Fire in the West – Aspen & Fire: A Burning Issue

World Wood Day Foundation and International Wood Culture Society (IWCS) are honored to work with Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS), to present a series of videos: Fire in the West.
 
In the last few decades, wildfires in the west have become an increasing problem for the USA. Through presentations and discussions with experienced researchers, we would like to open a conversation to the public about how and why wildfires occur and hope to bring more awareness and understanding about them. 

In this video, we have invited Dr. Paul Rogers, Professor from College of Natural Resources, Utah State University and Western Aspen Alliance; Dr. Stanley G. Kitchen, Research Botanist from RMRS (former); Dr. Wayne D. Shepperd, Research Scientist from RMRS (former);
and Jessica Brewen, Science Delivery specialist with RMRS. Hosted by Steve Ambrose, retired Forest Service employee and now volunteer for IWCS, this presentation and discussion shows us the relationship between Aspen and fire. In this group demonstration, Dr. Rogers, Dr. Kitchen, and Dr. Shepperd, explain the importance and specialty of Aspen, and its challenges and possible solutions while facing the wildfires.

Outlines:

Presentation by Dr. Paul Rogers, Dr. Stanley G. Kitchen, and Dr. Wayne D. Shepperd.
Aspen (Populus tremuloides) & Fire: A Burning Issue
# Background of Aspen basics.
# Fire regimes & time.
# Restoration with fire.
# Adaptive management.
# Aspen futures.

Group discussion: Q&A 
# Possible factors that reduced fire frequency in a historical period of time.
# How does eco system change when the dominating tree species are changed after the fires?
# How do you protect large areas of Aspen recovery after fires?
# Have you worked with managers directly and what does it look like?
# How do Aspen respond to prescribed burning?
# Advices for land managers.
# Aspen’s advantage for recovering after the fires.
# Oldest Aspen has been found or known of.
# Is Aspen more resistant to drought than mixed conifer?
# Western Aspen Alliance
# Aspen carving = heritage?

 
More information about RMRS and Fire Fuel & Smoke Program:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/science-program-areas/fire-fuel-and-smoke

More about Aspen:
https://western-aspen-alliance.org

More questions? Contact our presenters!
Dr. Wayne D. Shepperd: wshep647@gmail.com
Dr. Stanley G. Kitchen: stanley.kitchen@usda.gov
Dr. Paul Rogers: p.rogers@usu.edu