Fire in Shortleaf PineOak Uplands, Missouri USA

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Fire in Shortleaf Pine-Oak Uplands, Missouri USA

• Blane Heumann
• TNC, Missouri

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Ozarks Ecoregion
IL
MO
KS
OK
AR
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Ozarks Climate
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Historic Pine-Oak Systems

• Composition
• Structure
• Diversity

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Historic Fire Regime
Low-Moderate Intensity Low Severity High Frequency
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Current Pine-Oak Systems

• Composition
• Structure
• Diversity

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Current Fire Regime
Low-High Intensity Low-Mixed Severity Low-Mixed
Frequency
Damaging high intensity Wildfires
Prescribed fire- low intensity for enhancing
biological diversity
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Fire Management Goals

• Good fires in high diversity areas
• Fuels addressed prior to damaging fires
• Declining fire adapted species and systems are in
  recovery

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Social Values

• Cultural Fire relationships
• Controlled burning
• Anti-government politics
• Competing issues
• Hardwood silviculture
• Hunting and game species management
• Air quality, local-regional
• Tourism Scene-scapes, visual model of fire
  sensitive closed forest
• Fire sensitive infrastructure
• T/E species management

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Overcoming Barriers

• Case studies on fire effects
• Measure ecological benefits of good fire
• Measure impacts of fire to timber and game
  species
• Measure effects to non-game/ little known species
  
• Publish findings and share learning with resource
  managers

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Overcoming Barriers

• Foster cooperation in fire community
• Enhance safety and effectiveness
• Increase capacity
• Enable learning and practical knowledge
• Balancing economic and ecological objectives

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Overcoming Barriers

• Public Information and understanding of fire
• Increase safety of homes, farms, developed areas
  to bad fires
• Reduce levels of concern raised by public of
  visual impacts of good fire
• Increase understanding of many faces of fire
• Increase support for fire programs staff

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Monitoring Effectiveness

• Outcomes- First Order fire effects fuels
  changed, habitat changes

• Impacts- biological responses Pine regen,
  increased diversity, T/E species improvement