Forest fuel reductions treatments are conducted at a stand level in the wildland–urban interface to reduce the potential for catastrophic loss caused by wildfire. Given the considerable expense of conducting these fuel treatments, fuels managers want to better understand the productivity and cost of commonly applied fuel treatments in order to prescribe cost-effective treatment techniques. Due to the limited data available and the myriad combinations of fuel treatment options and equipment types used in a diverse range of ecosystems, cost projections for fuel treatments are difficult to forecast reliably.
This document provides background on and fundamental principles of productivity studies, and a summary of motor-manual productivity studies that have been conducted in timber silviculture operations, forest fuel reduction treatments, and other manual forestry operations.