Mechanical thinning without prescribed fire moderates wildfire behavior in an Eastern Oregon, USA ponderosa pine forest

•Mechanical thinning can moderate fire behavior in the absence of prescribed fire.•Fuel loading in a dry ponderosa pine forest increased for a year or two after thinning and then declined.•Woody fuel particles increased somewhat following thinning but litter and duff fuel loading declined dramatically as a result of thinning.•Prescribed fire treatments are useful for extending the longevity of fuel treatments after significant conifer regeneration.