The Upper Provo pilot project covered 88,460 acres at 6,800-11,800 feet elevation on the Kamas Ranger District of the Wasach – Cache National Forest in Northern Utah. Major vegetation in this area includes aspen, lodgepole pine, spruce – fir, mixed conifer, and mountain shrub – oakbrush, with smaller amounts of Douglas-fir, sagebrush, riparian meadows, and ponderosa pine.

Key issues and objectives in the Upper Provo pilot area include hazardous fuel reduction and general forest health. Multiple bark beetle epidemics have contributed to the threat of crown fire. Ponderosa pine is of special interest since this is the edge of the species’ geographic range; few individuals are present, but each has both genetic and scenic value. The project area is adjacent to the heavily used Mirror Lake Scenic Highway Recreation Area. An adjacent housing community also creates a wildland urban interface area. Watersheds and wildlife are secondary concerns in this area.

The analysis plan included the use of the fire behavior models FARSITE and FlamMap, FlamMap tools Minimum Travel Time (MTT) and Treatment Optimization Model (TOM), in addition to FVS/FFE and WindWizard’s gridded wind files. The Upper Provo watershed is located in a LANDFIRE Project prototype area (Mapping Zone 16), and LANDFIRE Prototype data was used and evaluated.