Using forest fire hazard modelling in multiple use forest management planning

Concerns about fire in North American forest management are shifting from a strict focus on fire prevention to a broader view which considers fire accommodation and fire emulation as management alternatives. There is a substantial gap between the articulation of general principles of fire accommodation and fire emulation and their operational application. In this paper we describe a forest modelling system and examine several alternative operational interpretations of the accommodation and emulation of fire. A key element in the modelling system is a forest fire hazard model which estimates the potential for forest fire based upon forest attributes, forest utilization, and topography. The modelling system was applied to a 24 000 ha forest in a montane watershed in Southeastern British Columbia. Three forest management plans based upon fire accommodation and emulation principles were compared with five more traditional management plans. The comparisons involved the net present values of timber harvests, timber harvest volumes, degrees of fire hazard, impacts on forest biodiversity, and the number of violations of two common regulatory constraints - even flow maintenance and green-up-and-adjacency restrictions. Large differences in net present value, forest biodiversity and fire hazard were found among the alternative management approaches. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.