Fuel Hazard of Idaho

At best, predicting surface and canopy fuel loads from mid-scale data is problematic at best.  The structure, composition, and arrangement of fuels are dependent upon the disturbance history of any given stand.  Disturbance history includes natural processes (e.g., fire, wind, insects, and pathogens), as well as anthropogenic processes (e.g., silvicultural treatments and grazing practices).  The only available proxy to the disturbance history (and consequently fuel loadings) available at a mid-scale level is the current structure and composition of vegetation (e.g., cover type, canopy cover, and size class).  Unfortunately, the current structure and composition of vegetation is a very poor predictor of stand history.  For example, stands having the same cover type, canopy cover, and size class may have substantially different histories; one could have been logged and the fuels cleaned up, and the other could have been impacted by mountain pine beetles.

Since the structure and composition of the current vegetation is a poor predictor of fuel loadings, we had Forest Service and BLM fuels specialist assign a very coarse qualitative ranking of "fuel hazard" (e.g., containment problems) to unique combinations of PVT and FBFM.  The specific rule sets can be found in Table 24 of the "Idaho Interagency Assessment or Wildland Fire Risks to Communities: a Description of Methods".  The specialists considered the following fire behavior attributes when making these assignments: ROS, fireline intensity, the potential for active crown fires, and the potential for spotting.

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Derivation of fuel hazard;
PVTs                           FBFM Fuel Hazard    Comments
1-3,5-14,16-18,20-23   1-6   low (1)    forest-harvest units & burns
1-3,5-14,16-18,20-23   8,9   mod (2)   forest
1-3,5-14,16-18,20-23   10    high (3)   forest
1-3,5-14,16-18,20-23   10    high (3)   forest
4,15,19,39-41              all    low (1)   riparian types & deciduous forests
28,32                           2     low (1)   sage1,saltshrub
29                                2     mod (2)   sage2, 
24,30,31                       6     high (3)   sage3, sage4, woodlands
24                               1,2   mod (2)   grassy woodland
26-34                            1     low (1)   grassy shrublands
26,33,34                        5     mod (2)   dryshrub, mesic shrub
36,38                            1     mod (2)   grass
42-47                            all   none (4)   rock,snow/ice, water,urban,agriculture

Derivation of fire behavior fuel models for Northern Idaho
PVT_CODE	Covertype	Size	Canopy	FBFM	comments
43	all	all	all	agriculture	
44	all	all	all	rock	
45	all	all	all	snow/ice	
46	all	all	all	water	
47	all	all	all	urban	
 null	null	null 	null 	noinfo	
all	7300, 7500	all	all	rock	
all	1100	all	all	urban	
all	2010, 2020	all	all	agriculture	
all	5000	all	all	water	
all	9100	all	all	snow/ice	
36,38,41	all	all	all	1	grass fuels
26,33,34,40	all	all	all	5	shrub fuels
32	all	all	all	2	saltshrub
30,31	all	all	all	6	sage3 & sage4
28,29	all	all	all	2	sage1 & sage2
all	4101,4140,4300,6120,6130	all	all	9	deciduous
15,39	all	2-6	all	9	"
15,39	all	all	2-4	9	"
<>43-47	3100, 3110, 3150, 3170, 3180, 6200	all	all	1	grass cover types
1-23	3200,6300	all	all	5	mesic shrub cover types on forest pvts
1-23	3300, 3350, 	all	all	6	sage/xeric shrub cover types on forest pvts
1-23	4101,4140,4300,6120,6130	all	all	9	deciduous forest cover types
1-24	4214	all	all	6	juniper woodlands
<>43-47	3310	all	all	2	salt shrub
13,14,16,18,24	all	1,7,8	all	1	woodland & dry forest, early seral
13,14,16,18,24	all	all	1,5-7	1	"
13,14,16,18,24	4400	all	all	1	"
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	all	1,7,8	all	5	mesic & subalpine, early seral
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	all	all	1,5-7	5	"
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	4400	all	all	5	"
WOODLANDS					
13,24	4000, 4206, 4230	2-6	3,4	9	closed pipo, late seral
13,24	<>4000, 4206, 4230	2-6	1-4	6	mature woodland, open & closed
DRY FOREST	 	 	 	 	
14,16,18	all	all	1,2	2	open forest, all sizes
14,16,18	all	2	3,4	8	dense poles
16,18	<>4000, 4206, or 4230	3-6	3,4	10	closed mature forest on psme types
16,18	4000, 4206, 4230	3-6	3,4	10	closed pipo on psme types
14	all	3-6	3,4	9	closed mature forest on pipo types
MESIC FOREST	 	 	 	 	
1-3,11,17,19-21	all	2-6	1,2	8	open forest
1-3,11,17,19-21	4000, 4206, 4230	2-6	3,4	10	closed pipo
1-3,11,17,19-21	<> 4000, 4206, or 4230	2	3,4	8	closed pole
1-3,11,17,19-21	<> 4000, 4206, or 4230	3-6	3,4	10	closed medium/large
LOWER SUBALPINE	 	 	 	 	
4-6,8,12,22	all	all	2	8	moderately dense
4-6,8,12,22	all	2	3,4	8	closed pole
4-6,8,12,22	all	3-6	3,4	10	closed medium/large
UPPER SUBALPINE					
7,9,10,23	all	all	all	8

Derivation of fuel models for Southern Idaho
PVT_CODE	VEG_CODE	Size	Canopy	FBFM	comments
43	all	all	all	agriculture	
44	all	all	all	rock	
45	all	all	all	snow/ice	
46	all	all	all	water	
47	all	all	all	urban	
null	null	null	null	noinfo	
all	41	all	all	rock	
all	44	all	all	urban	
all	40	all	all	agriculture	
all	43	all	all	water	
all	42	all	all	snow/ice	
36,38,41	all	all	all	1	grass fuels
26,33,34,40	all	all	all	5	shrub fuels
32	all	all	all	2	saltshrub
30,31	all	all	all	6	sage3 & sage4
28,29	all	all	all	2	sage1 & sage2
all	20-22,24	all	all	9	deciduous forest fuels
15,39	all	2-6	all	9	deciduous forest fuels
15,39	all	all	2,3	9	deciduous forest fuels
<>43-47	34-38	all	all	1	grass cover types
1-23	27, 28, 32, 33	all	all	5	mesic shrub cover types on forest pvts
1-23	25, 29, 31	all	all	6	sage/xeric shrub cover types on forest pvts
1-23	26, 30	all	all	2	low elevation shrub cover types on forest pvts
1-23	20-22,24	all	all	9	deciduous forest cover types
1-24	10	all	all	6	juniper woodlands
13,14,16,18,24	all	1,7,8	all	1	woodland & dry forest, early seral
13,14,16,18,24	all	all	1,4-6	1	"
13,14,16,18,24	23	all	all	1	"
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	all	1,7,8	all	5	mesic & subalpine, early seral
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	all	all	1,4-6	5	"
1-12,15,17,19-23,39	23	all	all	5	"
					
WOODLANDS					
13,24	<>5,13	2-6	1,2,3	6	mature woodlands, open & closed
13,24	5,13	2-6	2,3	9	closed pipo
DRY FOREST					
14,16,18	all	all	1	2	open forest, all sizes
14,16,18	all	2	2,3	8	dense poles
16,18	<>5,13	3-6	2,3	10	closed mature forest on psme types
16,18	5,13	3-6	2,3	10	closed pipo on psme types
14	all	3-6	2,3	9	pipo pvt, closed forest
MESIC FOREST					
1-3,11,15,17,19-21	all	2-6	1	8	open forest
1-3,11,15,17,19-21	5,13	2-6	2,3	10	closed pipo
1-3,11,15,17,19-21	<>5,13	2	2,3	8	closed pole
1-3,11,15,17,19-21	<>5,13	3-6	2,3	10	closed medium/large
LOWER SUBALPINE					
4-6,8,12,22	all	2-6	1	8	open forest
4-6,8,12,22	all	2	2,3	8	closed pole
4-6,8,12,22	all	3-6	2,3	10	closed medium/large
UPPER SUBALPINE					
7,9,10,23	all	all	all	8	

Rate of fire spread and fire behavior fuel models
Fire behavior fuel model	Rate of Spread (Chains/hour)
1	78
2	35
5	18
6	32
8	2
9	7
10	8
Adapted from Anderson (1982); dead fuel moisture = 8%; live fuel moisture = 100%; effective windspeed at midflame height = 5

BehavePlus model parameters for estimating fire intensity relative to slope
Parameter	Value
1-hr fuel moisture	5%
10-hr fuel moisture	6%
100-hr fuel moisture	7%
Percent moisture for live woody material	100%
Mid-flame wind speed	5 mph
Wind vector direction	0 degrees

No warranty is made by the Bureau of Land Management as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data for individual use or aggregate use with other data.

These data were designed to characterize mid-scale patterns across the state of Idaho at a scale of approximately 1:100,000.  The use of these data at scales less than 1:100,000 is not recommended without field verification.

This data set is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness or a particular purpose.  The user assumes all responsibility for the accuracy and suitability of this dataset for a specific application.  In no event will the creators or USDA Forest Service be liable for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of or inability to use this data set.  Use of these data may require the ability to read ArcInfo Grid datasets.  

Although the resolution of this theme is a 90-m cell, the expected accuracy does not warrant its use for geographic extents smaller than approximately 10,000 acres.  That is, these data were not designed to be used for "project level" assessments that typically require 1:24,000 scale data.