20 Communities |
A local application of a New Mexico state-wide effort to rate WUI areas considered to be at risk resulting in an initial list of 20 communities following the disastrous 2000 fire season. |
20 Communities Group |
A collaborative group formed in Catron County to coordinate forests restoration planning and projects, fire prevention and fire suppression. |
Agency |
Refers to a Federal, State, County or local government-established organization |
Analysis model |
As used in this plan, a computerized processing of information about the county to provide a best estimate of botht he magnitude and location of various mathematical combinations (fire threat, treatment priorities, etc.) of that information |
Analysis, GIS |
A method of analysis of data that includes the geographic location of that data |
Aspect |
The direction a slope or hillside faces |
Basal area |
The cross sectional area of a tree as determined 4.5 ft. from ground level |
Base information |
Used to determine level of fire threat, values at risk and risk of occurrence |
Biomass |
Biologically produced materials that can be used for energy production, generally by burning to generate heat |
Biomass plant |
The facility used to produced energy from biomass for power generation |
Biomass power generation |
The production of energy using biomass |
Cable yarding |
A method to move timber logs from the stump to the truck loading site (landing) that utilizes a system of overhead cables to move the partially or fully suspended logs |
Canopy, closed |
As used in this plan and as in the guidelines for Fire Regime Condition Class determinations, a vegetation-fuel class characteristic based on upper layer vegetation canopy cover with relatively little space between vegetation tops. Generally closed canopies are those with 40% or more closure. |
Canopy, open |
As used in this plan and as in the guidelines for Fire Regime Condition Class determinations, a vegetation-fuel class characteristic based on upper layer vegetation canopy cover with relatively more space between vegetation tops. Generally open canopies are those with closure of less than 40%. |
Catron County Citizen’s Group |
A coalition of interested parties which evolved during the 1990's to address mutual concerns regarding the County, especially as relates to use and protection of the natural resources of Catron County. |
Cells |
GIS analysis and in particular modeling in GIS uses cells as a means to efficiently process large amounts of data. Cells can be different sizes, 30 x 30 meter cells being used in this plan. A cell is assigned appropriate values to represent information about the location or as determined in a analysis model. |
Clump pattern |
A thick grouping of consistent vegetative types |
Collaborative Forest Restoration Project |
(CFRP) A New Mexico program founded on the principle of collaborative management to address forest resource conflicts. The program provides costshare grants for experimental forest restoration projects executed through a collaboration of diverse interests. CFRP is the first legislated program to require collaboration as a way of doing business. |
Commercial treatment |
Meets prescribed objectives in a monetarily profitable manner through removal of woody material to meet fuels management objectives. |
Community Wildfire Protection Plan |
A plan developed by a community in an area at-risk from wildland fire; a collaborative product involving interested parties, local government, local fire fighting agencies, the state agency which oversees forest management and federal land management agencies. A valid CWPP has two objectives.
Identify and prioritize the surrounding area, both federal and nonfederal lands, for hazardous fuels reduction treatments, as well as recommending methods for achieving hazardous fuels reductions.
Recommend measures for reducing structural ignitability through out the at-risk community. |
Computer model |
Computer program using base information about the County to determine the priority areas for fuels reductions treatment |
Core Group |
A group established to write the Catron County Community Wildfire Protection Plan, involving all interested in participating in that effort. |
Defensible Space |
An area that helps protect homes and structures from wildfire, and provides a safety zone for firefighters who are battling flames. |
Density |
The quantity of vegetation fuels per unit area |
Diameter, large |
An imprecise term applied to trees with a diameter over a minimum of 16” but sometimes over as great as 24” |
Diameter, small |
A term generally applied to trees in the diameter range of 5” – 9” |
Dog hair thicket |
An area of indeterminate size that contains large numbers of small trees |
Duff |
Partially and fully decomposed organic matter on forest floor, |
E-911 address |
The geographic location of phone numbers as recorded for emergency response of law, medical and fire services as a result of 911 phone calls |
Fire break |
A space, natural or man-made, in fuels that would slow or prevent the spread of a fire |
Fire risk |
The risk of a fire occurring from natural or man-made causes |
Fire, ground |
A wildland fire burning dead and live vegetation at or near ground level |
Fuel break, man-made |
A non-natural space in fuels, generally created either by using mechanical means, or by controlled fire, to slow or prevent spread of a wildfire |
Fuel break, natural |
A natural space in fuels, existing due to naturally occurring features (e.g. a rock slide) that would slow or prevent spread of a wildfire |
Fuel Hazard (Fire) Threat |
The threat of unacceptable damage by wildfire to community and land resources, uses and values. Four factors were used in determining fire threat: Potential natural vegetative cover type, structural stage, aspect and steepness of slope resulting in a relative index of fire threat. The index is useful only as a comparison between locations and is not meant to be a measure of such commonly used terms as flame length and rate of spread which would require more specific data and modeling such as would be done for project level analysis. |
Gap analysis |
Mapping developed by geographers and biologists of distributions of vertebrate species and vegetation communities which identifies gaps in their protection |
Geographic Information System |
(GIS) Computerized maps and associated data |
GIS analysis |
A method of analysis of data that includes the geographic location of that data |
Grid |
30 meters X 30 meters (approximately 90’ x 90’) (see Cells) |
Ground fire |
A wildland fire burning dead and live vegetation at or near ground level |
Ground fuels |
Litter, duff, other dead vegetation |
Ground truthing |
The verification of the degree to which the interpretation and analysis of various data is indicative of the real situation |
Healthy Forests Restoration Act |
(HFRA) An Act to improve the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands, aimed at protecting communities, watersheds, and certain other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape, and for other purposes. |
Hydrologic Unit Classification |
(HUC) A method used to classify watersheds by size |
Infrastructure |
Man-made structures |
Jackpot |
Concentrations of felled trees, allowed to lie on the ground |
Ladder fuels, laddering |
Generally live vegetation (but could included dead) that provides a “ladder” by which a fire can progress upward into the crowns of trees otherwise tall enough to generally be free of damage due to ground fire |
Leave tree |
A tree marked to be not disturbed by forest restoration or fuels reduction |
Machine Accessible |
A combination of location and terrain that is reasonable to access by machine to remove wood products |
Maps |
A display of the location of various data |
Market |
The disposal of wood products to buyers |
Marketing group |
A group of interested public, business and government representatives established to develop wood product markets |
Mechanical treatment |
Use of machines to accomplish management objectives |
Mitigation |
Action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk to human life, property, and function from hazards |
Mixed conifer |
A mix of two or more conifer tree species including such species as Ponderosa pine, white fir and Douglas fir |
Model, computer |
Uses information about the County to determine the priority areas for fuels reductions treatment |
Model, grid |
30 meters x 30 meters (approximately 90 feet x 90 feet) see Cells for more information |
Ownership |
The owner of a parcel of land |
Potential Natural Vegetation |
(PNV) The composition of successional stages that would occur in the absence of modern human interference in response to natural disturbances, such as fire and anthropogenic burning, for a given climatic period. |
Potential Natural Vegetation Group |
(PNVG) A grouping of ecologically similar PNV types for course-scale assessment |
Prevailing wind |
The wind direction from which the wind blows most often, generally southwest in New Mexico |
Priority, final |
Initial priority adjusted using info from threatened & endangered species (T&E), access, recreation, etc |
Priority, initial |
Determined by values at risk, risk of occurrence and fire threat |
Project level planning |
The planning that results in proposal and design of work to accomplish specific objectives |
Public input |
Involvement of the public in the interchange of ideas and solutions |
Public involvement |
Involvement of the public in the interchange of ideas and solutions |
Ratings |
For fire threat, values at risk, risk of occurrence. Used to determine initial priority for treatment. |
Relief map |
A visual display method using various shades of color to give a three dimensional appearance to a map displaying the terrain |
Risk of occurrence |
Based on lightning or man-caused fire |
Sales, timber |
Raw wood supply generally sold “on the stump” for removal by a buyer |
Slash |
The remaining vegetative material after removal of marketable wood, including limbs, leaves and needles |
Slope |
The steepness of a slope; also inclined terrain |
Slope percent |
The steepness of a slope measured in percent; vertical rise per horizontal distance, e.g. a 15% slope would rise 15 ft. for every 100 ft. of horizontal distance |
Stakeholder |
An individual or group with an economic or other interest in the outcome of decisions made to manage natural resources |
Structural state |
Five structural or successional vegetation development stages are used in this analysis: Early, Mid-closed, Mid-open, Late-closed and Late-open. For purposes of determining fire threat in this analysis, the closed stages are combined into one stage and the open stages are combined into one stage. |
Structural state, mid development: |
The vegetation stage in mid successional or immature condition. In forests of ponderosa pine and similar "sawtimber" species, this is commonly spoken of as poletimber and immature sawtimber. |
Structural state, closed/open |
A vegetation-fuel class characteristic based on upper layer vegetation canopy cover. Typically closed is canopy closure greater than 40% in forest, woodland and herbaceous vegetation and greater than 15% in shrub vegetation. |
Structural state, early |
Early: areas that are open, very sparsely stocked in trees/shrubs or in young trees (seedlings saplings). This stage is also called post-replacement, meaning the condition existing after an area or "stand" replacement disturbance such as a wildfire. Canopy closure is generally less than 10% for trees and less than 5% for shrubs. |
Structural state, late development: |
The vegetation stage in late successional or mature condition. In forest of ponderosa pine and similar "sawtimber" species, this is commonly spoken of as mature and overmature sawtimber. |
Subdivisions |
Divisions of land into two or more lots for purpose of sale or residential building development. |
Thinning |
The removal of trees to reduce the density to meet fuels or other management objectives |
Threat, fire |
See Fuel hazard |
Threatened & endangered species |
Rare, threatened or endangered species; as defined under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act, |
Treatment |
A broad term used in this plan to mean any natural or human action that results in obtaining a desired vegetative condition |
Treatment priority |
A classification of the relative need for treatments |
Values at risk |
Homes, communications sites, power lines, commercial buildings, also personal property (including animals) and cultural sites, etc. that would be threatened with damage by wildland fire |
Vegetation type |
A classification of vegetative associations into groups that will have predictable characteristics wherever they occur. The vegetative mapping used for the analysis in this plan included 34 types, which were grouped into five more general types for map display purposes |
Weighting |
The mathematical weighting of each factor to reflect its relative importance (not all factors considered in analysis are equally important) |
Wildfire |
A vegetation fire which exhibits fire behavior that will result in unacceptable damage to community and land resources, uses and values. |
Wildland Urban Interface |
An area in or adjacent to an at-risk community including isolated parcels of private property containing structures, infrastructure, or watershed with topographic features and fuel conditions (fuel type, fuel loading and arrangement) that have the potential to endanger that community.
Inter-related factors used in determining WUI boundaries from highest threat to lowest threat include:
Cover type- Ponderosa pine/mixed conifer, Spruce-fir, Pinyon-Juniper, Shrubland, grassland.
Aspect- S/SW/W, SE/E, NW/N/NE, flat
Slope- steepest, flat
Structural stage- Mid & late closed, Mid & late open, early
Prevailing wind- South, Southwest and West sides of a WUI since prevailing wind from SW. |
