Following the Fire Enhanced Data Strengthens Digital Conservation Decision-Making
The SE FireMap Viewer 2.0 is one of NRCS’ efforts to modernize its tools and systems to empower staff and producers – keeping working lands in working hands.
By Brooke DeCubellis,USDA
A grouping of brightly colored pixels illuminates a satellite map of the state of Georgia – each color an indicator of the number of years since the area has been visited by fire. A shrubby overgrowth has invaded the forest, threatening the ecologically and economically high-value longleaf pine. It’s time to burn. The SE FireMap Viewer 2.0 is a geospatial platform tool that helps land managers, fire practitioners, and conservation partners better understand where wildfires and prescribed fires are happening across the Southeast. The latest version significantly expands on its predecessor’s capabilities by offering improved, high-resolution tracking of historic fire patterns extending back 30 years, including fire frequency, fire free intervals, and the year of the last burn detection.
Sample output from the SE FireMap. This data can help NRCS and partners assess and enhance conservation efforts in fire dependent ecosystems across the Southeastern United States.
“There was a tangible need to track our efforts in managing longleaf pine ecosystems to support wildfire risk reduction and habitat restoration,” NRCS Conservation Initiatives Coordinator for Forestry Matthew Vandersande said. “By partnering with USGS, Tall Timbers, The Longleaf Alliance and others, we can use this data to better prioritize conservation assistance across the landscape.”
The tool is just one of NRCS’ efforts to modernize its tools and systems to empower staff and producers – keeping working lands in working hands. The SE FireMap Viewer 2.0 integrates with the NRCS Conservation Desktop, helping technical planners advise producers on whole-farm planning that improves land health and long-term productivity.
“This mapping tool allows forest landowners to see their land in the context of what is being done around them,” Vandersande said. “It puts data directly in the hands of field staff, helping them advise on the precise placement of conservation practices where they will have the most benefit to the producer.”
Wiregrass is an essential component to the understory in much of the range of longleaf. It is a tall, dense, and highly flammable grass that historically fueled frequent, low-intensity surface fires across the longleaf pine landscape.
Longleaf pines are one of the most ecologically and culturally significant tree species in the southeastern United States – providing high-quality timber and excellent wildlife habitat to over 600 plant and wildlife species. Historically, longleaf dominated vast stretches of the coastal plain, covering approximately 90 million acres from eastern Texas to southeastern Virginia. By the early 2000s, only three million acres remained.
“Longleaf pine is a fire-dependent ecosystem,” Vandersande said. “Without low-intensity fire every few years, the understory vegetation can become too dense for native species to compete.”
Longleaf pine seedling after a prescribed burn at Big Thicket National Preserve, located in southeast Texas. NPS Photo/Alex Halbrook.
Fortunately, longleaf pines are more fire-resistant than these other species, and regular prescribed burns help maintain an open mosaic of widely spaced trees and native warm season grasses. The ecosystem’s restoration also enhances water quality and quantity as the lower tree density and native grasses use less water than more dense forests while still offering the benefits of filtering water and preventing erosion. This demonstrates how longleaf pine restoration and management can play an important role in broader regional strategies to conserve water resources.
Private landowners are central to the restoration effort, making SE FireMap 2.0 a critical tool for conservation staff to engage and educate landowners on the benefits of prescribed fire. Armed with better data and public private partnerships – including America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative and the NRCS Longleaf Pine Initiative – this ecosystem is making a recovery. Thanks to these combined efforts, approximately 5.2 million acres of longleaf have been restored as of 2024, with an overall goal of restoring 8 million acres of longleaf by 2040.
With a clearer picture of fire history and its effects on the landscape, NRCS can better track the effectiveness of its financial and technical programs.