fuels-reduction-guide-2023 - Flipbook - Page 25
Fuel Type: An identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species,
form, size, arrangement, or other characteristics that will cause a predictable
rate of spread or resistance to control under specified weather conditions.
Ground fuels: Fuels that lie beneath surface fuels, such as organic soils, duff,
ground fuels, decomposing litter, buried logs, roots, and the below-surface
portion of stumps.
Hand tools: Grubbing, scraping and cutting tools used for removing fuels
without heavy equipment.
Ladder fuels: Fuels which provide vertical continuity, thereby allowing a fire
to spread from the ground to the canopy. Branches, shrubs or an understory
layer of trees are considered ladder fuels.
Mastication: A mechanical process that changes the shape, size and
distribution of fuels. Whole trees and large brush are broken down into
small chunks and left on the forest floor or removed for burning or biomass.
Mastication is effective for clearing trees along roadsides, ravines and places
that could be difficult to reach with other equipment or on foot.
Pile burn: Piling materials resulting from management activities and
subsequently burning the individual piles.
Shaded Fuel Break: Fuel breaks built in areas where the trees on the break
are thinned and pruned to reduce the fire potential yet retain enough crown
canopy to make a less favorable microclimate for surface fires.
Smoke Management Plan: A smoke management plan identifies smoke
sensitive receptors, including population centers, recreation areas, hospitals,
airports, transportation corridors, schools, and other values that may be
impacted. Smoke mitigation strategies and techniques to reduce the impacts
of smoke production must be included, and must comply with local air district
requirements.
Surface fuels: Fuels lying on or near the surface of the ground, consisting of
leaf and needle litter, dead branch material, downed logs, bark, tree cones,
and low stature living plants.
Thinning: Cutting of trees to reduce the density of the remaining trees.
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