Welcome to the
Alaska Boreal Fire History Project

http://www.frames.gov/alaska/borealfirehistory

Wildland fires play a critical role in maintaining the ecological integrity of boreal forests in Alaska. Identifying and maintaining natural fire regimes is an important component of fire management. There are numerous research projects that directly or indirectly address historical fire regimes in the Alaskan boreal forest, however, many are either unpublished, have an extensive amount of unprocessed dendrochronological (tree age and fire scar) samples, or their data were used for other purposes. Furthermore, there has not been a compilation and comprehensive assessment of these data to provide a more complete understanding of how fire has historically impacted the boreal forest ecosystems of Alaska.

The goal of this project was to compile and synthesize existing Alaska boreal forest fire history literature and datasets. This includes a literature review and synthesis of publications related to fire regimes in boreal forests in Alaska (the pending general technical report "Fire Regimes of the Alaskan Boreal Forest"), and incorporation of the reference information into the Alaska Fire Effects Reference Database. Fourteen existing published and unpublished fire history (or stand age) datasets were compiled (and as necessary, processed) into the standardized Alaska Fire History Database, and data summarized by plot are available through a dynamic map interface (within the Alaska Fire and Fuels Research Map). Data compiled in the Alaska Fire History Database has also been submitted to the International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD). Finally, some of the project funds were used to clean up and improve data within the Alaska Large Fire Database, a database started in the early 1990s that includes reported fire locations since 1939 and fire perimeters since 1942.

Download the draft literature review and synthesis. Click here to get more information about the fire history studies included in the Alaska Fire History Database and the "Fire Regimes of the Alaskan Boreal Forest" literature review and synthesis. Download the final report to the JFSP.

Plot fire history summaries from the Alaska Fire History Database are available through the Alaska Fire and Fuels Research Map (hosted through the AICC ArcIMS mapping website).

Reference information for "Fire Regimes of the Alaskan Boreal Forest" has been added to the Alaska Fire Effects Reference Database.

Current and historical reported fire locations and fire perimeters (since 1939 and 1942, respectively) can be accessed through the Alaska Large Fire Database (hosted through the AICC ArcIMS mapping website).