August 12, 2015

Volume 5 Issue 2

Save the Date for a Fire History in the

Appalachians Workshop and the Central
Appalachian FLN Meeting
The Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers
along with The Nature Conservancy invites you to
join us for a workshop on fire history in the
Appalachians and the Central Appalachian Fire
Learning Network Meeting. We are in the process
of finalizing the agenda. Stay tuned for the agenda
soon.
When: Fire History Workshop Oct. 20-21,
FLN Meeting Oct. 23
Where: Mountain Lake Lodge, Pembroke, Virginia
Hotel Reservations: Mountain Lake Lodge 1-800-346-3334
Ask for the Fire History Workshop/Central
Appalachian FLN room block. Rates are $83.00 per
night. Rooms must be reserved by September 21st
to receive the group rate.
Cost: Free
Please register here: Space is limited!
https://docs.google.com/a/cafms.org/forms/d/1mE_UGCe
GnzilFkEX08slRIw0gorvLSATTMylUzCDIj8/viewform?c=0
&w=1

Pitch Pine-Oak Management in Central Pennsylvania:

Habitat Restoration in Progress

A field tour to discuss prescribed fire and management of dry oak and oak-pine
communities. Well discuss issues ranging from maintaining oak forests to
restoring woodlands, savannas and scruboak-pitch pine barrens with
combinations of fire, timber harvest and other methods. All through the lens of
our experiences on this 6,000-acre habitat restoration site.
prescribed fire aerial ignition seasonality timber harvest wildlife habitat

Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2015, 10:00 15:00.

Location: State Game Land 210, Approximately 30 miles northeast of Harrisburg,
PA (40.57N 76.73W). More info on meeting place will be provided with RSVP.
Sponsored by: Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council
Contact Ben Jones to RSVP by August 21, using Workshop RSVP as the email
subject line benjjones@pa.gov, call (717) 418-0625 for more info.

New Publication!!
Impacts of repeated wildfire on long-unburned Appalachian plant
communities of the southern Appalachian Mountains.
The infrequent occurrence of large wildfires in the southern Appalachian Mountains over the last several decades
has offered few opportunities to study their impacts. From 2000 to 2008, five wildfires burned a large portion of
the area in and surrounding the Linville Gorge Wilderness in North Carolina. Areas were burned either once or
twice. The response of acid cove and thermic oak plant communities (structure, cover, richness, diversity) was
measured in 78 vegetation monitoring plots, established in 1992 and remeasured in 201011. Fire altered forest
structure in both communities, resulting in the mortality of larger trees and increases in the abundance of smaller
(<5 cm diameter at breast height (DBH)) stems. Burning twice decreased stem counts for mountain laurel (Kalmia
latifolia) in both communities, whereas oaks (Quercus spp.) responded positively to burning twice in the thermic
oak community. Table Mountain pine stem counts increased in acid cove and thermic oak communities burned
once. Fire appears to promote princesstree (Paulownia tomentosa) invasion. Herbaceous species cover responded
positively to fire (once or twice; both communities), with concurrent increases in woody species richness and
diversity. Tree species composition in acid cove plots was not affected by burning, although some slight changes
occurred in thermic oak plots burned twice.
To access the early release of this article visit:
International Journal of Wildland Fire
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF14143

Communicate With Us!

Find us on twitter @APfirescience or find us on Facebook by searching Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and
Scientists.

Join CAFMS:
The consortium is for all land managers and researchers in the region who deal with any aspect of fire. To join, simply
provide us with some contact information at the web site listed below.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDNiUnFrYzNNVU00dkxka1hKM2p0cFE6MQ

www.CAFMS.org

Helen Mohr helen@cafms.org

Tom Waldrop tom@cafms.org