MEDIA ADVISORY

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Water and Environmental Research Center plans a public informational session on the status of project Frostfire, Wednesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. at the Noel Wien Library Auditorium.

Frostfire is an experimental prescribed fire of about 2,000 acres on a research area 25 miles north of Fairbanks. Researchers have been studying the hydrology, climate and ecosystem of this watershed since 1969, and this prescribed fire is a continuation of that research to further understand the effects of disturbance in boreal forests.

Frostfire is planned for the summer of 1999, sometime between June 23 and July 31. The fire will not be lit unless conditions are within prescribed limits. Over 100 firefighters will be on hand and a fire break will completely surround the prescribed burn.

Frostfire is an experiment to study a multitude of effects of fire: hydrology, climate warming, permafrost, vegetation, fire behavior, smoke plumes and many other things. More than 52 scientists from the U.S., Japan and Canada are involved in projects having to do with this prescribed fire. Measurements will provide information on fire behavior, such as intensity and rate of spread. The information collected will be added to computer models to more accurately predict the spread of wildfires. One of the research groups will be measuring the burnable material on the forest floor, in the shrubs and in the trees before and after the fire to measure the carbon added to the atmosphere.

For more Frostfire information call Sue Mitchell at 455-6378, Larry Hinzman at 474-7331, or visit the web site at: http://www.fsl.orst.edu/fera/frostfire.html

DPD/4-28-99/071ma