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Author(s):
Victoria A. Saab
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire Ecology
Fire Effects
Ecological - Second Order
Wildlife
Fire & Wildlife
Birds
Cavity-nesters
Habitat Assessment
Post-fire Management
Salvage Logging
Ecosystem(s):
Montane dry mixed-conifer forest, Ponderosa pine woodland/savanna, Subalpine wet spruce-fir forest, Subalpine dry spruce-fir forest, Montane wet mixed-conifer forest

NRFSN number: 13508
FRAMES RCS number: 16763
Record updated:

Public land managers are asked to minimize fuel levels after fires, including using techniques such as salvage logging. They are also responsible for maintaining suitable wildlife habitat, especially for species of concern to state and federal agencies. An area where these responsibilities could conflict is in the use of salvage logging in burned-over areas that also represent good habitat for certain wildlife such as woodpeckers. Controversy over this conflict has led to litigation. Public land management agencies need consistent design criteria to maintain suitable habitats for these birds. Little information has existed on how to assess potential effects of post-fire logging on habitats and populations of wildlife. Recent research studies are developing tools to evaluate habitat suitability of post-fire forests for several species of nesting woodpeckers in the inland Northwest. Data were collected on habitat characteristics at nest sites and on nesting survival at three sites (one each in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) after wildfires. Contributing scientists are Victoria Saab.

Citation

Joint Fire Science Program. 2011. Woodpecker habitat after the fire. JFSP Fire Science Brief. October 2011(143):1-6.

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