The Yankee Hill project comprised about 35,600 acres of high-elevation forest (9,200 to 12,100 feet elevation) 40 miles west of Denver, Colorado. Forest types in the study area range from ponderosa pine at the lowest elevations to alpine tundra at the highest.

Of greatest concern on this landscape were mixed-conifer and lodgepole pine forests considered to be at risk of wind-driven stand-replacing fires. Values at risk included the wildland-urban interface (WUI) – particularly one subdivision with single egress.

Challenges faced by the team for this pilot area included limitations to fuel treatment options resulting from lynx habitat constraints, steepness of terrain, and lack of road access to the majority of the study area. Landscape data for this pilot project was generated from an existing vegetation layer using FVS/FFE. The Yankee Hill study design employed the use of the fire behavior models FARSITE and FlamMap, including FlamMap’s Minimum Travel Time (MTT) and Treatment Optimization Model (TOM) tools.