As wildfire risk grows across parts of the eastern United States, Virginia Tech researchers are leading a new effort to help land managers better understand, predict, and reduce wildfire impacts in hardwood forests throughout Virginia and Appalachia.

While the eastern United States has not traditionally experienced the same wildfire frequency as western regions, recent fire seasons have underscored emerging risks.

“If you look at 2016, 2019, 2024, and last year, all these national parks in the eastern U.S. are getting wildfires and they're getting really big,” said Adam Coates, an associate professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment and lead on the project.

To help address those challenges, Virginia Tech secured a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program to evaluate and modernize the tools used to measure forest fuels and predict fire behavior. 

The 18-month project aims to strengthen prescribed fire planning and improve wildfire risk reduction strategies in landscapes where large fires have historically been less common but are becoming more frequent.

A major focus of the project is expanding the use of prescribed fire, a land management practice that intentionally burns vegetation under carefully controlled conditions to reduce fuel buildup and lower the risk of severe wildfires.

“A lot of technology and tools are developed that cater to estimating fire hazard in the coastal plain,” Coates said. “There was an opportunity to take what we know, those tools and technology, and apply it in the mid-Atlantic and look primarily at hardwood forests.”

Researchers will begin by evaluating and validating technologies at Department of Defense installations in Virginia before expanding work into southwestern Virginia and other Appalachian landscapes. The team will test advanced monitoring technologies and fire behavior models to improve understanding of vegetation structure, fuel conditions, and fire dynamics.

The project brings together researchers from Virginia Tech, Colorado State University, Ohio State University, Old Dominion University, and William & Mary. The effort will support approximately 20 positions, including postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and research staff. Co-principal investigators from Tech are Associate Professor Mark Ford in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, who works with the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit of the United States Geological Survey, along with Assistant Professor Carrie Fearer from the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, and Verl Emrick, a research scientist with the Conservation Management Institute.

Beyond advancing research, the project emphasizes practical outcomes for land managers. By developing and validating updated tools, the team aims to improve decision-making around prescribed fire and fuel management.

“I can't tell you I'm going to fireproof everything,” Coates said. “Fire is a natural part of what happens. You can't fully take away the risk, but you can definitely change what the fire looks like, how it can be managed, where it's occurring.”

If the project meets key performance benchmarks, additional funding could extend the work and further refine tools that help communities, agencies, and land managers prepare for future wildfire challenges.

The project aligns with Virginia Tech's commitment to developing practical, science-based solutions that support healthy forests, resilient communities, and sustainable land management across the commonwealth and beyond. 

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