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. 2025 Aug 26;12(1):1485.
doi: 10.1038/s41597-025-05859-z.

A new geodatabase of fuel treatments across federal lands in the USA

Anson Call  1 , Nathan Tomczyk  2 , Katahdin A Withnall  2 , Patricia R Dappen  2 , Dana Heusinkveld  2 , Stephanie Mueller  3 , Ben Holloway  4 , Keaton Shennan  4 , Jennifer Herring  4 , Aidan Franko  5 , Melanie M Colavito  5 , Aaron D Kimple  5 , Andrew Sánchez Meador  5   6 , Camille S Stevens-Rumann  3
Affiliations

A new geodatabase of fuel treatments across federal lands in the USA

Anson Call et al. Sci Data. .

Abstract

Catastrophic wildfires threaten landscapes across the United States, and fuel treatments are key to mitigating this risk. Yet, information regarding when, where, and what types of treatments have occurred is scattered across multiple systems of record. Limited accessibility and utility of these data have impeded the coordinated tracking of treatment implementation and assessment of treatment effectiveness. Here, we present the Treatment and Wildfire Interagency Geodatabase (TWIG): a database that combines fuel treatment data from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior systems of record, making them easily accessible and interpretable. TWIG aims to provide the most complete nationwide database of fuel treatments, offering a wide range of land management, policymaking, and research applications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Venn diagram showing the major groups of potential TWIG (Treatment and Wildfire Interagency Geodatabase) users and highlighting the features of TWIG designed to appeal to each group.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Conceptual illustration of the relationship between systems of record, TWIG, and other databases that collate fuel treatment records from multiple sources. The arrow from GARP to TWIG is dashed to indicate that this data source is not yet incorporated into TWIG, but planned for future releases. Abbreviations: FACTS (Forest Service Activity Tracking System), CA (Common Attributes), NFPORS/IFPRS (National Fuels Plan Operations and Reporting System/Interior Fuels and Post-fire Reporting System), GARP (Grant Accomplishments Reporting Protocol), TWIG (Treatment and Wildfire Interagency Geodatabase), FTEM (Fuel Treatment Effectiveness Monitoring), NFT (National Fuels Treatment explorer). The NFT explorer and GARP are both parts of the National Fuels Treatments Initiative (https://nft.garphub.org/).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Examples of management activities recorded in the FACTS (Forest Activity Tracking System) Common Attributes database, but not in the FACTS Hazardous Fuels database. Activity boundaries are outlined in dashed white over true color imagery from the first growing season after the activity occurred. (a) Precommercial thin, completed September 28, 2023, Helena National Forest, western Montana. (b) Two-aged Shelterwood Establishment and Removal Cut. The completion date is recorded as September 30, 2020, though imagery suggests the actual completion date was between June 2017 and June 2018. Routt National Forest, northwestern Colorado. (c) A group of management activities recorded as Piling of Fuels, Hand or Machine and Rearrangement of Fuels, completed October 25, 2023. (d) Wildlife Habitat Mechanical treatment, completed March 23, 2022, Ocala National Forest, northern Florida. Images © 2018, 2024 Planet Labs PBC.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Flowchart describing the criteria for inclusion of FACTS (Forest Activity Tracking System) Common Attributes records.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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