Missouri Fire Needs Assessment
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On this page

  • Funding acknowledgement
  • People
    • Eleanor Gagnon
    • Randy Swaty
    • Ryan Gauger
    • Acknowledgements
  • Methods
  • Our Partnerships
  • Sources

About

Funding acknowledgement

Funding for this project was provided by the US Forest Service through the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

People

Eleanor Gagnon

"Picture of Eleanor Gagnon. Eleanor Gagnon is an organizer for Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, a nonprofit building grassroots relationships to fight climate change in Fairbanks Alaska.

She has a masters degree in International Relations with a concentration on climate policy and international finance. She uses her data analysis and policy writing skills to moonlight as a contractor for The Nature Conservancy. She has worked on projects ranging from taking a historical perspective on Biomass use in Michigan, to formulating policy proposals to shift Alaska towards a more regenerative economic system.

Follow her journey here.


Randy Swaty

Randy Swaty is an Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy’s LANDFIRE team and co-lead of theConservation Data Lab.

"Picture of Randy Swaty.

Randy Swaty

He uses his ecological knowledge and programming expertise to assist natural resource professionals seeking the best data to support their work. Randy leads problem-solving and data exploration sessions and demonstrates the power of leadership and coordination through his wide professional network.

His work has ranged from supporting experts to mapping potential mycorrhizal fungal communities to collaborating on a template for forest professionals preparing for forest certification audits. Randy’s accomplishments include multiple peer-reviewed publications and participation in numerous professional presentations. Most of all, Randy enjoys connecting with natural resource professionals and helping them find ways to best leverage the power of LANDFIRE data to advance and amplify their work.

You can explore Randy’s published work on Google Scholar.


Ryan Gauger

"Picture of Randy Swaty. Ryan is the Fire and Stewardship Manager at The Nature Conservancy’s Missouri Chapter. He earned a Biology degree from Franklin College, and has been practicing fire management for over 15 years. Learn more about his work here





Acknowledgements

  • The Missouri Prescribed Fire Council
  • The Missouri Chapter of The Nature Conservancy
  • The Conservation Data Lab

Methods

The maps, charts, and quantitative summaries are based on data from LANDFIRE and the Missouri Prescribed Fire Council (MPFC). The visuals are created as follows:

  1. Historical Ecosystems Map:
    • Clipped the LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings (BpS) to the Missouri state boundary.
    • Mapped and grouped historical ecosystems, renaming them to match MPFC terminology.
  2. Needed Mean Fire Return Interval Map:
    • Used LANDFIRE’s Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) as a base.
    • MPFC members assigned each ecosystem a Missouri Department of Conservation Ecosystem name and an estimated historical fire regime in an Excel spreadsheet.
    • Joined the Excel data to the LANDFIRE EVT spatial data for mapping and summarization.
  3. Current Fire Needs by County Map:
    • Summarized data by county and ecosystem type.
  4. Historical Annual Burn Acreage by Ecosystem:
    • Created a chart summarizing minimum and maximum acreage burned by ecosystem type.
  5. Historical Mean Fire Return Interval (MFRI) Map:
    • Used the BpS attribute ‘FRI_ALLFIR’ to represent MFRI.
    • Grouped year values into categories shown in the map legend.
    • Applied the ‘Magma’ color ramp from Viridis Palette Generator for accessibility.
  6. Historical Burn Patterns Chart:
    • Summarized data by ecosystem type.

Contact Randy Swaty for more information on methods.

Our Partnerships

Conservation success that is widespread and sustainable relies on partner and landowner interest and engagement as well as a long-term stewardship culture. No one person, or one organization can create the change needed on its own. Success requires the broad engagement of diverse stakeholder and policymakers. Here are just a few of those stakeholder organizations:

Sources

Data

LANDFIRE, 2016, Biophysical Settings Layer, LANDFIRE 2.2.0, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Accessed 11 April 2024 at http://www.landfire/viewer.

LANDFIRE, 2022, Existing Vegetation Type Layer, LANDFIRE 2.3.0, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Accessed 11 April 2024 at http://www.landfire/viewer.

Literature

Fogarty, D.T., Baldwin, C.E., Bauman, P., Cram, D., Goodman, L., Thompson, A., Treadwell, M.L., and Twidwell, D. (2023). Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Pocket Guide for Planning & Design. Great Plains Grasslands Extension Partnership, GPGEP-PB-0. https://www.ksfire.org/woody_encroachment/documents/Woody%20Encroachments%20Pocket%20Guide-LOW%20RES%20FINAL-062623.pdf

Gallagher, M. R., Kreye, J. K., Machtinger, E. T., Everland, A., Schmidt, N., & Skowronski, N. S. (2022). Can restoration of fire-dependent ecosystems reduce ticks and tick-borne disease prevalence in the eastern United States? - Oak Fire Science. Ecological Applications, 32(7). https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2637

Gentile, B., Erickson, E., Savage-Holst, E., & Cochran, H. (n.d.). When To Burn: A Student Led Guide to Prescribed Fire. https://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1437373/28658175/1721327264207/TPOS+When+To+Burn+Brochure.pdf?token=Hw9dRkQAl317FX2YNXTr5QDTqhs%3D

Harper, Craig. (2014, October 22). 4 ways to light a prescribed fire. National Deer Association. https://deerassociation.com/4-ways-light-prescribed-fire/

Ladd, D., A. Brown and B. Heumann. 2006. Presettlement vegetation and rapid ecological assessment of glade landscapes in the Ava region, Mark Twain National Forest. The Nature Conservancy, Missouri Field Office, 2800 S. Brentwood Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63144.

Maginel, C. J., Knapp, B. O., Kabrick, J. M., & Muzika, R.-M. (2019). Landscape- and site-level responses of woody structure and ground flora to repeated prescribed fire in the Missouri Ozarks. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 49(8), 1004–1014. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2018-0492

NDA Staff. (2022, February 2). Prescribed fire basics: Learning to burn safely and effectively with wildlife biologist Shan Cammack . National Deer Association. https://deerassociation.com/shan-cammack/

Prescribed fire. (n.d.). Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://mdc.mo.gov/your-property/fire-management/prescribed-fire

Resop, L. (2022, February 9). Burn outside the box: Try prescribed fire at a new time of year . National Deer Association. https://deerassociation.com/burn-outside-the-box-try-prescribed-fire-at-a-new-time-of-year/

Robinson, W., & Doolen, C. (2023, October 18). Fall burning for bobwhites. Quail Forever. https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Fall-Burning-for-Bobwhites.aspx

The Missouri Comprehensive Conservation Strategy. (2022). Missouri Department of Conservation. https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/2022-Missouri-CCS.pdf

Thomas, L. (2024a). Plan for medical safety when preparing for prescribed fire. https://deerassociation.com/avoid-prescribed-fire-injuries-with-these-tips-from-a-physician-and-woodland-firefighter/

Thomas, L. (2024). Prescribed fire near power lines could zap your wallet. https://deerassociation.com/prescribed-fire-near-power-lines-could-zap-your-wallet/

Vaughn, B. D. H. (2024). Fire in the Ozarks. ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f6b48b2f3b2b483381b0befd18b8f35f

Funding for this project was provided by the US Forest Service through the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

 

For questions or comments about this website please contact Ryan Gauger (https://rswaty.github.io/mofna/)