Larissa Yocom Named Executive Director of Utah Forest Restoration Institute
By Lael Gilbert |
Larissa Yocom.
The Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) has named Larissa Yocom executive director of the new Utah Forest Restoration Institute (UFRI), a recently established institute focused on improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk across the state.
Yocom brings to the role a wealth of expertise in forest management, wildfire ecology and science-based restoration with a focus on helping Utah’s forest be less vulnerable to disturbances like wildfire and drought.
“Her science-rich background in fire ecology and forest restoration combined with her connections across the state and region will be invaluable for increasing the pace and scale of forest management treatments in Utah, boosting the health and resilience of our forests,” said Linda Nagel, dean of QCNR.
Utah forests face significant challenges, according to Yocom.
“These systems are complex, with issues that have been building for decades,” Yocom said. “It’s going to be a team effort to find a better balance. We’ll have the chance to fill in existing gaps, do important groundwork and partner with established agencies and organizations in the state that are already doing great work to support these landscapes.”
Acres of dead wood from decades-old beetle outbreaks push wildfires in Utah to unacceptable levels of intensity and damage, she said. Trees are also quite homogeneous in their age — settlers in the late 1800s cleared much of these lands, so today’s ecosystems don’t reflect the kind of age diversity they once did. Meanwhile, wildfires have been actively suppressed for much of the last century, allowing natural fuels to build up on forest floors.
Growing populations in Utah also impact these ecosystems. Utahns tend to be active users of forest lands. They hike, bike, travel and build homes in what is known as the "wildland-urban interface," where developed areas meet natural areas. Natural amenities make the state an exceptional place to live but also make forest management more complex.
Even people that don’t live near the forest depend on them. A majority of the water in the state that people rely on for everything from watering lawns to industry originates in forests.
“The quality of Utah’s forests has a big impact on the quality of Utah water,” Yocom said. “This makes forest health disproportionately important to the state’s interests.”
The new institute is designed to define what we can do better to manage the lands, and where those efforts should be focused to reduce the risk for the things we can’t afford to lose, Yocom said.
One of the first goals for the organization will be facilitating the sharing of information and support for active forest management, practices like prescribed fire, vegetation reduction and thinning. The organization is already working to make existing information about best-practices on Utah lands more easily available for managers. They will also create summaries and digests of research specific to Utah forests to make it easier to find and use.
Another need is increased monitoring of existing forest treatments to understand how forests are responding. This will allow forest managers to compare strategies and learn from each other’s experience. Doing so would allow managers to increase the pace and scale of their restoration projects.
“We don’t want managers to have to reinvent the wheel for every project,” she said. “An organization like this can be the glue that connects disparate people and projects.”
Similar institutes exist in western states that have really made a difference toward better forest health, Yocom said.
“It’s time that Utah forests had the same investment,” she said.
WRITER
Lael Gilbert
Public Relations Specialist
Quinney College of Natural Resources
435-797-8455
lael.gilbert@usu.edu
CONTACT
Larissa Yocom
Executive Director
Utah Forest Restoration Institute
larissa.yocom@usu.edu
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