Southern Fire Exchange

Partner Webinar: Incident Management and COVID-19. Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenges
2021-04-12 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Pine Decline in the Southeastern U.S.
2021-04-14 13:00 - 14:00
Pine decline is a disease complex resulting from the interactions of both biotic and abiotic stressors. Dr. David Coyle (Clemson University) will provide a general overview of identification, impact and management strategies for pine decline related factors.
No registration required.
Join the webinar here.

SFE Webinar: Introduction to the Southeast FireMap
2021-04-16 13:00 - 14:00
The SE FireMap is a new fire mapping system for the Southeastern United States. Developed with funding provided by the USDA NRCS, SE FireMap uses a remote sensing based approach to track both prescribed fire and wildfire activity on public and private lands across the range of the longleaf pine. SE FireMap is being developed as a critical decision support tool to maximize the effectiveness of fire management practices across boundaries, ecosystems, and jurisdictions. This webinar will introduce the SE FireMap, describe the source of the fire data, and explore the current opportunities to use the data. Following the presentations there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
Presenters:
Bridgett Costanzo, Working Lands for Wildlife Coordinator-Eastern US, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Joe Noble, Geospatial Program Director, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy
Lucas Furman, SE FireMap Technical Oversight Team Lead, The Longleaf Alliance
Register here.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.

Partner Webinar: Venus Flytrap Champions: Collaborating for Conservation
2021-04-21 12:00 - 13:00
Venus Flytrap Champions is a collaboration of agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve as a support network for people managing Venus flytrap habitat on private property. The final webinar in the series recognizes these champions who assist landowners and land managers in the Carolinas interested in preserving populations of this rare carnivorous species. We believe landowners can play a significant role in maintaining and increasing the remaining habitat for flytraps and the other insectivorous and uncommon plant species that grow with it.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Wildfires and Air Quality (Part 2) – Smoke Sense and Smoke Ready Communities
2021-04-21 14:30 - 16:00
This webinar on Wildfires and Air Quality is part two of a two-part webinar on wildfires and addressing air impacts. This webinar will focus on the Smoke Sense citizen science project, and the Smoke Ready Communities Research Study. Part one will be/was held on April 8, which focused on AirNow Fire and Smoke Map, and Sensors for Community Smoke Monitoring.
These webinars are part of the U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Webinar Series for Tribes and Indigenous Peoples – to build the capacity of tribal governments, indigenous peoples and other environmental justice practitioners, and discuss priority EJ issues of interest to tribes and indigenous peoples.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Assessment of Early Implementation of the US Forest Service’s Shared Stewardship Strategy
2021-04-21 15:00 - 16:00
A discussion of the first publication in a 5-year study on stakeholder perspectives of the USFS’s Shared Stewardship Strategy. Learn the factors driving state & federal choices on strategic partnerships for cross-boundary forest management, as well as opportunities, challenges, and changes needed. Read the full assessment here.
Presenters:
Courtney Schultz, Colorado State University
Chad Kooistra, Colorado State University
Heidi Huber-Stearns, University of Oregon
Jesse Abrams, University of Georgia
Register here.

Partner Webinar: The Role of Beavers in Wildfire Mitigation and Recovery
2021-04-22 12:00 - 14:00
More information and registration here.
Registration is $19 for NAA members and $49 for non-members.

Partner Webinar: Bees and Fire: Do they Mix?
2021-04-27 15:00 - 16:00
Prescribed fire has been an essential tool for forest restoration in the southeastern United States. Bees are essential components of these ecosystems, but how do bees cope with fire? This webinar looks at the evidence and gives a glimpse into recent and ongoing research in North Carolina’s fire-managed forests.
Register here.

SFE Webinar: Prescribed Burn Associations in the Southeast - A Conversation with Experts
2021-04-28 11:00 - 12:00
A Prescribed Burn Association, or PBA, is a group of local landowners and other concerned citizens that form a partnership to conduct prescribed burns. PBAs are increasingly being formed and discussed in the Southeast in response to both landowner interest in conducting prescribed fire and the barriers they face in doing so. A previous SFE webinar examined recent research on the potential applications of PBAs for family forest landowners (view the recording here). While attending the previous webinar is not required, this event is intended to serve as a follow-up conversation and will feature a panel discussion of experts from North Carolina and Oklahoma who are involved in PBAs.
There will be an opportunity for webinar attendees to submit questions, and you may submit questions ahead of time to Laurel Kays at lekays@ncsu.edu. Following the presentations there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
Presenters:
Jesse Wimberley, Coordinator, Sandhills PBA
Benjy Strope, Biologist, NC Wildlife Resources Commission
Phil Wallace, Staff Forester – Silviculture, NC Forest Service
John Weir, Associate Extension Specialist, Oklahoma State University
Register here.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.

Partner Webinar: Bobwhite Quail Lunch and Learn
2021-05-04 12:00 - 13:00
Join the Sewee Longleaf Conservation Cooperative in this virtual webinar for a conversation with SC’s bobwhite quail experts.
Register here.

SFE Webinar: Fire Suppression and Mesophication of Upland Oak Landscapes
2021-05-06 13:00 - 14:00
Historically pyrophytic and open-canopied upland oak landscapes across the central and eastern U.S. are shifting to closed-canopied forests dominated by shade-tolerant, often fire-sensitive species. Mesophication, a hypothesized process initiated by intentional fire exclusion by which these encroaching species progressively create conditions favorable for their own persistence at the expense of pyrophytic species, is commonly cited as causing this structural and compositional transition. While many forest ecologists and land managers accept the mesophication hypothesis as evidence for these shifts, the reason for these changes is not clear and many questions remain. In this presentation, we will consider current evidence for mesophication plus knowledge gaps and potential future research that considers which tree species and tree traits create self-perpetuating conditions and under what conditions tree-level processes might affect forest flammability at broader scales. The goal is to promote research that can better inform restoration and conservation of oak ecosystems experiencing structural and compositional shifts across the region.
Presenter:
Dr. Heather Alexander, Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology, Auburn University
Register here.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.

Partner Webinar: Fighting Fire with Fire: Rx Fire Toolbox to Combat Identified Social Barriers
2021-05-06 13:00 - 14:00
Elevated fuel loads together with projected hotter and drier climatic conditions will likely lead to more frequent erratic wildfires in the western USA. Recognition that changing climate and decades of fuel accumulation are increasing the risks of wildfire has led to calls for fire management reform, including the widespread use of prescribed fire to reduce fuel loads. However, this shift in fire management emphasis is failing to be widely adopted due to social and regulatory barriers to using fire. To ensure fire management reform is broadly adopted on private land in the western states, the attitudes of stakeholders towards the use of prescribed fire as a wildfire reduction tool need to be clearly understood.
Presenter: Dr. Urs Kreuter
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Southeast Climate Monthly Webinar
2021-05-11 10:00 - 11:00
The Southeast Climate monthly webinar series is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 10:00 am ET. This series is hosted by the Southeast Regional Climate Center, in partnership with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the NOAA National Weather Service. These webinars will provide the region with timely information on current and developing climate conditions such as drought, floods and tropical storms, as well as climatic events like El Niño and La Niña. Speakers may also discuss the impacts of these conditions on topics such as agriculture production, water resources, wildfires and ecosystems.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Working Lands for Wildlife - The Long View: Sustaining Our Oak Forests
2021-05-12 11:00 - 13:00
This FREE working lands webinar hosted by Ruffed Grouse Society &American Woodcock Society and the NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife program will educate landowners and natural resource professionals on working lands conservation programs intended to benefit wildlife species and promote forest diversity.
This webinar has been approved for the following. Please register here to receive credit.

2 CFE credits (category 1) with the Society of American Foresters
2 CEUs (category 1) of the Certified Wildlife Biologist® Renewal/Professional Development Certificate Program for participation in the webinar
USDA-NRCS Conservation Planner Certification

Register here.
Throughout history, oak forests have been appreciated for their enormous ecological, economic, and social value. These benefits are widely acknowledged by foresters, wildlife biologists, hunters, conservationists, and landowners.
However, successfully managing oak forests is no easy task. It requires knowledge, forethought, and patience. Due to land-use history, fire suppression, and poor or lacking forest management we are gradually losing our oak forests throughout the Central Hardwood Region and Eastern United States.
In this webinar, we will take the “Long View” by looking back in time to see how human history has influenced the oak forests we have today. This historical grounding will allow us to look forward and consider how our actions today can ensure we restore and sustain oak forests into the future.
To do this, we must first gain a comprehensive understanding of the history of our oak forests in the Central Hardwood Region and learn about their widespread value to people, deer, grouse, songbirds, and pollinators. We will then look more closely at current research and how these dynamic forests grow and change in the face of natural and human disturbances. Speakers will then share practical examples of far-reaching, thoughtful forest management on family land and how those examples can be replicated to perpetuate our oak forests throughout their range.

Partner Webinar: Stewart Udall and the Politics of Environment and Race
2021-05-20 14:00 - 15:00
Stewart Udall left a profound impact on land conservation and racial issues. As the U.S. Interior Secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations he successfully advocated for the creation of many national parks and monuments, and encouraged Lady Bird Johnson to undertake a national beautification program. He led the way for most of the environmental legislation we now take for granted, including the Clean Air and Water and Wilderness Acts, Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Trails Acts, and the National Historical Preservation Act, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He also fought for pesticide reduction and mining reclamation, endangered species protection, gas mileage requirements, and rapid transit systems.
By no means was his work limited to the land. As Secretary and in his private life Udall also worked for racial justice. He fought successfully to end Jim Crow era segregation at the University of Arizona and broke with the Mormon Church over its refusal to allow Blacks in the priesthood. As Secretary, he hired the first African American rangers in our national parks, forced the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Football Team) to integrate their team, championed self-determination for Native Americans, and fought for redress and compensation for Navajo uranium miners and other victims of the atomic age.
Discussing this transformative yet underappreciated figure will be John de Graaf, director of the upcoming PBS film “Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty.”
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Learn about the New 'Compare Weather' Function in IFTDSS
2021-05-26 14:00 - 15:00
Compare and View up to Five Weather Scenarios to evaluate affects on Fire Behavior. Only in the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) can you run fire behavior models and compare the outputs side-by-side. Easily view on the map, change the inputs and re-run to explore the impacts of weather on fire behavior outputs. Great for enhancing your burn plans, NEPA documents or understanding and calibrating model outputs.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Collaborative Fire Management Case Studies from the Colville National Forest
2021-05-27 14:00 - 15:00
This webinar will provide examples of successful cross-cultural partnerships for managing fire and building community resilience in a changing climate. In this webinar, USFS fire ecologist and tribal liaison Monique Wynecoop will share two case studies from the Colville National Forest, in which the Spokane and Colville Tribes and non-tribal partners conducted collaborative, interdisciplinary fire management projects that incorporated diverse values, cultures and knowledges to meet multiple fire management goals. Monique will share lessons learned for building trust with tribal communities and conducting collaborative fire management through a restorative justice lens with tribes as beneficiaries.
Register for the webinar here.

North Georgia Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting
2021-06-03
AGENDA
9:00 Opening remarks – Kevin Hiers
9:10 Welcome – Governor Brian Kemp
9:25 The State of Fire in Georgia -Tim Lowrimore
9:45 Prescribed Fire’s Role in the Oak Regeneration Process – Dr. Callie Schweitzer
10:30 Break
10:45 Using Drones with Infrared Capabilities To Monitor Fire Behavior – Cole Fagen/Amy McClave
11:15 The Role of Prescribed Fire in Shortleaf Pine – Mike Black
11:35 Lunch Break
12:05 Forest and Fire Management for Northern Bobwhites Above the Fall Line -Dr. James Martin
12:35 Before fire exclusion…fire history in North Georgia and the Cumberland Plateau -Mike Stambaugh
1:05 The Paradoxical Effects of the 2016 Wildfires on Tree Mortality-Dr. Joseph O’Brien
1:35 Break
1:50 A Case Study of Smoke in Chattanooga -Dr. Scott Goodrick
2:10 Smoke Management Guide for SE Landowners – Jennifer Fawcett/Holly
Campbell
2:30 Community Protection Program-Beyond Boundaries -Shardul Raval
2:45 Closing Remarks – Kevin Hiers
3:00 Adjourn
SAF Continuing Forestry Education credits as well as Master Timber Harvester credits will be available for those attending this meeting. Attendance will be determined by a list of individuals that sign-in to the meeting. In order to get credit for attending, you will need to register below with your license number. You will receive a confirmation email with a link unique to you. Use that link on June 3rd to log-in and attend the meeting. If you do not use your unique link, we will be unable to verify your attendance and you will not receive continuing education credits.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Collaborative Landscape Conservation Planning: Fostering local stakeholder engagement
2021-06-09 13:00 - 14:00
Natural resource practitioners are increasingly taking a collaborative, landscape-level approach to natural resource conservation. Despite its potential advantages, this approach faces challenges. Primary among these is ensuring ecosystem-wide goals for conservation can effectively inform local management plans and actions. This necessitates working with local stakeholders. Opportunities for local stakeholders to participate in landscape conservation planning are often limited, in part because conservation leaders are uncertain about whether, when, and how these stakeholders might most effectively participate in decision processes.
In this presentation, Catherine Doyle-Capitman will provide an overview of best practices for engaging local stakeholders and incorporating social data during collaborative landscape conservation planning. An overview of these best practices can be found in the following practitioners’ guide: Facilitating Local Stakeholder Participation in Collaborative Landscape Conservation Planning (https://prod-is-cms-assets.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hd/prod/353a0be0-a3a5-11eb-9909-a71e27a203e5-Doyle-Capitman.pdf)
Register here.

Partner Webinar: "Fire Breaks: Fire Suppression, the 'Light-Burning' Controversy, and the Return of Indigenous Flames"
2021-06-10 13:00 - 14:00
Historian Char Miller will be speaking about this history of fire use by Indigenous populations in what is now California and the impact of fire suppression on the land and peoples. Registration for the free Zoom event is required.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Ethics and Professional Forestry
2021-06-17 13:00 - 14:00
Foresters have an ethical responsibility to those they serve. However, sometimes it is hard to determine where the line is between what is ethical and what may be construed as unethical. This course serves as a reminder of our ethical duties and gives examples of situations where ethics come into play.

Foresters have a responsibility to manage land for both current and future generations in an ethical fashion. This course is a refresher in ethics as they apply to forestry situations. Real life examples will be used to illustrate how tough ethical dilemmas may be handled by and to help us identify those areas that skirt the edges of ethical conduct. The North Carolina State Board of Registration for Foresters is pleased to have Butch Bailey, Extension Associate with Mississippi State University, put a new face on the traditional ethics presentation. Examples of ethics related situations from North Carolina will also be presented by the board. This course is being offered by the North Carolina State Board of Registration for Foresters as a service to the professional forestry community.
No registration required, join here.

Partner Webinar: Connecting Main Street to Mountaintops: Urban land protection as part of a comprehensive landscape conservation strategy
2021-06-24 14:00 - 15:00
A comprehensive approach to landscape conservation must include urban spaces and communities, as much as it includes large wild places and rural communities. For nearly fifty years, The Trust for Public Land has been a leader in land protection and park creation, working with communities across the American landscape to advance equity, health, and climate resilience. Leaders from TPL’s parks and schoolyards teams will share insights on effective strategies for using park creation, spatial analysis, and community engagement as part of a conservation approach that strengthens and improves the livability of our cities while connecting them to a larger surrounding landscape that spans regional and, ultimately, national borders.
Presenters:
Danielle Denk, Program Director and Schoolyard Initiative Lead
Linda Hwang, Director of Strategy and Innovation
Robert Kent, Texas State Director
Michael Giammusso, National Lands Initiative Lead
Register here.

SFE Webinar: Restoring the Pine Barrens - Attitudes towards restoration of a threatened ecosystem in the U.S. South
2021-06-29 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
SFE Webinar: Restoring the Pine Barrens – Attitudes towards restoration of a threatened ecosystem in the U.S. South
Description: Fire is a critical element for the restoration of native longleaf pine forests in the southern United States. This research explored public interest in restoration of this threatened ecosystem and the application of prescribed fire, a key component of restoration. We report on a project conducted across eight southern states with the following objectives: (1) to identify if prescribed fire has kept pace with demand for planting longleaf following disaster events and (2) to identify landowners’ and public interest in ecological restoration using science-based prescriptions and how managers may use this information to increase prescribed burning. To address these objectives, we collected data from key informant interviews and a public telephone survey. Results demonstrated several important predictors of social barriers to prescribed burning and types of landowners most likely to burn in longleaf ecosystems. We conclude with a discussion about ways to increase dialogue among stakeholders to help them understand the risks and benefits of appropriate ecosystem management using fire. Following the presentations there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
Scheduled Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET June 29, 2021
Speakers: Dr. Jason Gordon, University of Georgia
Dr. John Willis, US Forest Southern Research Station
Webinar Partners: US Forest Service Southern Region, the University of Georgia, the Southern Fire Exchange, NC State University, and the University of Florida.
Webinar Target Audience: Natural Resource Managers, Park Rangers, Public Information Officers, Outreach Specialists, Cooperative Extension Agents
Webinar Registration Link: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sBibA3bvSmuWBUgCdHymag

Partner Webinar: Bat Responses to Silvicultural Treatments
2021-06-29 13:00 - 14:00
Researchers have been studying bat responses to silvicultural treatments since the mid-1980s, but research on the effects of silviculture on bats has increased greatly over the past decade. This webinar will present a synthesis of this research which includes the effects of regeneration harvests, thinning, gap formation, plantation forestry, and prescribed fire on bats. Dr. Loeb will also present the results of a recent review which compares the effects of prescribed fire and wildfire on bats. The talk will conclude with a discussion of the major gaps in our knowledge and where our research efforts need to be concentrated in the future.
Register here.

Southeast Climate Monthly Webinar
2021-07-13 10:00 - 11:00

Workforce Resilience Ignite Talk: Fitness and Wellness for Performance in Wildland Firefighting
2021-07-14 16:00 - 17:00
Presented by Joe Sol, Exercise Physiologist U.S. Forest Service and Brent Ruby, Professor, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Montana
Joe and Brent will share their research on sustainment and maintenance throughout
the fire season.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Using fire regimes as ecosystem indicators: SEFireMap, Southeast Conservation Blueprint, and other applications
2021-07-15 10:00 - 11:00
Join the webinar on Microsoft Teams here.
More information on the webinar series here.

Partner Webinar: Passenger Pigeons: A Force of Forest Disturbance
2021-07-29 13:00 - 14:30
Join the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Manager and Scientists to learn how this extinct species impacted forests in the U.S. Presentations by Dr. Ian Thompson (Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) and Dr. Ben Novak (Lead Scientist, Revive & Restore) will introduce the cultural and ecological significance of passenger pigeons. This webinar will consider what their disappearance means in terms of ecological disturbance processes and the implications for forest and fire management today.
Register here.

Partner Webinar: Flash Drought Webinar Series: Current Understanding and Future Priorities
2021-08-03 14:00 - 15:00
Droughts are often categorized as ‘flash’ droughts when they develop or intensify in a matter of weeks (though defining flash droughts continues to be an area of active debate). The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the National Weather Service (NWS) are pleased to announce a series of three webinars to help climate professionals and operational service providers better understand this phenomenon, its defining characteristics and how it varies by region and season, its impacts on agricultural and other stakeholders, and the potential for improved monitoring, prediction, and planning/response tools (datasets, maps, etc.).
This webinar, the second in the series, will showcase the following presentations and discussion by NIDIS staff on key takeaways from the December 2020 Workshop, with an emphasis on priority activities to advance flash drought monitoring, prediction, and planning/response.
NIDIS Flash Drought Workshop: Key Takeaways and Priorities – Joel Lisonbee and Molly Woloszyn, NOAA-NIDIS
Additional reflections on the workshop and on priority actions to advance flash drought research:
Mike Hobbins, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory
Amanda Cravens, USGS Fort Collins Science Center
Register here.

SFE Webinar: Potential Impacts of Prescribed Fire Smoke on Air Quality, Public Health, and Socially Vulnerable Populations in the Southeastern U.S.
2021-08-12 13:00 - 14:00
A free one hour webinar from North Carolina State University, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenters:
Sadia Afrin, Graduate Research Assistant,
Dept. of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University
Fernando Garcia Menendez, Assistant Professor
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University
Register here.
Webinar Description: While prescribed fire is an essential land management tool in the Southeast, its impacts on air quality and public health remain uncertain. This webinar will cover a recent project that used burn permit records, air quality modelling, and epidemiological associations between fine particulate matter concentrations and multiple health endpoints to examine these impacts, with a focus on case studies in Georgia and North Carolina. Results show not only potential health impacts from prescribed fire, but call for greater attention to the characterization of prescribed fire impacts, potential air quality benefits of land treatment, and the communities most exposed to fire-related smoke. Following the presentations there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
