Wildfire is the predominant disturbance agent in the Northern Rockies. The nearly annual occurrence of wildfire as a part of the larger landscape is the environmental backdrop against which our native wildlife species have evolved. A number of native species are dependent on wildfires or wildfire-created habitats and are nearly restricted in their distribution to such conditions. Unfortunately, while there is strong evidence from the literature that we need to maintain burned-forest habitat for wildlife species, there is little information showing precisely how much, where, or in what structural condition. The lack of information is greatest for species such as the Black-backed Woodpecker, which appears to be relatively dependent on dense stands of fire-killed dead trees, which makes it a sensitive species in the USFS Northern Region.
Our research is designed to uncover the response of Black-backed Woodpeckers to fires with varying pre-fire management history, fire severity, and post-fire salvage treatments within the mid-elevation mixed-conifer forest types. We are using tthe data to better understand the conditions needed by this fire specialist to evaluate the ecological consequences of pre-fire fuels treatments and post-fire salvage logging, and to significantly improve our ability to design future treatments with predictable results, in terms of the response of fire-dependent birds.
The project will also provide demonstration sites that will: 1) expose agency officials and the public to basic fire ecology and the complex interrelationships involved; 2) demonstrate how 
different pre- and post-fire timber harvesting activities can be accomplished while minimizing the negative effects on the most fire-dependent species; and 3) promote a greater understanding for the need to include certain forms of fire in the management of northern Rockies ecosystems.
As of fall 2007, we have completed 4 field seasons and have surveyed for Black-backed Woodpeckers (via point counts and playbacks) in 18 different fires distributed throughout western Montana.
Products:
2007 Final JFSP Report. R. L. Hutto. Summarizes the research mentioned above that was sponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program.
2007 Presentation by R. L. Hutto. Sept., 2007 (ppt.; 56 MB). A Bird's-Eye View of Severe Fires. Click OPEN to view or SAVE to download and read accompanying text (notes in slide view).
Portraits in Black Video given by R. L. Hutto at the Aug., 2007 AOU meetings in Laramie, WY (and elsewhere). Download the zipped folder, unzip, click on the HTML document, and click on the Lazuli Bunting to begin. (37 MB)
Final Report - Bitterroot Study Revisited. This report chronicles the continuing change in the bird community following the 2000 Bitterroot fires. See our Publications page for the original 2005 Ecological Monographs paper.
2006 Presentation given by Kristina Smucker at the February, 2006 Montana Wildlife Society Meeting (ppt.; 14.3 MB).
Funders: USDI/USDA Joint Fire Science Program, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Glacier National Park.
Project Duration: 2004-2007
Contact: R. Hutto at 243-4292 or hutto@mso.umt.edu
Collaborators: Read more about Jenny Woolf’s independent Black-backed Woodpecker Ph.D. research.
Copyright© Spectral Fusion 2004. All Rights Reserved.