A Survey of Vegetation and Wildland Fire Hazards on the Nevada Test Site, September 2004

Technical Report · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2004

OSTI ID:833887

Nevada, Bechtel

In the spring of 2004 a survey was conducted by Bechtel Nevada Ecological Services on the Nevada Test Site to characterize vegetation resources and climatic components of the environment that contribute to wildland fires. The field surveyed assessed 211 sites along major Nevada Test Site corridors for the abundance of native perennial and annual species and invasive weeds. The abundance of fine-textured (grasses and herbs) and coarse-textured (woody) biomass was visually estimated on numerical scales ranging from one to five. Wildland fires are costly to control and to mitigate once they occur. Revegetation of burned areas is very slow without reseeding or transplanting with native species and other rehabilitation efforts. Untreated areas become much more vulnerable to future fires once invasive species, rather than native species, colonize a burned area.The annual assessment of wildland fire hazards on the Nevada Test Site is scheduled to be implemented each spring in the near future with results being reported directly to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Bechtel Nevada Fire Marshal.

• Research Organization: Bechtel Nevada Corporation (BNC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC08-96NV11718
• OSTI ID: 833887
• Report Number(s): DOE/NV/11718--981
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English