Fire Management & Riparian Systems:

• What are the direct and indirect effects of fire suppression activities on riparian ecosystem processes?
• Has fire suppression and management substantially altered the character and function of riparian forests? 
• How are riparian systems affected by wildfire, particularly where fire has been excluded (i.e., by fire suppression)?
• Can we mimic or substitute one disturbance (management) for another (natural fire) and what are the similarities and dissimilarities between the results of management and fire as they relate to watershed and ecological processes? 
• What affect, if any, does management of riparian buffers (e.g., thinning, prescribed burning) have on aquatic habitat (e.g., water temperature) and associated aquatic organisms?
• Can management (e.g., thinning, prescribed burning) of riparian buffers improve their function and the benefits for aquatic habitats?

Fire & Watershed Processes:

• How do aquatic habitats and associated organisms respond to disturbance by natural or uncharacteristic fire in terms of structure, character, and successional pattern, and how does fire extent and intensity, as well as pre-fire condition, influence these responses?
• Does restoration of the structure and composition of upland forests predictably influence watershed processes?
• How do natural or uncharacteristic fires affect the dominant processes that influence soil erosion and soil productivity?

Fire & Aquatic Population Response:

• How does ecological context (e.g., isolation, size and geometry of habitats, community structure) influence the response (e.g., resilience) of populations influenced by large fires and related disturbances?
• What roles do life history expression and local refugia play in the resilience of populations?
• Do “uncharacteristic” fires threaten aquatic ecosystems in ways that they did not in the past?
• Does fire favor non-native fish through changes in habitat or displacement of native fishes?

Post-fire Management Activities & Aquatic Ecosystems:

• Are BAER treatments effective and when, where, and at what scale are they useful?
• What are the effects of fire salvage activities on the condition and recovery of aquatic ecosystems?
• How should salvage logging and associated activities be conducted temporally and spatially, and cumulative effects addressed, to maintain long-term large woody debris recruitment and other processes?
• How do management practices (e.g., livestock grazing) affect the condition and recovery of aquatic ecosystems impacted by fire?  

Conflicts, Opportunities, & Priorities:

• Is the same management needed in terrestrial and aquatic systems everywhere or can we anticipate a range of priorities and opportunities that allow some flexibility from either perspective?
• Can we intensively manage forests and simultaneously eliminate the primary constraints or threats on aquatic systems (e.g., roads, stream crossings) that are part of the management infrastructure?
• Can we intensively manage vegetation, create “healthier forests”, and ultimately improve the condition of aquatic ecosystems?
• How much, where, when, and at what scale do we need to disturb ecological systems or watersheds to maintain and sustain the processes that structure these systems?