PLANNING
Project
Planning
Design & Analysis
Reporting Results
MONITORING
ATTRIBUTES
Wildlife Habitat
Plant Mortality
Frequency
Cover
Density
Production
Structure
Composition
Wildlife Populations
Direct Mortality
Populations
TRAINING
REFERENCES
Fuel and Fire Effects Monitoring Guide e-book
(e-book requires Acrobat
Reader)
The Fuel and Fire Effects Monitoring Guide is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service information resource for integrating fuels treatment and fire effects monitoring into an overall refuge management program. Information in the Guide is designed to facilitate refuge adaptive management when evaluating:
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The effectiveness of fuels management projects identified in approved refuge Fire Management Plans. |
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Whether fuels management projects may be compromising refuge resource management goals and objectives defined in approved refuge land management plans. |
The Guide supplements the monitoring standards and protocols being developed under Fulfilling the Promise WH-8, WH-10, and WH-14 action items.
Successful fuels treatment and fire effects monitoring starts with planning.
The challenges of successful monitoring involve efficient and specific design, and a commitment to implementation of the monitoring project, from data collection to reporting and using results. Rather than develop a standard approach, this reference attempts to provide guidance that will assist field offices think through the many decisions that they must make to specifically design monitoring projects for their site, resources, and issues. The Fuel and Fire Effects Monitoring Guide is not a step-by-step guide on how to implement a monitoring project, but a compilation of monitoring information that you need to choose among and put together for your particular situation and issues. Local managers and specialists understand their issues and resources best and, therefore, are best able to design a monitoring project to meet their specific needs.
"Methodology is the last refuge of the sterile mind."
That may be an odd statement to find in a methods guide, but the success of a monitoring project does not start with choosing methods. On the contrary, the probability of failure increases as the investigator's thinking becomes method rather than problem oriented.
Planning is the selection and prearrangement of events for the predictable attainment of an objective. Planning is the most difficult and even tedious aspect of a project. It requires mental discipline and exercise, which can be frustrating and exhausting even for practiced minds. The investigator must often draw from principles of unfamiliar disciplines, such as business management and statistics. Meanwhile, the romance and excitement of data gathering and a sense of expedience entice the investigator to get busy with something familiar and tangible; they lure you into the "activity trap".
The rewards of planning are great. Planning increases the chances of success and reduces losses, caused by unforeseen difficulties. Planning without action is futile. Action without planning is fatal.
Planning is presented as 3 phases:
| Project Planning |
| Project Design and Analysis |
| Completing Monitoring and Reporting Results |
During the project planning phase, the appropriate attribute and monitoring method will be identified.