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Treatment Response Groups (TRG) Full Set

Description

The Treatment Response Group (TRG) Full Set dataset provides the detailed classification of sagebrush and pinyon-juniper vegetation associations used to evaluate potential woody fuel treatments. TRGs integrate dominant sagebrush associations, the presence and phase of pinyon-juniper expansion, persistent pinyon-juniper woodlands, and climate-sensitive indicators of ecological resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annual grasses. These characteristics are used to distinguish areas assigned potential prescribed fire, mechanical tree removal, or no treatment.

The Full Set retains 27 individual classes that distinguish among mountain big sagebrush, basin big sagebrush, Wyoming/basin big sagebrush, Wyoming big sagebrush, mixed low sagebrush, low sagebrush, and black sagebrush associations; pinyon-juniper expansion phases; resilience and resistance categories; persistent pinyon-juniper woodland; and other or non-sagebrush areas. Compared with the more aggregated TRG Fuel Treatments layer, the Full Set preserves additional ecological and vegetation distinctions underlying the treatment assignments.

The dataset was developed for the Central Basin and Range, Northern Basin and Range, and Snake River Plain level III ecoregions. The source TRG products are 30-meter raster datasets. Treatment assignments were developed to identify locations where woody fuel treatments are more likely to provide durable reductions in fire risk while maintaining or improving ecological resilience and resistance. Areas with low resilience or resistance, Phase III pinyon-juniper expansion, persistent pinyon-juniper woodlands, and low-fuel sagebrush associations were generally assigned no treatment.

Organization

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station (USDA Forest Service RMRS)

Website

Link to dataset on U.S. Forest Service Research Data Archive https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2024-0008

Terms of Use

The supporting publication is a U.S. Government work and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Users should cite the source publication when using or interpreting the TRG Full Set dataset. The manuscript notes that the metadata and maps were submitted for publication in the USDA Research Data Archive. (CHECK ON THIS)

References

Chambers, J. C., Brown, J. L., Reeves, M. C., Strand, E. K., Ellsworth, L. M., Tortorelli, C. M., Urza, A. K., & Short, K. C. (2023). Fuel treatment response groups for fire-prone sagebrush landscapes. Fire Ecology, 19, 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00230-2

Chambers, Jeanne C.; Brown, Jessi L.; Reeves, Matthew C.; Strand, Eva K.; Ellsworth, Lisa M.; Tortorelli, Claire M.; Urza, Alexandra K.; Short, Karen C. 2024. Treatment Response Groups (TRGs) for use in landscape-scale assessments of fuel treatment types and locations in the Snake River Plain, Northern Basin and Range, and Central Basin and Range level III ecoregions in the western United States. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2024-0008

Note:

  1. Mountain big sage, no PJ, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #E1562C

  2. Mountain big sage, no PJ, low resilience or resistance; no treatment #FFF176

  3. Mountain big sage, PJ I & II, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #D163E6

  4. Mountain big sage, PJ I & II, moderately low resilience; mechanical #5954D6

  5. Basin big sage, no PJ, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #B80058

  6. Basin big sage, no PJ, low resilience or resistance; no treatment #F6D55C

  7. Basin big sage, PJ I & II, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #8A034F

  8. Basin big sage, PJ I & II, moderately low resilience; mechanical #006E00

  9. WY/basin sage, no PJ, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #D81B60

  10. WY/basin big sage, no PJ, low resilience or resistance; no treatment #C9B458

  11. WY/basin big sage, PJ I & II, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #9C179E

  12. WY/basin big sage, PJ I & II, moderately low resilience; mechanical #00876C

  13. Wyoming big sage, no PJ, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #FF7043

  14. Wyoming big sage, no PJ, low resilience or resistance; no treatment #E5C849

  15. Wyoming big sage, PJ I & II, high/moderate R&R; prescribed fire #6A1B9A

  16. Wyoming big sage, PJ I & II, moderately low resilience; mechanical #2E7D32

  17. Mixed low sage, no PJ, low fuels; no treatment #E6A176

  18. Mixed low sage, PJ I & II; mechanical treatment #00C6F8

  19. Low sage, no PJ, low fuels; no treatment #BC8F5A

  20. Low sage, PJ I & II; mechanical treatment #00E3FF

  21. Black sage, no PJ, low fuels; no treatment #D95F8D

  22. Black sage, PJ I & II; mechanical treatment #008CF9

  23. All sage, PJ Phase III; no treatment #C2C044

  24. All sage, PJ I & II, low resilience or resistance; no treatment #EFE645

  25. PJ persistent woodland; no treatment #490D00

  26. Other sage; no treatment #7A8B99

  27. Not sage or PJ; no treatment #BDBDBD