Reports

The Mixed Conifer Knowledge Synthesis was developed in response to the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership (SJHFHP) 2019 request to the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute (CFRI) to compile and synthesize the current best available science for mixed conifer forests. CFRI and the Mountain Studies Institute (MSI) staff collaborated to create this knowledge synthesis with additional authorship from USDA-Rocky Mountain Research Station and USDA-Forest Service staff. Developed between 2019 and 2021 with engagement and input from the SJHFHP and the San Juan National Forest via collaborative discussions and field trips, the purpose of the presentation and paper is to compile current and best available science for mixed conifer forest ecology to inform future management efforts and research needs with specific information relating to the San Juan Mountain Region.

Read the Report

Remke et al. 2021 Mixed Conifer serves as an update to the 2021 Mixed-Conifer Forests in Southwest Colorado: A summary of Existing Knowledge and Considerations for Restoration and Management (Pelz 2010). https://cfri.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/03/2010_MixedConiferKnowledgeSynthesis.pdf

Each year, the Aspen Center for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) produces a State of the Forest Report for the Roaring Fork Watershed. In 2019, ACES partnered with Mountain Studies Institute to produce the first edition focused on the San Juan National Forest in Southwest Colorado. These reports provide local updates on the climate for the past year and investigate many of the most pressing issues currently facing our forests.

Read the Report
Read the Report
Read the Article
Read the Report
See the Map
See the Map

Supporting Science

  1. Forest Service to allow chain saws in two Southwest Colorado wilderness areas
  2. Climate change limits forest recovery after wildfires
  3. Report: Drought, heat in New Mexico wiped out acres of trees
  4. Tree-ring analysis explains physiology behind drought intolerance
  5. Forest soils need many decades to recover from fires and logging
  6. As beetle kill spreads, will the drive from Durango to Silverton resemble Wolf Creek Pass?
  7. Wildfire and Climate Change Push Low-Elevation Forests Across a Critical Climate Threshold for Tree Regeneration
  8. Historical Fire Regimes in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed-Conifer Landscapes of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA
  9. Changes in forest structure since 1860 in ponderosa pine dominated forests in the Colorado and Wyoming Front Range, USA
  10. Ecological Forestry: Much More Than Retention Harvesting
  11. Natural Disturbances and Stand Development Principles for Ecological Forestry
  12. Restoring Composition and Structure in Southwestern Frequent-Fire Forests
  13. An Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Health in the Southwest
  14. Colorado Forest Restoration Institute – Full Publication Library
  15. Climate Change and Forest Carbon Storage
  16. Decision-Making Under Uncertainty (Re: Forestry)
  17. The Role of Cooperatives in Forestry
  18. Mixed-Conifer Forests in Southwest Colorado
  19. Innovations in Forestry and Fire Mitigation: Report for Senator Bennet
  20. Forest Vegetation Monitoring Protocol (PNW)
  21. Monitoring Forest Regeneration Projects
  1. After Paradise, living with fire means redefining resilience
  2. Rethinking disaster recovery after a California town is leveled by wildfire
  3. To control wildfires, Western officials are urged to follow South’s lead
  4. Healthy snow season allows for prescribed burns in SW Colorado
  5. Conditions ideal for prescribed burns in Southwest Colorado
  6. Forest fires accelerating snowmelt across western US
  7. New insights on animal movement in fire-prone landscapes
  8. Wildfire risk in California no longer coupled to winter precipitation
  9. Fire’s effects on soil moisture, runoff
  10. Video: The fire that saved Sun Valley
  11. Washington State Wildland Fire Protection 10-Year Strategic Plan: Solutions for a prepared, safe resilient Washington
  12. Prescribed Fire Policy Barriers and Opportunities: A Diversity of Challenges and Strategies Across the West
  13. Limits to Ponderosa Pine Regeneration following Large High-Severity Forest Fires in the United States Southwest
  14. Wildfire Mitigation through Partnerships: Southwest Colorado Success Story
  15. Burning Together and Learning Together
  16. Building Mitigation Contractor Capacity in Southwest Colorado
  17. The Sauls Creek Prescribed Burn: A Success Story
  18. Decades of Progress – Promoting Forest Treatments and Public Support
  19. Redstone Canyon: A Mitigation Success Story
  20. Returning Fire To The Land: Celebrating Traditional Knowledge and Fire
  21. Fire, Fuels, and Streams: Effects and Effectiveness of Riparian Treatments
  22. Success Stories and Lessons Learned
  23. Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Model for Modern Fire Management?
  24. Southern Rockies Fire Science Network
  25. Perspectives on Wildland Fire
  26. Prescribed Fire and Wildfire Risk Reduction
  27. Long-term Impacts of Prescribed Burning (SW Australia)
  28. Reasons for Prescribed Fire in Forest Management
  29. Purposes of Prescribed Burning
  30. Protecting the Forest: Setting Smaller Fires to Prevent Big Ones
  31. Prescribed Fire and Management Goals
  32. Inside The Firestorm
  33. Why Are Fire Seasons Longer?
  34. Let It Burn
  35. Want To Reduce Wildfire Risk?
  36. Colorado Executive Order D 2015-002 – Regarding Prescribed Fire
  37. The Influence of Western Spruce Budworm on Fire in Spruce-Fir Forests
  38. The High Park Fire 5 Years Later
  39. Insights from Wildfire Science
  40. Do Bark Beetle Outbreaks Increase Wildfire Risks?
  41. Negative Consequences of Positive Feedbacks in US Wildfire Management
  42. Burned Area in Western US Unaffected by Recent Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks
  43. Roads and Fire: A Proven Relationship
  44. The Rim Fire: Uncharacteristically Large Fire in Forest with Restored Fire Regime
  45. Pile Burn – Science You Can Use
  46. Fire Regime Condition Class
  1. Colorado’s drought is not over, experts say
  2. Declining snowpack over Western US mapped at a finer scale
  3. After the fire: Blazes pose hidden threat to the West’s drinking water
  4. Water and Soil Management Considerations – Becca Smith, USFS Hydrologist
  5. Effects of Fire on Soil and Water
  6. If a Tree Falls in the Forest…
  7. How To Get Good, Clean Drinking Water
  8. Bark Beetles Increase Biodiversity While Maintaining Drinking Water Quality
  9. Water Resources and Energy Alternatives in the Southwest
  10. Forests and Water: The Sierra Nevada Watershed Ecosystem Enhancement Project
  11. Effects of Selective Logging on Runoff Characteristics
  12. Assessing Watershed-Wildfire Risks on National Forest Land in the Rockies
  13. Colorado’s Water Plan [Dec 2014 Draft]
  14. Forest Management to Protect Colorado’s Water Resources (2017)
  1. New Study Identifies Atmospheric Conditions that Precede Wildfires in the Southwest
  2. Some Smoke Now, Fewer Fires Later
  3. Wildfires Pollute Much More Than Previously Thought
  4. Wildland Fire Smoke Health Effects on Wildland Firefighters and the Public
  1. Tree loss from bark-beetle infestation impacts elk habitat
  2. Coupled Ecohydrology and Plant Hydraulics Modeling Predicts Ponderosa Pine Seedling Mortality and Lower Treeline in the US Northern Rocky Mountains
  3. Effects of Fire on Flora
  4. Effects of Fire on Fauna
  5. How Trees Survive and Thrive After a Fire
  6. The Citizen’s Guide To Colorado Climate Change
  7. Recent Beetle Outbreaks, Wildfires, and Post-fire Tree Regeneration in the Northern Rockies
  8. The Forests They are A-Changin’
  9. Payments for Ecosystem Services
  10. A User’s Guide To Ecosystem Services
  11. Cumulative Effects of Roads and Logging on Landscape Structure (San Juans)
  12. Changing Beetle Activity in the Colorado Rockies
  13. Spruce Beetle: An Agent of Subalpine Change
  14. Wildlife Management Considerations I – Anthony Garcia, Wildlife Specialist, USFS
  15. Wildlife Management Considerations II – Anthony Garcia, Wildlife Specialist, USFS
  16. Climate Change in the Context of 21st Century Dryland Forest Regeneration
  1. The History of National Park Service Fire Policy
  2. Historical Range of Variability and Current Landscape Condition Analysis: South Central Highlands (CO, NM)