carbon stability

I recently worked with collaborators at The Nature Conservancy, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, and University of Montana to synthesize heterogenous spatial data into an index that mapped where opportunities to reduce wildfire-caused carbon loss occur in the US West. Our index captured the interplay among wildfire hazard, carbon exposure, and vulnerability to identify strategic areas for proactive wildfire mitigation. Key findings included that carbon in California, New Mexico, and Arizona is particularly vulnerable to wildfire-caused loss. Findings also highlighted widespread opportunities across the US West to implement proactive strategies that help carbon persist after wildfire and promote long-term carbon stability.

Importantly, these findings were included in the US Forest Service Climate Risk Viewer and briefed to the USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment and the US Forest Service Chief. The US Forest Service Chief noted that the findings would be “key in informing our overall efforts to address the wildfire crisis facing our nation’s forests by doing the right work, in the right place, at the right time.”

This project was funded by The Nature Conservancy and USGS North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center.