Use of Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) Maps
to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Fuel Treatments Following Wildfire

Millions of dollars are spent annually on fuel treatments to reduce hazardous fuels, especially at the wildland-urban interface. Our project is part of a national effort to evaluate whether fuel treatments that were subsequently burned through by wildfire were or were not successful in mitigating severe fire eff ects. We examined both mechanical thinning and prescribed fire treatments on five large 2007 wildfire events in central Idaho and central Oregon. We used Classified Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) maps to compare the number of acres burned at high or moderate severity in treated versus untreated areas, as defined by GIS layers of pre-fire fuel treatment unit boundaries. We found that the number of acres burned at high or moderate severity were usually in lower proportion inside fuel treatment units than outside them on untreated lands. We conclude that BARC products may be useful for assessing the effectiveness of broad-scale fuel treatments.