Fire is uniquely present on military training and testing lands as an element of military land-use since mission readiness requires the delivery of ordnance and pyrotechnics. As such, the management of fire to meet current and future military land-use, stewardship requirements, and future military capabilities is a critical research focus. Fire can be one of the most effective ecological processes for restoring historically degraded lands to functioning ecosystems, but the ecological processes are complex and not well understood. This complexity is exemplified in the manner in which the presence of insects, disease, and drought affect forest health and the degree to which fire can be applied as a management tool to improve forest health in the face of these and other challenges. The use of fire for management purposes (i.e., planned fires) is, however, often constrained by air quality and smoke safety (visibility) considerations.
Wildfires, which are unplanned fires, also present air quality issues. These fires tend to occur during the annual warm seasons, when human populations are often already subject to exposure to elevated ozone and particle concentrations. In addition, these fires tend to consume heavier fuels (i.e., woody fuels and not just fine fuels), organic soil horizons, and can smolder for extended periods. The incomplete combustion associated with smoldering may lead to much higher emissions of reduced compounds, including many air toxics. Wildfires also pose higher risks for human safety, infrastructure, fire response assets, and raise training and unplanned suppression costs. Prescribed burning, on the other hand, is commonly performed with the aid of fire weather forecasting systems that can help to minimize direct human exposure to smoke, minimize the impact to transportation activities, and limit fire severity and smoldering combustion by constraining the temperature, humidity, wind, and fuel conditions under which the prescribed burn occurs.
To support DoD’s continued use of fire as a management tool, SERDP has funded, and seeks to continue to fund, efforts to address how best to characterize emissions associated with fire and fire dispersion in the atmosphere.
In addition, fire is a key ecological process that needs to be considered both in the management of various ecosystem types and for mission support (i.e., maintaining safe and realistic training environments). The various competing constraints, benefits, adverse consequences, and costs associated with fire create a complex management challenge. The characteristics of DoD lands and land management objectives result in unique fire science knowledge gaps and a focus on prescribed fire versus suppression, sustaining the military mission through fire management, indirect suppression tactics, and sustaining particular ecosystems in regions where DoD is a significant land manager.
Complementary SERDP-Funded Projects: In an effort to mature the science of fire management for DoD unique military land use, SERDP developed the Fire Science Strategy: Resource Conservation and Climate Change (September 2014) and supported projects relating to the science of fire management. The strategy and a brief description of completed and ongoing projects can be found at the SERDP website.