Evaluating Cultural Resource Vulnerability To Fires And Post-Fire Impacts
Cultural resources are tangible and intangible elements connected to the physical presence, practices, cultural identity, and/or spirituality of past and present societies.
Cultural Resources and Wildfire
Cultural resources are highly vulnerable to direct impacts from wildfires such as heat alteration, fragmentation, and consumption, and adverse effects from post-wildfire erosion, debris flows, tree falls, and other disturbances (Ryan et al., 2012). As wildfires of uncharacteristic intensity and severity become more common and impacts to cultural resources are amplified (Friggens et al., 2021), new, science-informed decision support tools are needed to effectively manage and protect these resources.
Cultural resources are managed and protected under federal laws and regulations; thus, agencies are responsible for evaluating and mitigating impacts to cultural resources before, during, and after wildfires and prescribed fires. However, fundamental research to inform best practices for managing wildfire risks to cultural resources remains underdeveloped.
Next-generation Tools for Mitigating Wildfire Risk to Cultural Resources
The USGS Post-fire Hazards and Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems (PHIRE) project evaluates how post-fire impacts can adversely affect cultural resources across four federally designated Major Disaster wildfires in CA and WA. In 2022, in collaboration with archaeologists and program managers from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (WA), Lassen National Forest (CA), Plumas National Forest (CA), Eldorado National Forest (CA), and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park (CA), the project identified critical research and management needs:
- Categorical measures of burn severity that better correspond to adverse effects to archeological sites and features.
- Systematic methods for deciding which archaeological sites or features need the most pro-active protection measures during a wildfire (e.g., triage) and how best to deploy protection/rehabilitation strategies during wildfire incident or post-fire.
- An evaluation of the best methods for stabilizing sites on hillslopes or erosion-prone postfire landscapes (e.g., downing hazard trees, straw bales).
- Evaluating fire effects on culturally important plants and the factors that influence their post-fire recovery.
- Implementation of new technologies for recording fire effects on cultural resources (e.g., 3D mapping with terrestrial LiDAR).
Currently, work is underway to:
1) evaluate direct wildfire effects and post-fire effects on archeological and other cultural resource sites using both field evaluations (tailored to site type, materials present, location, and vulnerability to loss of interpretation or cultural significance) and terrestrial LiDAR imaging/mapping
2) synthesize impacts into categorical and/or ordinal scales that can be implemented in post-fire evaluations by monitoring archaeologists and
3) collaborate with stakeholders on methods to integrate findings into improved evaluations of archeological site vulnerability.
To date over 80 archaeological sites have been assessed for fire and erosional effects, and over 5,000 individual artifacts have been evaluated for direct wildfire impacts. Additionally, existing protocols for characterizing fuels using terrestrial LiDAR (Pokswinski et al., 2021) have been adapted for use within archaeological sites to help identify fuels and potential fire behavior that could be damaging to cultural resources during future fires. These project elements are led by Dr. Grant Snitker, Director of Cultural Resource Sciences at the Center for Applied Fire and Ecosystem Science, New Mexico Consortium.
As data collection and analysis continues, our results will inform new models of risk for archaeological sites and actions to mitigate damage during and after wildfires. Next steps will include an expansion of terrestrial LiDAR fuels characterizations on archeological sites to capture a wider range of fuels that could be damaging to sites, as well as integration with advanced fire behavior modeling (e.g., QUIC-Fire) to understanding the effectiveness of fuel treatments within site boundaries. Taken together, these components of our research plan are advancing the approach and technology used to understand wildfire’s impact on cultural resources from multiple dimensions and will provide the tools and science to continue protecting cultural resources from the damaging impacts of wildfire into the foreseeable future.
Funding for this project is provided by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and supplemental funding acts for Federal disaster relief activities. Through this funding USGS supports recovery efforts in declared natural disaster areas, to aid recovery efforts from widespread wildfires, devastating hurricanes, prolonged volcanic eruptions, and damaging earthquakes. This enables USGS to repair and replace equipment and facilities, collect high-resolution elevation data, and conduct scientific studies and assessments to support recovery and rebuilding decisions.
Post-Fire Hazards Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems (PHIRE): Support for Response, Recovery, and Mitigation
Cultural resources are tangible and intangible elements connected to the physical presence, practices, cultural identity, and/or spirituality of past and present societies.
Cultural Resources and Wildfire
Cultural resources are highly vulnerable to direct impacts from wildfires such as heat alteration, fragmentation, and consumption, and adverse effects from post-wildfire erosion, debris flows, tree falls, and other disturbances (Ryan et al., 2012). As wildfires of uncharacteristic intensity and severity become more common and impacts to cultural resources are amplified (Friggens et al., 2021), new, science-informed decision support tools are needed to effectively manage and protect these resources.
Cultural resources are managed and protected under federal laws and regulations; thus, agencies are responsible for evaluating and mitigating impacts to cultural resources before, during, and after wildfires and prescribed fires. However, fundamental research to inform best practices for managing wildfire risks to cultural resources remains underdeveloped.
Next-generation Tools for Mitigating Wildfire Risk to Cultural Resources
The USGS Post-fire Hazards and Impacts to Resources and Ecosystems (PHIRE) project evaluates how post-fire impacts can adversely affect cultural resources across four federally designated Major Disaster wildfires in CA and WA. In 2022, in collaboration with archaeologists and program managers from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (WA), Lassen National Forest (CA), Plumas National Forest (CA), Eldorado National Forest (CA), and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park (CA), the project identified critical research and management needs:
- Categorical measures of burn severity that better correspond to adverse effects to archeological sites and features.
- Systematic methods for deciding which archaeological sites or features need the most pro-active protection measures during a wildfire (e.g., triage) and how best to deploy protection/rehabilitation strategies during wildfire incident or post-fire.
- An evaluation of the best methods for stabilizing sites on hillslopes or erosion-prone postfire landscapes (e.g., downing hazard trees, straw bales).
- Evaluating fire effects on culturally important plants and the factors that influence their post-fire recovery.
- Implementation of new technologies for recording fire effects on cultural resources (e.g., 3D mapping with terrestrial LiDAR).
Currently, work is underway to:
1) evaluate direct wildfire effects and post-fire effects on archeological and other cultural resource sites using both field evaluations (tailored to site type, materials present, location, and vulnerability to loss of interpretation or cultural significance) and terrestrial LiDAR imaging/mapping
2) synthesize impacts into categorical and/or ordinal scales that can be implemented in post-fire evaluations by monitoring archaeologists and
3) collaborate with stakeholders on methods to integrate findings into improved evaluations of archeological site vulnerability.
To date over 80 archaeological sites have been assessed for fire and erosional effects, and over 5,000 individual artifacts have been evaluated for direct wildfire impacts. Additionally, existing protocols for characterizing fuels using terrestrial LiDAR (Pokswinski et al., 2021) have been adapted for use within archaeological sites to help identify fuels and potential fire behavior that could be damaging to cultural resources during future fires. These project elements are led by Dr. Grant Snitker, Director of Cultural Resource Sciences at the Center for Applied Fire and Ecosystem Science, New Mexico Consortium.
As data collection and analysis continues, our results will inform new models of risk for archaeological sites and actions to mitigate damage during and after wildfires. Next steps will include an expansion of terrestrial LiDAR fuels characterizations on archeological sites to capture a wider range of fuels that could be damaging to sites, as well as integration with advanced fire behavior modeling (e.g., QUIC-Fire) to understanding the effectiveness of fuel treatments within site boundaries. Taken together, these components of our research plan are advancing the approach and technology used to understand wildfire’s impact on cultural resources from multiple dimensions and will provide the tools and science to continue protecting cultural resources from the damaging impacts of wildfire into the foreseeable future.
Funding for this project is provided by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) and supplemental funding acts for Federal disaster relief activities. Through this funding USGS supports recovery efforts in declared natural disaster areas, to aid recovery efforts from widespread wildfires, devastating hurricanes, prolonged volcanic eruptions, and damaging earthquakes. This enables USGS to repair and replace equipment and facilities, collect high-resolution elevation data, and conduct scientific studies and assessments to support recovery and rebuilding decisions.