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LANDFIRE is a wildland fire, ecosystem, and fuel assessment-mapping project designed to generate consistent, comprehensive, landscape-scale maps of vegetation, fire, and fuel characteristics for the United States.
LANDFIRE will develop maps and digital geospatial data of vegetation characteristics and condition, fire behavior and effects fuel models, historical fire regimes (HFR) and fire regime condition class (FRCC). Extensive field data will be compiled from existing sources. Additional field data will be collected as needed. This “reference database” is a deliverable to be periodically updated and maintained. In addition, related intermediate map products, models, protocols and methods are also LANDFIRE Project deliverables.
The Nature Conservancy and LANDFIRE
The Nature Conservancy of Michigan, in collaboration with Michigan Natural Features Inventory seeks to accomplish key components of the LANDFIRE project for the Great Lakes Mapping Unit which includes Eastern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. These components include quantitative ecosystem successional modeling and information dissemination for the LANDFIRE project as described in detail below.
While scientists know a great deal about some of the ecological systems in Michigan, there has not been a coordinated effort to gather and synthesize this information. For LANDFIRE, Randy Swaty will be directing the regional effort to describe how all of the ecological systems of the Great Lakes Region would “operate” under natural circumstances. For each of the ecological systems, we will describe:
· major vegetation
· soils
· geographic range
· frequency and size of major disturbances (e.g., fire, wind, insects)
· the % each growth stage that should be on the landscape.
This last component constitutes a major advance in our understanding of many of the ecological systems and is a result of literature searches, expert workshops and the use of modeling software that allows us to test the affects of various disturbances on the landscape.
These documents and models will give land managers a “target” to manage towards with the various ecological systems, and will be useful especially when conservation is a key objective.
Related Websites
To learn about LANDFIRE, visit http://www.nature.org/initiatives/fire/
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy and fire, visit http://tncfire.org
View a slideshow of a prescribed burn. |
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Randy Swaty and SCA crew leader, Heather Lyons
© TNC Staff |
By collaborating with partners, we boosted our prescribed fire capacity, resulting in the following:
- National LANDFIRE Vegetation Mapping. Led the Central US states in development of ecological models and reference documents to prioritize forest restoration, forest fuel treatments and habitat restoration.
- Michigan Prescribed Fire Council. Lead basic training course for land trust partners and volunteers on conducting prescribed burns.
- Lower Menominee River. Initiated Fire Learning Network at Shakey Lakes with local, regional and national partners to build capacity for prescribed burning throughout the region.
- Grand River Fen. Working with MNFI to count and study the Mitchell’s satyr butterfly population to assess the affects of prescribed burns and help guide management actions.
- Camp Swampy/Huron-Manistee National Forest. More than 500 acres could be burned here in the next couple of field seasons since the US Forest Service assisted with establishing burn breaks here in advance of eventually transferring all of Camp Swampy to the National Forest.
- Coolbough Natural Areas/Newaygo Prairies. Completed a 10-acre burn to restore savanna.
Example Projects:
- UP Forest Ecologist Contributes to Global Project
UP Forest Ecologist, Randy Swaty, recently spent a week in Chile conducting a three-day workshop as part of The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative. Learn more about Randy's partnership under Conservation Science.
- Student Conservationists Contribute to National LANDFIRE Project
Five Student Conservation Association members spent this summer working with Randy Swaty, The Nature Conservancy in Michigan’s forest ecologist, as part of the LANDFIRE initiative, a plot-mapping project which will provide scientists with high-resolution data and maps of fire regimes and their degree of alteration across the United States. Learn more about the project by visiting our Conservation Science page. |
