Scott L. Stephens
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View article: Yosemite’s Merced Grove of giant sequoias: critical restoration continues despite legal challenges
Yosemite’s Merced Grove of giant sequoias: critical restoration continues despite legal challenges Open
Background Giant sequoias are the most massive individual trees on earth, and among the longest-lived. They also have a limited distribution, covering ~10,000 ha across ~70 distinct groves. Severe wildfires in 2020 and 2021 impacted 82% of…
View article: Indigenous stewardship rights and opportunities to recenter Indigenous fire
Indigenous stewardship rights and opportunities to recenter Indigenous fire Open
Wild and intentionally ignited fires are not new to North American landscapes or to the Indigenous cultures whose ancestral places encompass them. For millennia, Indigenous fire stewardship has been regionally and locally distributed acros…
View article: A tale of two fire systems: indigenous fire stewardship in British Columbia and California
A tale of two fire systems: indigenous fire stewardship in British Columbia and California Open
Background An increasing wildfire problem in western North America has created a policy space for Indigenous fire stewardship (IFS) to mitigate wildfire. We compare how British Columbia and California have supported IFS—two jurisdictions w…
View article: Carbon costs of different pathways for reducing fire hazard in the Sierra Nevada
Carbon costs of different pathways for reducing fire hazard in the Sierra Nevada Open
Restoring a low‐intensity, frequent‐fire regime in fire‐prone forests offers a promising natural climate solution. Management interventions that include prescribed fire and/or mechanical treatments have effectively reduced fire hazards in …
View article: Multi-scale assessment of wildfire use on carbon stocks in the Sierra Nevada, CA
Multi-scale assessment of wildfire use on carbon stocks in the Sierra Nevada, CA Open
Background The active use of wildfire to meet forest management objectives is an important tool to increase the scale of forest restoration in dry, historically frequent-fire forests. While there are many benefits of reintroducing fire to …
View article: Australia and the United States have many similarities and differences in prescribed fire management: learning from each other
Australia and the United States have many similarities and differences in prescribed fire management: learning from each other Open
Background Large and severe bushfires (wildfires) continue to burn and cause terrible damage in Australia and the US. Both countries have responded to this threat by implementing management strategies and policies with differing results. T…
View article: Drivers of fire severity in repeat fires: implications for mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California
Drivers of fire severity in repeat fires: implications for mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California Open
Background While the reintroduction of recurring fire restores a key process in frequent-fire adapted forests, the ability to significantly shift the structure and composition of departed contemporary forests has not been clearly demonstra…
View article: Extreme Weather Magnifies the Effects of Forest Structure on Wildfire, Driving Increased Severity in Industrial Forests
Extreme Weather Magnifies the Effects of Forest Structure on Wildfire, Driving Increased Severity in Industrial Forests Open
Despite widespread concern over increases in wildfire severity, the mechanisms underlying this trend remain unclear, hampering our ability to mitigate the severity of future fires. There is substantial uncertainty regarding the relative ro…
View article: The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study: Effects of fuel treatments in the Western and Eastern United States after 20 years
The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study: Effects of fuel treatments in the Western and Eastern United States after 20 years Open
The national Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study was initiated more than two decades ago with the goal of evaluating the ecological impacts of mechanical treatments and prescribed fire in different ecosystems across the United States. Sinc…
View article: Prescribed fires effects on actual and modeled fuel loads and forest structure in southern coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests
Prescribed fires effects on actual and modeled fuel loads and forest structure in southern coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests Open
Background Fire suppression, timber harvesting, and the forced removal of Indigenous burning have fundamentally changed conditions in coast redwood forests. The contemporary approach of forest preservation and fire exclusion has produced h…
View article: Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity
Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity Open
Background Understanding the role of fire in forested landscapes is fundamental to fire reintroduction efforts, yet few studies have examined how fire dynamics vary in response to interactions between local conditions, such as soil product…
View article: Realignment of federal environmental policies to recognize fire’s role
Realignment of federal environmental policies to recognize fire’s role Open
Background Enactment of the Clean Air Act (CAA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), three of the primary federal environmental laws, all coincided with the height of fire suppression and exclusion i…
View article: Prescribed fires effects on actual and modeled fuel loads and forest structure in southern coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests
Prescribed fires effects on actual and modeled fuel loads and forest structure in southern coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests Open
Background: Fire suppression, timber harvesting, and the forced removal of Indigenous burning have fundamentally changed conditions in coast redwood forests. The contemporary approach of forest preservation and fire exclusion has produced …
View article: Strategic fire zones are essential to wildfire risk reduction in the Western United States
Strategic fire zones are essential to wildfire risk reduction in the Western United States Open
Background Over the last four decades, wildfires in forests of the continental western United States have significantly increased in both size and severity after more than a century of fire suppression and exclusion. Many of these forests …
View article: Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California
Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California Open
As increasing wildfire activity puts pressure on wildland fire suppression resources both nationally and within the state of California, further development of programs and infrastructure that emphasize preventative fuels treatments, e.g. …
View article: Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity
Fire history in northern Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests across a distinct gradient in productivity Open
Background Understanding the role of fire in forested landscapes is fundamental to fire reintroduction efforts, yet few studies have examined how fire dynamics vary in response to interactions between local conditions, such as soil product…
View article: Forest restoration and fuels reduction work: Different pathways for achieving success in the<scp>S</scp>ierra<scp>N</scp>evada
Forest restoration and fuels reduction work: Different pathways for achieving success in the<span>S</span>ierra<span>N</span>evada Open
Fire suppression and past selective logging of large trees have fundamentally changed frequent‐fire‐adapted forests in California. The culmination of these changes produced forests that are vulnerable to catastrophic change by wildfire, dr…
View article: Snag dynamics and surface fuel loads in the Sierra Nevada: Predicting the impact of the 2012–2016 drought
Snag dynamics and surface fuel loads in the Sierra Nevada: Predicting the impact of the 2012–2016 drought Open
Forest die-backs linked to extreme droughts are expected to increase as the climate dries and warms. An example is the 2012–2016 hotter drought in California that induced widespread tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada, California. The sudd…
View article: Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s
Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s Open
In the province of British Columbia, Canada, four of the most severe wildfire seasons of the last century occurred in the past 7 years: 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2023. To investigate trends in wildfire activity and fire-conducive climate, we c…
View article: Removal of<scp>N</scp>‐fixing vs.<scp>non‐N</scp>‐fixing herbs in postfire chaparral: Competition and contributions to soil N and C cycling
Removal of<span>N</span>‐fixing vs.<span>non‐N</span>‐fixing herbs in postfire chaparral: Competition and contributions to soil N and C cycling Open
As climate change increases fire frequency in Mediterranean‐type shrublands, it is essential to understand the links between common postfire plant assemblages and soil nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycling during succession. In California ch…
View article: How forest management changed the course of the Washburn fire and the fate of Yosemite’s giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
How forest management changed the course of the Washburn fire and the fate of Yosemite’s giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) Open
Background The Washburn fire started on July 7, 2022 in the lower Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, posing immediate threats to the iconic giant sequoias ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ), critical Pacific fisher ( Pekania pennanti ) ha…
View article: Shaded fuel breaks create wildfire-resilient forest stands: lessons from a long-term study in the Sierra Nevada
Shaded fuel breaks create wildfire-resilient forest stands: lessons from a long-term study in the Sierra Nevada Open
Background In California’s mixed-conifer forests, fuel reduction treatments can successfully reduce fire severity, bolster forest resilience, and make lasting changes in forest structure. However, current understanding of the duration of t…
View article: Degradation and restoration of Indigenous California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) stands in the northern Sierra Nevada
Degradation and restoration of Indigenous California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) stands in the northern Sierra Nevada Open
Background The cultural connections of the Maidu to the lands they inhabit are profound with burning being a major component of their culture. California black oak plays an important role in the lifeways of many Indigenous tribes and Nativ…
View article: Mega-Disturbances and forest decline in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA: Insights for managing disturbance dynamics
Mega-Disturbances and forest decline in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA: Insights for managing disturbance dynamics Open
Mature forests characterized by high cover of tall trees and complex understories are important habitat for native plant and wildlife species and support critical ecosystem functions globally. In California’s Sierra Nevada a combinat…
View article: How forest management changed the course of the Washburn fire and the fate of Yosemite’s giant sequoias
How forest management changed the course of the Washburn fire and the fate of Yosemite’s giant sequoias Open
Background The Washburn fire started on July 7, 2022 in the lower Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, posing immediate threats to the iconic giant sequoias, critical Pacific fisher habitat, and the community of Wawona and bringing na…