Simulating the Effects of Prescribed Fire on Forested Landscapes in the Siskiyou Mountains, USA

Land managers, scientists, and policymakers have increasingly promoted and invested in prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk and restore fire-adapted ecosystems. We investigate the amount of prescribed fire needed to meet these goals in the Siskiyou Mountains of northwest California and southwest Oregon using a forest-succession model. Specifically, we ask, how much prescribed fire is required to maintain carbon storage and reduce the severity and extent of wildfires under divergent climate change scenarios? A prescribed fire frequency of fifteen years was found adequate for maintaining carbon storage on sites. Prescribed fire lowered the severity of wildfires at a local-scale and was most effective under a warmer and wetter climate. These results suggest targeting treatments in areas with high social-ecological concern and within climactic and topographic gradients most conducive to its effects will provide opportunities to decrease the risk of high-severity fire and contribute to meeting climate mitigation goals