Prescribed burning and smoke management planning tools - Flint Hills case study
Citation:
McKane, R., J. Halama, B. Barnhart, A. Brookes, K. Djang, S. Chokshi, AND P. Pettus. Prescribed burning and smoke management planning tools - Flint Hills case study. ORD Tools & Resources Webinar Series, Corvallis, OR, May 15, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
· This EPA Tools & Resources webinar describes “Prescribed Burning and Smoke Management Planning Tools – Flint Hills Case Study”. This public webinar describes how EPA-ORD, EPA Region 7, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and Kansas State University have collaborated to use EPA-ORD’s VELMA ecohydrology model and the State of Kansas BlueSky air quality model to provide technical support for rangeland and urban stakeholders seeking to identify tallgrass prairie prescribed burning best practices that balance air quality, tallgrass prairie sustainability, and associated health and economic benefits. This webinar aims to address broad public interest in prescribed fire as one solution for addressing increasing trends in wildfire frequency and air quality degradation affecting rural and urban communities.
Description:
Research Ecologist Bob McKane with ORD-CPHEA-PESD will present a webinar on 5/15/2024 for EPA’s Tools and Resources series on “Prescribed Burning and Smoke Management Planning Tools – Flint Hills Case Study.” This public webinar will describe how EPA-ORD, EPA Region 7, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and Kansas State University have collaborated to use EPA-ORD’s VELMA ecohydrology model to synthesize over 4 decades of long-term ecological research for the 35 km2 Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS). That synthesis was then extrapolated to estimate the combined effects of prescribed burning, climate, and grazing on tallgrass prairie productivity and fuel loads across the 25,000 km2 Flint Hills tallgrass prairie ecoregion in Kansas. The multi-institutional team has linked VELMA with the KDHE’s version of the BlueSky smoke trajectory and chemistry model to provide technical support for rangeland and urban stakeholders seeking to identify tallgrass prairie prescribed burning best practices that balance air quality, tallgrass prairie sustainability, and associated health and economic benefits for rural and urban communities.