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UC ANR wildfire experts

Restoring vegetation after the fire

Karl McArthur, desert natural resources advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Areas of expertise --policy issues as they relate to environmental damage from invasive species causing increased fire cycling. "Invasive plants typically provide more flammable understory than native plants and thus more frequent fire cycles. In addition, they often create fire carrying fuels in intershrub areas making fire more destructive to native landscapes," he says. McArthur, who along with local residents fought the San Diego County fire in the Lakeside area, is working with other UC natural resources advisors to quickly assemble a plan for stabilizing burned foothill and brushland areas to prevent erosion and landslides. "We have to act fast because it may start to rain soon, which would mean big trouble," he says. McArthur will be involved with the ongoing efforts of UC Cooperative Extension in educating rural communities on the issues of restoration and eventual management and maintenance of wildland areas as well.

Karl McArthur can be reached at UC Cooperative Extension, 777 East Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0730. Phone: (909) 387-2242. Email: kamcarthur@ucdavis.edu

Safer living in the urban-wildland interface area

Frank Beall, UC Berkeley professor and expert in wood science and technology. Areas of expertise -- evaluation of housing and nearby vegetation for vulnerability to fires in the urban-wildland interface and the identification of possible mitigation. He points out that fire danger exists every year because of high temperatures, dry vegetation and high winds. "The only thing that's needed is an ignition source," Beall says.

Frank Beall can be reached at the UC Richmond Field Station, Bldg 478, 1301 South 46th Street, Richmond, CA 94804. Phone (510) 231-9564. Email: frank.beall@nature.berkeley.edu

Bark beetles killing trees in S. California

David Wood, UC Berkeley entomologist. Areas of expertise -- the biology and ecology of bark beetles. Wood studies insect and pathogen activity, most recently studying the bark beetle infestation of pine forests in Southern California. Bark beetles have killed off millions of trees in the region, leading to acres of dead trees and foliage that have provided fuel for the wildfires. The beetle infestation has further exacerbated the stress in the forests caused by one of the most severe droughts this past century.

David Wood can be reached at UC Berkeley, Insect Biology, Berkeley, CA 94720-3112. Phone: (510) 642-5538. Email: bigwood@nature.berkeley.edu

Communities are key to forest stewardship & fire prevention

Gary Nakamura, area forestry specialist for Northern California. Areas of expertise -- forest management, silviculture, biomass harvesting, community-based forestry. Nakamura is working with community-based groups, Fire Safe Councils, and Resource Conservation Districts to help them understand fire issues and the role and impacts of biomass harvesting on fuels and fire. "The larger issue is maintaining healthy forests and human communities," Nakamura says, "I believe the long-term, ecologically, economically and politically sustainable maintenance of healthy forests will depend upon the understanding and action of local communities." Nakamura gave fire prevention workshops for homeowners in Idyllwild and Lake Arrowhead in June.

Gary Nakamura is located in the UC Cooperative Extension office in Shasta County, 1851 Hartnell Avenue, Redding, CA 96002-2217. Phone: (530) 224-4902. Email: gmnakamura@ucdavis.edu

"Fire safe" councils helping avert tragedy

Glenn Nader, livestock and natural resources advisor, for Sutter, Yuba and Butte counties. Areas of expertise -- livestock, forage crops, range and natural resources. Nader has extensive experience working with citizens and agencies on post-fire rehabilitation, such as the devastating Williams Fire that destroyed more than 100 homes and 5,000 acres, and two fires in the Concow area of Butte County. He has assembled information on what communities can do in post-fire response, and worked with communities in the formation of two "fire safe" councils that earned more than $1 million in grant funding to create evacuation plans, shaded fuel breaks and fuel treatments, hand clearing, goat grazing and biomass harvesting. "I've seen the devastating impact wildfire has on communities," Nader says. "Given fuel dynamics and the continuing migration of people into forest communities, it's not a question of if a fire will occur but when."

Glenn Nader is located in the Sutter/Yuba County Cooperative Extension office at 142-A Garden Highway, Yuba City, CA 95991. Phone (530) 822-7515. Email: ganader@ucdavis.edu

Wildlife specialist examines role of policy

Tom Scott, area natural resources wildlife specialist for Southern California. Areas of expertise -- conservation of wildlife, wildlife management at the urban-wildland interface, and response of wildlife to human disturbances. After a catastrophic 1993 fire season, Scott was instrumental in developing subsequent meetings and a book on fire ecology, management and policy.

Tom Scott can be reached at UC Riverside, Earth Sciences, 2217 Geology Building, Riverside, CA 92521-0424. Phone: (909) 787-5115. Email: tomscott@citrus.ucr.edu

UC’s Fire Science Lab examines role of fire in ecosystems

Scott L. Stephens, UC Berkeley assistant professor of fire science in the College of Natural Resources. Areas of expertise -- Interactions of wildland fire and ecosystems, including prehistoric fires, current wildland fires and management implications for future fires. Stephens runs the Fire Science Laboratory at UC Berkeley. With nearly a dozen graduate students and staff, the lab conducts research on the history of fire in California forestlands and a wide variety of fire-related topics, such as the role of fire in forest and shrubland restoration, the effect of fire on forest wildlife and insects, how Sudden Oak Death is affecting fuel loads and wildfire hazard, and how climate and fire interact in a never-logged forest ecosystem with no fire suppression. "Many of California's ecosystems are fire adapted but our culture has tried to eliminate fire for the last 100 years," Stephens said. "Restoration is becoming a common land management objective, but we lack fundamental information of how fire and ecosystems interact." The goal of the Fire Science Lab is to assist in finding answers to these complex problems. Stephens is currently studying fire-climate interactions in the Southern California mountains.

For more information about the work of the Fire Science Lab, check the Web site at http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/stephens-lab/. Scott Stephens can be reached at (510) 642-7304. Email: stephens@nature.berkeley.edu

Finding new ways to utilize "biomass"

John Shelly, forest products and biomass utilization advisor. Areas of expertise -- forest products, wood manufacturing methods, biomass utilization, physical properties of wood. "'Biomass' is a broad term we wood scientists use to describe the trees, shrubs and other vegetation that accumulate to unacceptably high levels in coniferous forests, oak woodland, rangeland and even in urban forests," Shelly says. "This material can create high fire risk, endanger ecosystem health and threaten forest productivity. Finding uses for this biomass can help offset the cost of managing wildfire fuels and lower the risk of catastrophic fires." Shelly manages a program in UC Cooperative Extension that is helping individuals, businesses and communities find new ways to utilize woody biomass. Current projects are focused on small-diameter trees, forest thinnings, underutilized hardwoods and urban trees.

John Shelly can be contacted at the UC Richmond Field Station, Bldg 478, 1301 South 46th Street, Richmond, CA 94804. Phone (510) 231-9414. Email: john.shelly@nature.berkeley.edu. Web site: http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu/ERBiomass.htm

Identifying content of smoke from fires

Peng Gong, UC Berkeley professor of remote sensing in the College of Natural Resources. Areas of expertise -- Remote sensing, map analysis, fire emissions. He has developed a computer simulation model that estimates the amounts of gases and particulate matter emitted from wildfires. Particulate matter such as PM-2.5 and PM-10 can be harmful to the lungs. Using remote sensing, Gong and his group can identify hot spots where fires are burning. He can also measure the extent of burned areas by using weather satellites to examine the die-back of vegetation.

Currently his lab is creating a historical map of forest fires in North America using weather satellite images that are available on a daily basis. "There is no national fire archive that is compiled with data from the same sources using the same methods," Gong says, "Every county has a record of local fires, but they're not consistent. We are creating a standardized history of large fires that burned from 1989 through 2000 to establish a database that documents when and where fires happened and how many acres were burned." Gong is fluent in Mandarin as well as English.

Peng Gong can be reached at UC Berkeley, Ecosystem Sciences, 151 Hilgard Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114. Phone: (510) 642-5170. Email: gong@nature.berkeley.edu