Introduction
Location Map
Base Map
Database Schema
Conventions
GIS Analyses
Flowchart
GIS Concepts
Results
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Historical Forest & Fire Regime Reconstruction of Hall and Heil Valley Ranches

photo credit: http://daysofspeed.blogspot.com/

Background
The montane forests of the Front Range of Colorado provide the large urban and metropolitan areas of Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, and Fort Collins with many ecosystem amenities the communities are dependent upon. The high elevations receive large amounts of snowfall throughout the year, which provide the Front Range with essential water resources, while the lower montane forests, which are adjacent to many of the population areas provide residents and visitors with areas for recreational opportunities. Aside, from these quantifiable benefits, the topography, streams, and forests of the Front Range provide an immeasurable aesthetic benefit to the nearby communities. Every year, cities and towns of the Front Range of Colorado are ranked as some of the highest in the country for ‘quality of life’ and ‘best places to live’. The population of the Front Range in 2010 was estimated at 4.5million and is expected to grow to at least 8 million by 2040 (CDOLA, 2010). As the population of the Front Range has increased, urban sprawl has created a larger wildland-urban interface. This increase in wildland-urban interface area is of significant concern because of the presence of wildfire that occurs within the Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) stands of the lower montane forest.  Prior to settlement, which occurred around 1859 as a result of gold discovery, the lower elevation Front Range Ponderosa Pine ecosystems are believed to have had significantly different forest structure, canopy area, and composition Brown et al. 2001, Huckaby et al. 2001, Sherriff et al. 2014). Today, the lower-montane forest is thought to deviate from the historical range of variability (HRV) (Brown et al. 2001, Huckaby et al. 2001, 2003, Sherriff et al., 2014). Recently, the Front Range of Colorado has experienced some of the largest and most severe wildfires in recorded history, which many point to as a direct result of this deviation from historic range of variability (FRRT 2006). There is a need to develop a comprehensive reconstruction of the forest composition and spatial structure of the Front Range to help land managers mitigate fire risk and facilitate a closer return to HRV.

photo credit: Colorado Forest Restoration Institute & USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station

Objectives
To address these issues identified by land managers and the public, our project analysis examines the spatial distribution of trees within these properties prior to settlement (~1860) and those present after.  We hypothesize that settlement of the Front Range and its associated land management activities have resulted in fewer fires and as a result, increased crown canopy area.

To conduct our analysis we focused on three primary objectives:

1. Conduct a Kernel Density analysis of the 14 sites within these stands to provide a representation of fire density.
2. Conduct a stand canopy area analysis of trees established pre-settlement vs post-settlement
3. Conduct a cost analysis of these properties which aims to provide local land managers site-specific maps which classify costs of landscape variables on mechanical restoration treatments