Duncan C. Lutes

Duncan assists managers who are using FEAT/FIREMON Integrated (FFI), FuelCalc, the First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM) and SpatialFOFEM and is working to improve those tools to more effectively serve land managers. He has also been involved with research at the Lick Creek Demonstration Forest on the Bitterroot National Forest in western Montana and the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in central Montana.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Hardy, Colin C. 2021. Lodgepole pine bole wood density and decay rate 1, 11, and 22 years after felling in Central Montana, United States. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 4: 687567. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.687567

Jang, Woongsoon; Crotteau, Justin S.; Ortega, Yvette K.; Hood, Sharon M.; Keyes, Christopher R.; Pearson, Dean E.; Lutes, Duncan C.; Sala, Anna. 2021. Native and non-native understory vegetation responses to restoration treatments in a dry conifer forest over 23 years. Forest Ecology and Management. 481: 118684.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118684

Lutes, Duncan C.; Hood, Sharon M.; Keyes, Christopher R.; Harrington, Michael G.; Pearson, Dean E.; Ortega, Yvette K.; Sala, Anna. 2020. Lick Creek Demonstration-Research Forest: Data and photo archive of 25-year fire and cutting effects on vegetation and fuels. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. Updated 20 March 2020. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0008

Crotteau, Justin S.; Hood, Sharon M.; Lutes, Duncan C.; Keyes, Christopher R.; Sala, Anna; Harrington, Michael G. 2018. Management and succession at the Lick Creek Demonstration/Research Forest, Montana. Journal of Forestry. 116: 481-486.

Keane, Robert E.; Herynk, Jason M.; Toney, Chris; Urbanski, Shawn P.; Lutes, Duncan C.; Ottmar, Roger D. 2013. Evaluating the performance and mapping of three fuel classification systems using Forest Inventory and Analysis surface fuel measurements. Forest Ecology and Management. 305: 248-263.

Sikkink, Pamela G.; Lutes, Duncan C.; Keane, Robert E. 2009. Field guide for identifying fuel loading models. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-225. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 33 p.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Keane, Robert E.; Caratti, John F. 2009. A surface fuel classification for estimating fire effects. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 18: 802-814.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Keane, Robert E.; Caratti, John F.; Key, Carl H.; Benson, Nathan C.; Sutherland, Steve; Gangi, Larry J. 2006. FIREMON: Fire effects monitoring and inventory system. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-164-CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 1 CD.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Robinson, Donald C. E. 2003. Chapter 4: Variant descriptions. In: Reinhardt, Elizabeth; Crookston, Nicholas L. (Technical Editors). The Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-116. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 93-202.

Lutes, Duncan C. 2002. Assessment of the line transect method: an examination of the spatial patterns of down and standing dead wood. In: Laudenslayer, William F., Jr.; Shea, Patrick J.; Valentine, Bradley E.; Weatherspoon, C. Phillip; Lisle, Thomas E., tech. coords. Proceedings of the symposium on the ecology and management of dead wood in western forests; 1999 November 2-4; Reno, NV. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-181. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 665-675.

Duncan's research interests focus on creating tools that assist managers in accomplishing their work. Specifically, he supports ecological monitoring programs and simulation point models of fire effects and fuel treatment effectiveness. He is also incorporating new science into models used by managers and continues to look at innovative ways to deliver software applications to managers. Finally, he is interested in measuring, mapping and modeling fire fuels and transferring the knowledge to managers.

Hood, Sharon M.; Lutes, Duncan C. 2017. Predicting post-fire tree mortality for 12 western US conifers using the First-Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM). Fire Ecology, 13, 66-84.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Hardy, Colin C. 2013. Lodgepole pine bole wood density 1 and 11 years after felling in central Montana. Western Journal of Applied Forestry. 28(3): 116-120.

Lutes, Duncan C.; Benson, Nathan C.; Keifer, MaryBeth; Caratti, John F.; Streetman, S. Austin. 2009. FFI: A software tool for ecological monitoring. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 18: 310-314.

Duncan works to provide research and software applications that help managers meet monitoring mandates and, more importantly, provide science and tools that help people manage lands effectively.

Keane, Robert E.; Dillon, Greg; Drury, Stacy; Innes, Robin; Morgan, Penny; Lutes, Duncan; Prichard, Susan J.; Smith, Jane; Strand, Eva. 2014. New and revised fire effects tools for fire management. Fire Management Today. 73(3): 37-47.