Assessing Military Impacts On Vegetative Firebreaks.

Fort Carson has experienced a series of recent wildfires.  ERDC was asked to help develop a study to evaluate vegetative firebreaks as a mechanism for wildfire control.  ERDC proposed seven (7) native and non-native mixes of low-growing fire tolerant species, which was then down selected to five (5), due to concerns with non-native species.  In addition to fire tolerance, Carson Environmental and ITAM requested that military impacts, controlled burns, and mowing regimes on the survivability of the mixes be investigated.  This concept will allow for the evaluation of species response and success of the mixes for the use to vegetate boundary access roads, thereby reducing soil erosion and maintenance on Fort Carson lands.  This talk will begin by describing the species selected, study design for the vegetative firebreak.