Presents comprehensive procedures for inventorying weight per unit area of living and dead surface vegetation, to facilitate estimation of biomass and appraisal of fuels. Provides instructions for conducting fieldwork and calculating estimates of downed woody material, forest floor litter and duff, herbaceous vegetation, shrubs, and small conifers. Procedures produce the most accurate estimates in the Interior West; however, techniques for herbs, litter, and downed woody material are applicable anywhere. Includes computer program and card punching instructions for processing inventory data.

Describes a method for appraising fuels and fire behavior potential in aspen forests to guide the use of prescribed fire and the preparation of fire prescriptions. Includes an illustrated classification of aspen fuels; appraisals of fireline intensity, rate of spread, adjective ratings for fire behavior and probability of burn success; and evaluations of seasonal change in live fuel moisture contents.