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An integrated optimization model for fuel management and fire suppression preparedness planning

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Abstract

Fuel management and suppression preparedness planning are elements of forest fire management that are strongly interrelated with one another. Despite this interrelation, previous forest fire management optimization models have tended to consider these components in isolation from one another. Here we present an integer programming model that incorporates both fuel management and suppression preparedness decisions, thus providing an integrated planning framework. A series of hypothetical test landscapes are used to demonstrate the model’s functionality with easily interpretable results. A number of possible extensions to the model formulation are also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre in the form of scholarship funding to James Minas. We would like to thank Liam Fogarty and Allen Beaver from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria for providing valuable insight into fuel treatment and suppression preparedness planning considerations. We would also like to thank the guest editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Correspondence to James Minas.

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Minas, J., Hearne, J. & Martell, D. An integrated optimization model for fuel management and fire suppression preparedness planning. Ann Oper Res 232, 201–215 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-012-1298-8

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