Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis contains two chapters that analyze and summarize fuel loading data after woody plant reduction treatments in sagebrush steppe and pinyon-juniper woodlands in the Intermountain West. Four treatments were implemented at sagebrush-bunchgrass sites in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah: untreated control, prescribed fire, mowing, and application of tebuthiuron (herbicide). Three treatments were implemented at all of the pinyon-juniper woodlands sites in Oregon, California, Nevada, and Utah: untreated control, prescribed fire, and cutting (lop and lay), with an additional mastication treatment implemented at the Utah sites. Land managers use these treatments to alter fuel beds and increase understory cover by reducing competition from overstory woody plants. The first chapter of this thesis comprises analysis of treatment longevity and changes in surface fuel loads after mastication of pinyon-juniper woodlands in Utah. The second chapter provides summary statistics of fuel loads for the sagebrush steppe and pinyon-juniper treatments at 10 years post-treatment. The summary data presented in the second chapter is intended to be used in a fuel loading guide that will provide data for land managers to use in fire behavior and effects modeling.