Smoke from wildland fire is a significant concern to resource managers who need tools, knowledge, and training to analyze, address, and minimize potential impacts; follow relevant rules and regulations; and inform the public of possible effects. Successful navigation of competing pressures to appropriately use fire on the landscape to manage fire-adapted and fire-dependent ecosystems, while protecting public health and other air quality values, depends on credible science and tools conceived of and developed in partnership between managers and the research community. Fire and smoke management are made even more complex by the current condition of ecosystems as a result of fire exclusion and the future implications of a changing climate. This chapter describes the scope of smoke management, social and regulatory contexts, and pathways through which scientific information and tools can improve the accuracy and timeliness of management and communication with the public.

Forest drought monitoring tools are crucial for managing tree water stress and enhancing ecosystem resilience. The Forest Drought Response Index (ForDRI) was developed to monitor drought conditions in forested areas across the contiguous United States (CONUS), integrating vegetation health, climate data, groundwater, and soil moisture content. This study evaluated ForDRI using Pearson correlations with the Bowen Ratio (BR) at 24 AmeriFlux sites and Spearman correlations with the Tree-Ring Growth Index (TRSGI) at 135 sites, along with feedback from 58 stakeholders. CONUS was divided into four forest subgroups: (1) the West/Pacific Northwest, (2) Rocky Mountains/Southwest, (3) East/Northeast, and (4) South/Central/Southeast Forest regions. Strong positive ForDRI-TRSGI correlations (ρ > 0.7, p < 0.05) were observed in the western regions, where drought significantly impacts growth, while moderate alignment with BR (R = 0.35–0.65, p < 0.05) was noted. In contrast, correlations in Eastern and Southern forests were weak to moderate (ρ = 0.4–0.6 for TRSGI and R = 0.1–0.3 for BR). Stakeholders’ feedback indicated that ForDRI realistically maps historical drought years and recent trends, though suggestions for improvements, including trend maps and enhanced visualizations, were made. ForDRI is a valuable complementary tool for monitoring forest droughts and informing management decisions.

The Forest Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (FSMMN) provides a coordinated, multi-depth dataset of soil moisture and temperature measurements from three eastern U.S. Forest Service experimental forests, including Hubbard Brook (New Hampshire), Fernow (West Virginia), and Coweeta (North Carolina). This latitudinal gradient spans distinct soil types, vegetation communities, and precipitation regimes across the Appalachian Mountains, capturing the variability in soil water dynamics. The network currently includes 44 monitoring sites and 262 soil moisture sensors distributed across the three forests, with hourly records beginning in 2022 at Coweeta and Fernow, and in 2023 at Hubbard Brook. At each forest, paired in situ volumetric water content (VWC) and soil matric potential (SMP) sensors were installed at three depth intervals (10–20 cm, 50 cm, and 60–100 cm) within multiple soil profiles across several catchments, enabling the characterization of soil moisture dynamics and hydraulic function at multiple scales. The data undergo automated and manual quality control procedures described in this paper and are updated annually in public data repositories. The dataset enhances the spatiotemporal coverage of soil moisture and temperature observations in forested headwater catchments where long-term, spatially distributed soil moisture records have historically been scarce. By capturing both vertical and lateral soil water variability across contrasting forest ecosystems, the FSMMN provides a foundation for cross-site studies linking soil hydraulic properties and catchment water balance at scales relevant to ecological and hydrological modeling.