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Integrated Noxious Weed Management After Wildfires, Natural Resources Conservation Service

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The ecosystems of the west are adapted to a long history of wildland fires that varied in frequency and severity. Over the last 100 years or more, though, fire suppression efforts, human settlement patterns and other land use practices have changed the composition and structure of the forests and grasslands of the West. Where once we typically had periodic low-intensity fires of low severity, we now experience damaging fires that can be both intense and severe. Severe fires can substantially affect the environment. Lack of vegetation on burned hillsides increases the likelihood of flooding and soil erosion from rain and …