National Fire Plan/ Joint Fire Science Program

Purpose:

This project is (i) synthesizing available information on historic and modern fire regimes, (ii) mapping landscape ecosystems of varying susceptibility to disturbance across sixty million acres of forestlands in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and (iii) documenting how fire regimes have changed since European settlement.  Cooperating agencies include the North Central Research Station, the Eastern Regional Office, and the six Lake States National Forests, USDA Forest Service; the Natural Resources Conservation Service; Michigan Technological University; Michigan State University; the University of Wisconsin at Madison; the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.   

The synthesis of available information consists of a comprehensive literature review of all relevant references pertaining to the Lake States.  An annotated bibliography is being written.  To map landscape ecosystems of varying susceptibility to disturbance, we are using Section, Subsection, and Landtype Association ecological unit maps produced by interagency teams as initial units of investigation.  Ecological units are being grouped, subdivided, and re-mapped where necessary based on associations of ecological factors known to influence fire regimes. Using a hierarchical approach, interactions and spatial relationships among fire-dependent and fire-sensitive forest ecosystems, and their associated disturbance regimes, are being assessed at three spatial scales. 

Documenting changes in fire regimes since European settlement involves the comparison of historical fire frequencies and fire rotations to those occurring between 1985 and 2000.  Historical fire regimes are being estimated based on information recorded by the General Land Office beginning in 1826 in Michigan, 1832 in Wisconsin, and 1847 in Minnesota.  We will test the spatial hypotheses of fire susceptibility produced to meet the second goal a ‘posteriori using a number of statistical procedures.  Differences in fire regimes will be compared, and inferences regarding effects of forest conversion, fire suppression, ignition sources, and fire risk discussed.

Analysis Team:

North Central Research Station, Rhinelander, WI
Dave Cleland, Research Ecologist
Brian R. Sturtevant, Research Ecologist
Kim Brosofske, Research Ecologist
James Jordan, Ecologist (volunteer)
Alyssa Sloan, Forester
Tina Baumann, GIS Technician
Robert Haight, Research Forester
Tom Crow, Research Ecologist 

Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Sari C. Saunders, Associate Professor
Ann Maclean, Associate Professor

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Donald Dickman, Professor

Rocky Mountain Research Station, Denver, CO
Maureen Mislivets, GIS Analyst

Richard Watson, Consultant

Products
 

Available GIS Maps:

Great Lakes fires larger than or equal to 10 acres overlaid with subsections
Great Lakes fires larger than or equal to 100 acres overlaid with subsections
GLO Corners described as burned for Minnesota subsections
GLO Corners described as burned for Minnesota 1998 Province 212 Land Type Associations
Historical vegetation and interpolated fire observation for General Land Office survey notes 
Historical vegetation and fire observation for General Land Office survey notes 
Northern Lower Michigan fire regime category and historical fire boundaries
Northern Lower Michigan fire regime category and modern forest fires occurring between 1985 and 2000
Percent Land Type Associations burned based on GLO Corners described as burned for Minnesota Province 212 subsections
 

Poster Presentations:

Human Influence on Fire Disturbance in Northern Wisconsin. B.R. Sturtevant, D.T. Cleland, S.C. Saunders.  PDF version: FireNoWi.pdf (1.0 mb)

Annotated Bibliography of Lake States Natural Disturbances.  Paula J. Anderson, David T. Cleland, John C. Zasada.  Draft 9-02 (Working Document).
PDF version: AnnotatedBibliographyLSNaturalDisturbances.pdf (1.22 mb)

Fire return intervals and fire cycles for historic fire regimes in the Great Lakes Region: a synthesis of the literature.  Donald I. Dickmann and David T. Cleland. Draft 8/02.
PDF version: LSFireCycles.pdf (518 kb)

The Use of Geostatistics to Determine the Spatial Extent of Historical Fires as an Aid in Understanding Fire Regimes for Northern Lower Michigan. A.L. Maclean and D.T. Cleland.  In press: Proceedings of a Conference on Fire, Fuel Treatments and Ecological Restoration. April 16-18, 2002. Ft.Collins, CO. Rocky Mountain Research Station General Technical Report.
PDF version: geostatisticsinfire.pdf  (315 kb)

Toward a Theory of Meso-scale Wildfire Modeling- A Complex Systems Approach Using Artificial Neural Networks; Ronald J. McCormick, Thomas A. Brandner, Timothy F.H. Allen
PDF version: Fire.pdf (157 kb)

Some reports are in Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) format.  Click on the button if you would like to link to the Adobe download page to download the reader software.