Hungry-Hunter mastication and prescribed fire study - stand structure and fuels data

This data publication includes data collected as part of a research-management collaboration study of the short-term effects and economic viability of using mastication equipment - with or without subsequent prescribed fire - to precommercially thin overly dense dry coniferous stands in the eastern Cascade Mountains and reduce wildfire hazards. This study was embedded within the Hungry-Hunter Ecosystem Restoration Project on the Methow Valley Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in north-central Washington State, USA. Responses of interest to Forest Service managers and scientists for this study included overstory structure, canopy and ladder fuels, surface fuels, tree regeneration, and understory vegetation. Data presented here include measures of overstory structure, tree regeneration, and surface fuels. Measurements were taken before (2004) and after (2007) mastication treatments and, where applicable, again after prescribed burning treatments (2008).
Structural manipulations are often needed in modern dry coniferous forests to achieve silvicultural and fuels management objectives, including increasing the growth rates of remaining trees, improving wildlife habitat, reducing torching and crown fire initiation during wildfires, and facilitating the use of low intensity prescribed fire to manage surface fuels. Mechanical thinning can be costly when trees are non-merchantable and, without subsequent fuel treatments (e.g., piling and burning), can significantly increase forest fuels and potential wildfire intensity and severity. Mechanical mastication offers a potential alternative to traditional thinning that, if economical, could be an effective tool for modifying overstory stand structure, reducing ladder fuels, and altering surface fuels in preparation for future fuels management with prescribed fire. This study sought to test mastication treatment effects on overstory structure and to evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed fire for reducing surface fuels when applied shortly after mastication.
For more information about this study and these data, see Peterson et al. (2025). These data were published on 06/09/2025. On 06/13/2025 the metadata were updated to include citation details for newly published article.