Gap in Existing Fire Assessment Methods Reveals Need for Rangeland-Specific Approach
A University of Idaho restoration ecologist has identified a significant shortcoming in how wildfire damage is measured across western rangelands—and is working to build a better system.
Leland Bennion, hired by the university in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, is developing improved burn severity assessment tools tailored specifically to rangeland ecosystems. His research emerged from a September 2024 wildfire that burned 4,500 acres at Rinker Rock Creek Ranch, a University of Idaho rangeland research facility near Bellevue, along with an additional 3,000 acres of adjoining land. The fire was fully contained within five days.
Current burn severity metrics—both field-based assessments and satellite imagery methods—were designed primarily for forested landscapes across the American West. When Bennion evaluated these existing tools against conditions at Rinker Rock Creek Ranch, he discovered they fail to capture critical information about rangeland fire impacts.
“Unfortunately, we found that they don’t gather the information necessary to accurately represent burn severity on rangelands,” Bennion explained. The oversight centers on a fundamental ecological factor: the survival of perennial grasses, which are the primary driver of wildfires in rangeland environments. Existing metrics largely ignore this vegetation component.
Linking Ground Data With Satellite Imagery
The Rinker Rock Creek Ranch fire presented an unexpected research opportunity. The facility had been operating under specific rangeland management practices—including cattle grazing and in-stream water channel structures—prior to the wildfire. This pre-existing management data allowed Bennion to correlate management decisions with observed fire severity outcomes.
“When the fire happened at Rinker, it was a great opportunity to relate information we already had on the management of the ranch with effects of the burn,” Bennion said.
The ideal new burn severity tool will integrate ground-collected plant samples with remotely-sensed satellite imagery. This hybrid approach would overcome limitations inherent in either method alone and provide land managers with more accurate assessments of fire damage in rangeland settings.
Bennion, working alongside University of Idaho researchers, interns, and field technicians, has spent nearly a year conducting post-fire plant community monitoring at Rinker Rock Creek Ranch. That intensive fieldwork is generating the ground-truth data needed to develop and validate the new assessment framework.
Multi-Agency Collaboration and 2027 Release Target
Bennion has co-authored a research paper with representatives from several western land management agencies, arguing for the development of better burn severity tools and decision-making protocols suited to rangeland ecosystems. The new tool remains in the ideation and development phase, with Bennion targeting a 2027 release for both the tool itself and the supporting research findings.
The work reflects a broader recognition among land managers that fire impacts vary significantly by ecosystem type. Rangelands—which cover vast tracts of the intermountain West and support grazing operations, wildlife habitat, and watershed functions—require assessment methods that account for their unique vegetation composition and post-fire recovery dynamics.
Better burn severity metrics could improve decisions about post-fire management, restoration priorities, and grazing practices in the years following a wildfire. For University of Idaho researchers and the agencies they partner with, the tool represents a step toward more effective stewardship of the region’s critical rangeland resources.
What Comes Next
Bennion and his team will continue monitoring plant community recovery at Rinker Rock Creek Ranch through 2027, refining the burn severity assessment tool based on field observations. The university plans to publish detailed research findings and release the new assessment framework next year, making it available to federal and state land management agencies across the West. Early testing and stakeholder feedback from partner agencies will help shape the tool’s final design before full deployment.