ConserveOnline - LANDFIRE

LANDFIRE

By admin on 4/19/2007 | Keyword(s): Special topics; Webpage; Fire

Important Notice: Current LANDFIRE materials are located on the Conservation Gateway site in the Fire & Landscapes section. We are currently updating these pages and links. (Posted 4/14/2011)

What is LANDFIRE?

LANDFIRE is a collaborative, 5-year partnership involving the USDA Forest Service, Department of the Interior and The Nature Conservancy. Launched in 2004 and designed to be nationally consistent, locally relevant and based on peer-reviewed scientific methods, the project is generating landscape-scale maps and data describing vegetation, fire and fuels characteristics across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. These data and models will help agencies and partners better manage ecosystems and protect communities.

Enlarge this map

LANDFIRE is mapping fire regime condition class (FRCC), which is an ecological metric used by federal agencies, The Nature Conservancy and others, to determine the degree to which the vegetation in a given area has changed compared to natural conditions. FRCC is a key variable in fuels treatment funding requests, National Fire Plan accomplishment reporting, monitoring conservation and restoration success and biodiversity threat assessments.

For more information on LANDFIRE visit http://www.landfire.gov/

LANDFIRE data for conservation planning and action

LANDFIRE National products comprise a set of more than 1,000 vegetation dynamics models and over 20 digital maps of vegetation composition and structure, wildland fuel (crown and surface), estimated historical fire regimes and current departure from estimated historical vegetation conditions. LANDFIRE National procedures integrate relational databases, remote sensing, systems ecology, gradient modeling and landscape simulation to create consistent and comprehensive products that are standardized across the entire U.S. LANDFIRE products are complete for the lower 48 states, and will be complete for Alaska and Hawai’i by the end of 2009.

Enlarge this image

These data could be used in conservation planning to:

Identify and quantify ecological targets
Determine reference conditions
Asses threats to conservation and management targets
Evaluate strategies to abate threats and maintain or restore biodiversity
Evaluate ecological departure from reference conditions
Prioritize areas for treatment and restoration activities
Measure results
Communicate with stakeholders.

LANDFIRE data products are free and available online at http://www.landfire.gov/. The most current application case studies can be accessed at http://www.landfire.gov/documents_dataproducts.php and http://tncfire.org/training_landfire_appProjects.htm. Additional LANDFIRE information, FAQs, documents and maps are posted on the public Web site WiserEarth at http://www.wiserearth.org/group/landfire. (You will need to join the WiserEarth web community to join the LANDFIRE group).

Download Use of LANDFIRE Products in Conservation Action Planning for recommendations specifically for CAP

Rapid Assessment and LANDFIRE National Reports

View larger image

The LANDFIRE project consists of two phases: a Rapid Assessment (LFRA) and the LANDFIRE National Implementation (LFNA). The LFRA, completed in 2007, mapped FRCC in the lower 48 U.S. using a coarse methodology. The full suite of LFNA products, which were developed more slowly and using more refined methods, will be available in late 2009 when the project is completed. In the interim, the LFRA analysis provides a broad-scale glimpse of the health of U.S. forests, arid lands and grasslands. The technical report An Ecological Assessment of Fire and Biodiversity Conservation Across the Lower 48 States is posted here for background information only, and should not be used as a strategic planning tool.

For more information, please contact the team at fire@tnc.org