the unrelenting Texas heat.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Author unknown
- Units
- BITH , FIEC
- Keywords
- FFI, Fire Effects, Fuels, Monitoring
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics