VERMONT—The Green Mountain National Forest Fire Team recently held a magnifying glass to their work in “The Dome,” a rare fire-adapted oak-pine forest in southern Vermont, by hosting a webinar and an on-the-ground field trip to the dome. The team is working with partners to further understand of the role of fire in the Northeast and continue to meet management objectives in the future.

Most fire research pertains to western fires—specifically, wildland fires. On the East Coast, forest habitats and climates are different, so fire behavior is different. That’s where the dome comes in.

It’s a dry oak community where evidence of frequent fire return intervals in the 19th and early 20th centuries is prevalent. Over time, fire suppression has converted much of the dry oak forest to mesic hardwood forest, a dominant habitat on the forest. Dry oak forest is valuable wildlife habitat—but it’s dwindling, making up less than 1% of the forest. Staff have reintroduced fire through prescribed burns to promote dry oak forest growth and as a landscape management tool.

“Our fire effects monitoring is integrated with silvicultural, botanical, and soil response to burn severity at various plots in both the treated and reference areas in the dome,” said Lindsay Rae Silvia, fuels technician on the forest. “We’re also collaborating with partners such as Vermont Center for Ecostudies and USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station to utilize terrestrial lidar for tracking the change in fuels in these dry oak sites, along with species distribution. There’s a lot more to learn about these historical fire regimes in northern New England, and with the help of The Nature Conservancy’s LANDFIRE ecologists, we are getting closer.”

Fire personnel from multiple national forests and state agencies have helped implement prescribed burns in the area, helping restore a healthy fire regime. Forest personnel invited interested partners to southern Vermont so they could dissect the work being done on the dome. One of those partners was the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange, an organization that brings together scientists and land managers to share their findings and best available science on the way fire effects New England. That partner engagement is key to getting the most out of work being done in the dome.