Objectives

Specific objectives included:

• Bringing together researchers and practitioners who have been implementing pre-fire forest management treatments to present the state of our knowledge on the effectiveness of these treatments. Addressed both short-term and long-term effects i.e., response to fire and succession after fire. What do we know now? What answers might on-going research provide in the future? Do we know enough to act now?
• Reviewing actions taken immediately after a wildfire to prevent environmental impacts and site degradation. What is the state of our knowledge and what are the most effective practices? How does effectiveness vary with site conditions?
• Through presentation of case studies, obtained a comprehensive overview of the steps taken to capture value and achieve reforestation after a fire. What are the environmental and ecological effects of salvage logging? What practices are used to enhance forest recovery? When is management intervention after fire necessary or desirable?
• Assembled available information about the long-term effects of different management practices applied after wildfire. What forest conditions result when active reforestation efforts are undertaken? What happens when no intervention occurs? What are the consequences for wildlife, watershed conditions and vegetation?
• Through the use of expert panels, synthesized the materials presented at the conference and provided recommendations for best management, improvements in practices and research.

Focus:  The focus of the conference was on conifer forest types common to the Sierra Nevada, Southern California’s mountains and Trinity-Klamath Region.  Generally these include:

• Mixed conifer forest
• White fir forest
• Red fir forest
• Sub-alpine forest types
• Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine forest