Presentation

Assessing the Drivers of the “Spring Dip” in Foliar Moisture Content and their Potential Impact on Forest Fire Behavior

March 9, 2015 at 2 PM CST

Room 170, Trainer Natural Resources Building (TNR)

University of Wisconsin Stevens Point

Matt Jolly
Research Fire Ecologist
Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory

In 2013, a partnership was formed between the Missoula US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory and the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact (GLFFC) with the goal of performing detailed analysis of the chemical and physiological factors that combine to make our pine species in the Lake States so extremely volatile in the spring of the year.  This coming March, Dr. W. Matthew Jolly, Research Fire Ecologist at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory and project leader for this expanded live fuel moisture study will visit Wisconsin to present the latest results of his analysis of data collected in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan over the last two years.

The session will be hosted by the Wildland Fire Science program at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn about the history and future direction of the study, and to get answers to questions directly from Dr. Jolly and local project leaders. Attendance is encouraged for those who have been directly involved in the study, along with supervisors, fire program leaders, students, faculty, and other interested fire management professionals from throughout the Lake States.

After the main presentation, staff who have been directly involved with sampling efforts are invited to Room 361 at the TNR from 4:00—5:00 p.m. for a hands-on review of sampling procedures in preparation for the upcoming fire season.