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Agencies funding research into Warm Fire restoration

The Joint Fire Science Program, a partnership of six federal agencies, has funded two research projects in the Warm Fire area on the Kaibab Plateau.

Dr. Richard Reynolds of the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station received JFSP funding to study the effects of the Warm Fire on northern goshawks.

Reynolds' team has studied the Kaibab Plateau's northern goshawk population for 15 years.

The team will use the JFSP funding for two years of additional research to determine how low, medium and high intensity fire affects the habitat of the goshawk and its 14 major prey species.

Northern Arizona University and Grand Canyon Trust received JFSP funding to study changes in vegetation and fuels in the Warm Fire area.

Grand Canyon Trust, the largest livestock grazing permittee on the Kaibab Plateau, completed an initial ecological assessment of its grazing allotments in 2005, gathering data from 150 plots.

The JFSP funding will allow NAU and Trust researchers to gather post-fire data from about 20 plots within the Warm Fire area and 20 comparison plots outside of the fire area for three years, to find out how varying fire intensities affected the understory and overstory vegetation.

Dr. Andrea Thode, assistant professor of fire ecology and fire science at NAU, said that she hopes this research will help identify and prioritize post-fire rehabilitation and restoration needs, as well as influence development of longer-term fire management and forest restoration strategies on the Kaibab Plateau.

Research is an important part of the Kaibab National Forest's overall Warm Fire recovery effort.

A team of forest and regional specialists conducted an assessment of the Warm Fire area last summer to determine resource conditions and identify restoration needs and possible management activities.

One of the needs the team identified is, "Learn through monitoring and research to improve management over time."

"The lack of research specific to the Kaibab Plateau has made designing post-fire recovery projects more difficult," said Stu Lovejoy, stewardship staff officer for the Kaibab National Forest. "I'm delighted that the JFSP has funded these two projects, and hope we'll see much more post-fire research in the years ahead."

For more information about Warm Fire recovery efforts, visit the Kaibab National Forest Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai.

The Joint Fire Science Program was established in 1998 to provide scientific information and support for wildland fuel and fire management programs.

The program is a partnership of the Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey.

The program focuses research efforts on providing wildland fire and fuels managers with the information they need to make the best possible decisions and develop sound, scientifically valid plans.

For more information about the Joint Fire Science Program, visit www.firescience.gov.


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