Maximizing snow storage through fire-resilient forest treatments

In degraded landscapes, supporting climate adaptation for aquatic species and their habitats will require deploying diverse management actions in order to reduce the amplification effects of climate change.  In the upper watersheds of the Eastern Cascade Mountains, wildfire suppression has increased forest density, drought susceptibility, and high severity burns. The area’s rivers are also drought vulnerable, with 75% of surface flow dependent upon snowpack. We asked whether forest thinning techniques designed to support wildfire resilience also confer hydrologic resilience through forest-snow processes, and implemented a gradient of forest thinning treatments across which we tracked snowpack response. In thinning treatments, we observed a 30% increase in snowpack storage on north-facing slopes, and a 16% increase in snowpack storage on south-facing slopes, thus indicating that wildfire treatments also support hydrologic processes. Speakers: Emily Howe, The Nature Conservancy Washington & Susan Dickerson-Lange, Climate Impacts Group