Dendrochronological Reconstruction of Fire, Bogus Basin Area Boise National Forest

Since people have settled along the Boise Front, there have been very few documented fire disturbances. This is likely an outcome of fire suppression policies. There is evidence, visible as scars on living trees, that the old growth ponderosa pines located on the East Side Trail in the Boise National Forest have withstood multiple fires. Samples were collected by using a chainsaw to remove small, partial cross-sections from several trees. The Boise Front master chronology was used to accurately cross-date the fire-scarred samples using COFECHA. Analysis of the samples revealed ten fire events ranging from 1709 to 1889. The fire frequency during this time appeared to be between 15 and 50 years. Understanding past events may help us better understand future fires caused by increasing temperatures and drought. This climate change is projected to impact sagebrush-forest ecotone for the region