The Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team (FERA) of the USDA PNW Research Station has started an active cooperation program in Mexico to develop a photo series for the most important vegetation types where fire is a relevant component for conservation and restoration of Mexico’s Natural
Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserves. The Mexico’s USAID Mission and the International Programs branch of the USDA Forest Service sponsor the project.
The photo series that are under development will allow resource managers, fire managers, and scientists to assess fuels and flammability for the major Mexican ecosystems within Mexico’s Natural Protected Areas.
This forest biomass inventory tool will also allow scientist to assess carbon budgets and long-term carbon fluxes for Mexico’s protected areas under different fire regimes.
Participation of Mexico’s collaborators is coordinated by the Mexican Fund for Nature Conservation
(FMCN). Participants on this project include managers, scientists, faculty, and students from the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), NGOs, the National Institute for Agriculture,
Husbandry, and Forest Research (INIFAP), and universities involved in management and conservation of
Mexico’s natural protected areas.
This initial progress report covers the first activities that which included from the initial contact with potential cooperators in 2001 to the field implementation of the project in the spring of 2002.
• Initial Visit by FERA team members to Mexico City, Manantlan, and Sierra de Arteaga.
(December 2001)
During December 2001, a group of four FERA team members traveled to Mexico. During this visit, in
Mexico City, we attended a coordination meeting in Mexico City between USAID, The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), Fondo Mexicano para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza (FMCN), Mexico's Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), UNAM, the USDA Forest Service Pacific
Northwest Research Station, and the Forest Service International Programs.
During the meeting, the FERA group presented the photo series project to the FMCN personnel. We also presented an overview of FERA’s expertise in wildfire research and development of fire management tools that the team has developed for the United States and Brazil. The FMCN presented their Fire Prevention and Restoration Program that is being sponsored by the USAID and the federal Mexican government to address the wildfire problem in the natural protected areas that were most affected by the wildfires in 1998.
The fire program is aimed to strengthen the capacity of NGOs and rural communities to prevent wildfires and to restore vegetation in priority areas through implementation of mechanisms to provide financial and technical support. The program is centered in 11 priority areas that were defined jointly with the National
Biodiversity Commission, SEMARNAT’s Commission for Natural Protected Areas and the Department of
Forest Protection.
It was agreed that within the timeline and budget provided by USAID, the scope of work for the initial photo series would be concentrated in three natural protected areas. The proposed areas are Sierra de
Manatlan in Jalisco, Sierra de Arteaga in Coahuila, and El Ocote in Chiapas. These three areas that

comprise a wide range of ecosystems represent a large proportion of Mexico’s natural vegetation.
Vegetation types that will photo series will include in this initial phase range from low-elevation deciduous tropical forest, tropical forest to dry-land forests, to temperate conifers and semi-alpine forests.
Specific tasks, potential partners, and action items were defined in the meeting in Mexico City. The most immediate actions were to establish a cooperative agreement between the FMCN and the FS International
Programs. This agreement will facilitate transferring funds to Mexico and will allow the FMCN to establish subcontracts with the protected areas where the photo series will be developed. A second immediate action is to train two to three Mexicans in photo series techniques and protocols. The training was proposed in
Florida during regular FERA’s fieldwork. A follow-up meeting was scheduled for Hermosillo in April of
2002.
Before the meeting in Mexico City, a meeting and a two-day field visit was conducted at the Sierra de
Manantlan Protected Area near Guadalajara, Jalisco. The meeting was conducted with officers of the
University of Guadalajara and personnel in charge of the protected area. The proposal was presented and a plan was outlined to proceed with the photo series work at Manantlan. A site visitation was conducted to potential sampling sites and field station facilities at the UG Research Station “Las Joyas”.
After the meeting in Mexico City, a second trip was conducted to Sierra de Arteaga in the state of Coahuila.
A meeting with potential collaborators was conducted at the city of Saltillo. Meeting participants included faculty and students of the Agrarian University near the city of Saltillo and directors, resource managers, and fire managers of the NGOs in charge of the management of the protected areas in the Sierra de Arteaga near Saltillo, Coahuila and Sierra del Carmen located across the Big Bend National Park on the US-Mexico border on the border. Potential field and vegetation cover types were identified along an altitudinal gradient that covers from the dessert to alpine vegetation.
One outcome of this first technical visit to Mexico was to begin planning and identify sites for a photo series of natural/protected areas in Mexico funded by USAID and sponsored by the Forest Service
International Programs for the next 4 years.
• Training on Photo Series Techniques and Protocols in Florida (February 2002)
From February 14 to 26, 2002, Jorge Morfin and Andres Najera participated in a two-week training on photo series techniques and protocols. The hands-on training was conducted at the Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Florida. Jorge and Andres worked together with FERA’s field crew while the longleaf pine photo series was under development. In addition to the photo series work, they were able to participate in other fire research projects that FERA is conducting in these ecosystems that are aimed to restore longleaf pine ecosystems that have been invaded with sandpine scrub, and turkey oak scrub. Restoration project in these ecosystems involve the application of prescribed fires and studying the immediate effects and also effects to longer term
The trainees participated in all phases of the photo series work. They took part in the discussions of the criteria to select plots, photo taking, sampling, and sample processing. They also participated in the discussion on the field application of the photo series methodologies as the work was being conducted. In addition to the photo series work, the Mexicans participated in data collection for fuel consumption and tree mortality studies that are being conducted in the Eglin Air Force Base.
The FERA group and the trainees had extended discussions on implementation of the photo series in
Mexico’s protected areas and issues that may arise. Follow-up actions to this training included: preparation of a program to complete the photo series in Manantlan and Sierra de Arteaga, pre-selection of potential sites in these two protected areas, to arrange the logistic support for recruitment and training of technical personnel that will support the work in the two areas.
• Agreement between the FMCN and the USFS International Programs

An agreement was signed between the FMCN and USFS International Programs. USFS IP granted funding to the FMCN to support FERA on the development of the photo series for Mexico’s Natural Protected
Areas. This agreement will allow the FMCN to coordinate with and provide funds to the NGOs,
Universities, and INIFAP that are currently in charge of the management and research at Manantlan, Sierra de Arteaga, and El Ocote. FMCN will assist FERA in working with local managers and scientists at the selected priority areas. The funding covers two years of fieldwork. The agreement will be amended as needed.
• Meeting on Forest Fires in Protected Areas in Hermosillo, Mexico (April 2002)
From April 16-18, 2002, Ernesto Alvarado from the FERA team was invited to give two presentations during the Workshop on Forest Fires in Mexico’s Northern Natural Protected Areas. The Institute ran the workshop for the Environment and Development of the state of Sonora, The Nature Conservancy, and
USDA Forest Service International Programs. Ernesto presented the following papers, (a) photo series project to assess biomass fuels for protected areas in Mexico; and (b) analysis of climate/land use/surface fires on pine-oak forest of the Madre Occidental.
During the meeting, Ernesto Alvarado met with personnel from the FMCN, Universidad de Guadalajara,
Universidad Agraria Antonio Narro, and INIFAP. Tasks and responsibilities, and timelines of the participating parties were defined for the initial phase in Manantlan. Arrangement for field logistics was defined too.
• Field Implementation of the Photo Series (May 2002)
From May 13 to May 26, FERA started the field implementation of the photo series work at the Reserva de la Biosfera de la Sierra de Manantlan.
As part of the starting activities, Drs. David Sandberg and Ernesto Alvarado gave seminars on fire ecology and management at the University of Guadalajara. Faculty and students of the University of Guadalajara, and forest and fire managers of the regional forests attended the seminar.
The photo series project will support the Reserva’s fire management and restoration program. It will also support the University research at the reserve on landscape dynamics and succession, natural regeneration and fire effects on wildlife. Four members of FERA team spend two weeks in the field working together with a field sampling team that was composed by Mr. Enrique Jardel Pelaez, PI and professor of the
University of Guadalajara, Mr. Jorge Morfin and Andres Najera, who received training by FERA in Florida and 4 additional technicians. Mexican participants in this phase of the project were from the University of
Guadalajara, The Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
Participants in the fieldwork received training on fuel and vegetation protocols. The first phase of the photo series included representative sites of pine, oak-pine, and pine-oak-broadleaf forests in the Reserve. Sites were located within the Experimental Station “Las Joyas” and local Ejidos. Data is being processed at the
University of Guadalajara in Autlan and in Seattle. Photos have been developed and a preliminary photo series draft for those sites will be prepared. The enclosed document in Spanish is an Extension Information
Note from the University of Guadalajara.
The enclosed Nota Informativa was produced by the University of Guadalajara to inform students and faculty of the project activities.
• Translation to Spanish Continues of the Photo Series that FERA Produced in the United States .
A select number of photo series will be put together in a volume that will be distributed among the directors of Mexico’s protected areas.

7. Staffing
USDA F OREST S ERVICE , P ACIFIC N ORTHWEST R ESEARCH S TATION (PNW), S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON .
David V. Sandberg, Supervisory Research Biologist
Roger D. Ottmar, Research Forester
Robert Vihnanek, Forester
David Wright, Forester
Clint Wright, Research Forester
U NIVERSITY OF W ASHINGTON , S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
Ernesto Alvarado, Wildfire Scientist
F ONDO M EXICANO PARA LA C ONSERVACION DE LA N ATURALEZA
Juan Manuel Frausto Leyva, Wildfire Prevention and Restoration Program FMCN-USAID Coordinator
U NIVERSIDAD DE G UADALAJARA - C ENTRO U NIVERSITARIO DE LA C OSTA S UR
Enrique J. Jardel Peláez, Professor
Jorge Morfín. Forester and Project Assistant.
Jose Rodriguez Garcia, Forester
Eloy O. Padilla Velarde, Forester
U NIVERSIDAD A UTONOMA A GRARIA A NTONIO N ARRO , Saltillo, Coahuila.
Andres Najera. Diaz. Professor of Fire Management.
Alejandro Zárate,. Student
I NSTITUTO N ACIONAL DE I NVESTIGACIONES F ORESTALES Y A GROPECUARIAS .
Jose German Flores Garnica. Wildfire Scientist.
U NIVERSIDAD N ACIONAL A UTONOMA DE M EXICO
Maria de Lourdes Villers Ruiz, Professor and Natural Resource Scientist
Jorge Lopez Blanco, Geographer, Professor and Remote Sensing and Aerial Photography Specialist.
Carlos Angeles. Graduate student

Photos in the “Nota Informativa” :
Photo 1. Training of personnel that participated in the field campaign at the Reservea de la
Biosphera Sierra de Manantlan. Bob Vihnanek from FERA explains the process for taking stereo pairs to Alejandro Zárate (UAAAN), Carlos Angeles (UNAM), and Jorge Morfín, project assistant
(Universidad de Guadalajara).
Photo 2. Field work participants, from left to right: Jorge Morfín (U. De G.), Andrés Nájera
(UAAAN), José Rodríguez (U. De G.), Carlos Angeles (UNAM), Alejandro Zárate (UAAAN),
Ernesto Alvarado (Universidad de Washington), and Robert Vihnanek (USDA-Forest Service).

Photo 3. Stereo photo pair taken in one of the photo series sites in the pine-oak forests at the
Ejido Ahuacapan. Sign is hold by Enrique Jardel (University of Guadalajara).
Photo 4. Sampling site in a Pinus douglasiana stand. Natural processes in the region, such as wind-thrown, competition, self-thinning, produce fuels in the photo. Litter fuel is typical of this forest type.

Photo 5. Establishment of sampling sites
Photo 6. Photo series site in a two-story stand

Photo 7. Training of technical personnel
Photo 8.
Litter sampling to calculate bulk density.