USFS ScienceX Webinar - Looking Toward the Future
2023-03-03 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
February 27 – March 3, 2023 1:00pm – 2:00pm ETStarting on February 27th and running through March 3rd, the USDA Forest Service Research and Development SCIENCEx webinar series will bring together scientists and land management experts to explore the latest in fire science. Registration is required. Individual program speakers and information provided below. For more information, visit the SCIENCEx webinar page
Friday, March 3 Looking toward the futureHistorical and future fire in temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest | Matt ReillySouthern forest outlook: Fire chapter highlights | Danny LeeGeographically & topically integrated wrap-up | Jens Stevens

Partner Webinar: Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment
2023-03-15 15:00 - 16:00
EPA Tools & Resources Webinar:
Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
3-4 pm ET
The west and other parts of the US have experienced significant forest fires in recent years. These fires have been devastating to infrastructure, yet there is limited knowledge of the human health impacts of smoke emissions. EPA is using its expertise in air quality research to fill the gaps in scientific information and to develop tools to prevent and reduce the impact of smoke from wildfires and controlled or prescribed burns. This webinar will provide an update on Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment. Research includes wildfire impacts on human health and ecosystems, a comparative assessment of air quality and public health impacts from prescribed fire and wildfire smoke, air sensors for smoke monitoring applications, an EPA air sensor loan program, resources on indoor air filtration during smoke events, and communication strategies to enhance local readiness for wildfires. Register for the webinar: Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment!
For additional information, you can learn about the webinar series and check out recordings here.

ToolsWebinar_Flyer_Wildfires (PDF

LANDFIRE Office Hour: Fire in the Western U.S. - Big fires. Big challenges. Big need for regional learning and action
2023-03-29 13:00 - 14:00
Fire in the Western U.S. – Big fires. Big challenges. Big need for regional learning and action: (A story map)

Join the office hour and learn about the diverse inputs and outcomes from six large fires spanning five JFSP Regional Fire Science Exchanges.

Date: 3/29 | 1:00 PM ET | REGISTER

Guests: JFSP & TNC LANDFIRE

See the story map
First 20-25 min: TNC LANDFIRE intros, JFSP reps highlight key takeaways leading up to, and resulting from their region’s featured fire(s). Following the presentations there will be time for Q/A.

Partner Webinar: Effectiveness of fuel treatments at the landscape scale
2023-04-05 13:00 - 14:30
Wednesday, 4/5/2023, 11am –12:30pm MDT

Registration Link

Maximizing the effectiveness of fuel treatments at the landscape scale is a key research and management need given the inability to treat all areas at risk from wildfire, and there is a growing body of scientific literature assessing this need. Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists, in collaboration with the Joint Fire Science Network, synthesized existing science on landscape-scale fuel treatment effectiveness in North American ecosystems through a systematic literature review.
A recent report, Effectiveness of fuel treatments at the landscape scale: State of understanding and key research gaps, provides key findings from four literature synthesis documents (concepts and fuel treatment effectiveness measurements, empirical, simulation, and case studies) that evaluate the extent to which landscape fuel treatments mitigate adverse effects of wildfire, provide opportunities to manage fire for beneficial effects of wildfire, provide opportunities for cost efficient fire suppression strategies, maximize fire responder safety, provide results to inform future fuel treatment planning, and identify research gaps.
Event Details
Join the Joint Fire Science Network and Rocky Mountain Research Station for the Landscape Fuel Treatment Effectiveness webinar on Wednesday, April 5 from 11:00 – 12:30 MT. Registration is required.
Four Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists will present their latest research followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

Lessons learned from wildland fire case studies | Ali Urza, Research Ecologist
Quantifying forest wildfire hazard and fuel treatment effectiveness from stands to landscapes | Sharon Hood, Research Ecologist
Fuel treatment scenarios tested through simulation studies | Jeff Ott, Research Ecologist
Is there empirical evidence for landscape-level fuel treatment effectiveness? | Shawn McKinney, Writer/Editor

Partner Webinar: EPA Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Smoke
2023-05-01 12:00 - 13:00
Date / Time: Monday, May 1, 2023 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET

Speaker: Rick Gillam, Environmental Engineer, US EPA

Webinar Description: In this webinar, speaker Rick Gillam will talk about how wildfire smoke affects air quality and public health. He’ll also discuss what you can do to protect yourself and family from wildland fire smoke. Rick will also talk about prescribed fire and how it is used to support ecosystem health and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

Register Here: https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/8b0cda6b-2ca5-4f90-8b76-bfd8fbdd83a6@88b378b3-6748-4867-acf9-76aacbeca6a7

SFE Webinar: Slack and Scarcity in Wildland Fire
2023-05-04 13:00 - 14:00
Join us for this upcoming SFE Webinar: Slack and Scarcity in Wildland Fire

Date & Time: May 4, 2023 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Presenter: Dr. Matthew Thompson, US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station

SAF CFE Credit Expected

Description: A free one hour webinar from the Southern Fire Exchange, the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, and the University of Florida IFAS. Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected. Presenter: Dr. Matthew Thompson, US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station Webinar Description: In this presentation, Dr. Thompson will explore themes of slack and scarcity and how they relate to strategy, performance, and analytics in wildfire. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with Dr. Thompson.

Registration Link: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S6P7cJLDRfu8Qmj2fXTFJA#/registration

SFE Webinar: BurnPro3D - A Web-Based Tool for Prescribed Burn Planning
2023-05-17 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
Join us for this upcoming SFE Webinar: BurnPro3D: A Web-Based Tool for Prescribed Burn Planning

Date & Time: May 17, 2023 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Presenter: Melissa Floca, Director of Strategic Partnerships, CICORE Division of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego

SAF CFE Credit Expected

Description: This webinar will provide an overview of the BurnPro3D platform and discuss opportunities to participate in usability testing and beta testing. BurnPro3D is a decision support platform to help the fire management community understand risks and tradeoffs quickly and accurately to plan and implement prescribed burns. The tool uses 3D fuels data, user-defined ignition patterns, and a coupled fire/atmosphere model. It allows users to define burn objectives in terms of surface and canopy fuel consumption and identify the combinations of environmental conditions and ignition patterns that result in fire behavior that meets those objectives. The BurnPro3D team is led by the WIFIRE Lab at UC San Diego and funded by the National Science Foundation. It includes partners from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Los Alamos National Lab, as well as dozens of collaborators from universities and the private and non-profit sectors.

Registration Link: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KYYx0YS4REehQucV-_qKlg

LANDFIRE Office Hour: Using fire compartments and historical land cover to rediscover grasslands in the Eastern U.S. for restoration
2023-06-28 13:00 - 14:00
Join us for this upcoming joint LANDFIRE / Southern Fire Exchange Office Hour: Using fire compartments and historical land cover to rediscover grasslands in the Eastern U.S. for restoration

Date & Time: June 28, 2023 01:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Hosted by: LANDFIRE and the Southern Fire Exchange

Presenters: Brice B. Hanberry, Research Ecologist, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA and Reed F. Noss, Chief Science Advisor, Southeastern Grasslands Institute

Check out last month’s LANDFIRE Office Hour Recording: https://youtu.be/eCX0_ofSqHc

Registration Link: https://tnc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYvdeCqpzsrHNfyAy8G8I3KoGe7YGm3uZSB#/registration

Partner Webinar: EPA Wildfire Impacts on Drinking Water
2023-07-25 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
“Wildfire Impacts on Drinking Water”
July 25, 2023 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
Hosted by the US EPA Office of Research and Development and Office of Water
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ViTvu6DlSBGU9_K0oY90rQ#/registration

USFS 2023 FASMEE Webinar
2023-07-27 13:00 - 14:00 | Online, United States
On July 27th at 1:00 PM ET the US Forest Service will host a webinar exploring the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) project. For more information see the project website here.

National Extension Wildland Fire Initiative Web Meeting: Smoke and Air Quality
2023-08-15 15:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
The next National Extension Wildland Fire Initiative quarterly meeting (hosted by the Association for Natural Resources Extension Professionals) on August 15th at 3PM ET (Zoom) will focus on topics related to smoke and air quality. David Godwin, Ph.D., Eytan Krasilovsky, and Jess Downing will talk about DIY air filters, air cleaner loaner programs, and opportunities to engage communities on smoke related topics. If you work in Cooperative Extension or similar community outreach join the meeting and find out more about NEWFI and their quarterly meetings.

SFE Webinar: Climate-Driven Changes in Prescribed Fire in the Southeastern US
2023-08-17 13:00 - 14:00
Climate-Driven Changes in Prescribed Fire in the Southeastern US: Burner Concerns, Needs, and Alternatives
August 17, 2023 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
A free one hour webinar from the US Forest Service, NC State University, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida IFAS.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenter: Megan Johnson, PhD, US Forest Service ORISE Post-Doc
Webinar Description: Prescribed fire is used frequently in Southeastern landscapes to reduce wildfire risk, maintain wildlife habitat, and support fire-dependent species. Many practitioners have expressed that they are unable to burn as often as they would like due to the range of management and safety requirements. However, climate change is expected to further restrict burning opportunities in the Southeast by reducing the number of days with acceptable meteorological conditions. This webinar summarizes the findings of a recent survey of Southeastern burners intended to evaluate and describe their needs, concerns, and alternative actions if faced with fewer good burning days in the future. The implications of these alternative actions on future smoke impacts will also be discussed. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with the speaker.
Register Here: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-m_vVUiqTM-yn114SxVh5w

SFE Webinar: The Intersection Between Bat Management and Fire in the Southeast
2023-09-27 13:00 - 17:00 | Virtual
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
A free one hour webinar from the SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Working Group, the SERPPAS At-Risk, Threatened, and Endangered Species Working Group, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida IFAS.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenters and Agenda:
Becky Harrison (US Fish and Wildlife Service) – SERPPAS Introduction (5 min)
Pete Pattavina (US Fish and Wildlife Service) – Bat Biology and Listings in the SE. How fire can affect bats and regulatory requirements (30 min)
Lucas Cooksey (Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute) – DoD Bat Management (10 min)
Q/A (10 min)
Webinar Description:
Bats are important to forested ecosystems and often interact with fire. Recently, several bat species have been placed on the Endangered Species list. This webinar will describe the bats in the Southern region that have been listed, and will summarize how these bats can be affected by wildland fire, and the regulatory requirements that may affect prescribed burning. We will also provide an overview of the current DoD Bat strategy in support of their military and conservation missions. Additional resources that will be helpful to land managers will be provided. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q&A with the speakers.
Registration link: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VdZle-lgRPKwN_46uUKZHA#/registration

SFE Webinar: FireHydro - Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk Using Fuels, Water Levels, and Burn History
2023-10-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
Thursday, October 5, 2023 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET
A free one hour webinar from North Carolina State University, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida IFAS.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenter:
Kate Jones, PhD Candidate, Center for Geospatial Analytics at NC State University
Webinar Description: Mapping fire risk at a landscape scale in South Florida depends on spatially varying water levels, fuel characteristics, and topography. When surface and near-surface water levels recede below the lowest topographic features (strands, marshes, etc.), the ecosystem loses its natural, wetted fire breaks. We developed a data-driven spatial method to generate daily, categorical fire risk maps; the maps visualize low-to-high risk areas and enable fire managers to both effectively execute prescribed burns, as well as efficiently staff the landscape during high fire risk. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with the speaker.
Registration: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LmdlvPGzSp261OVloc7Mqg#/registration
Webinar Recording: If you can’t make the webinar, look for the recording to be posted on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Webinar Archive.
Questions? Contactus@southernfireexchange.org

Partner Webinar: Multi-fidelity Coupled Fire/Atmosphere Modeling to Support Proactive Approaches to Wildland Fire
2023-10-10 15:00 - 16:00
Host: USGS Widland Fire Science Webinar Series
Date: Tuesday, October 10th at 3pm ET
Speaker: Dr. Rod Linn, Team Leader, Atmospheric Modeling and Weapons Phenomenology, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Summary: As the fire community looks towards proactive approaches to manage the growing challenges of wildland fire, the importance of science-based decision support is increasing. In wildland fire and land management, the decision space is different when determining proactive management strategies compared with reactive crisis management, just as they are in any field. There is an expectation that decision makers have weighed the pros and cons of their action (or lack of action) and are optimizing their actions to meet objectives, reducing costs (not just monetary costs), and avoiding unintended consequences. Whether it is assessing possible benefits of fuels treatments or planning and analyzing prescribed fires, next generation coupled fire atmosphere models can contribute to the science basis for land management decisions. The requirements on these models are that they capture the influences of the heterogenous fire environment on fire behavior with sufficient detail to enable decision makers to understand the consequences of the various possible decisions. Continual improvement of the science basis and availability of decision support requires a multi-fidelity modeling approach where detailed models can continuously help us increase our understanding of the relationship between fire behavior and its environment in current or future climate scenarios, and faster running tools can encompass this understanding in an accessible tool. More more information here.
Join the webinar via MS Teams Here.

Partner Webinar: State of the Science: SMOKE
2023-11-01 12:00 - 13:30
November 1 @ 10-11:30am MT

Join a live virtual session hosted by USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists focused on the State of the Science about SMOKE. This facilitated panel discussion will be guided by your questions. Pre-registration is required. Live session will be recorded and posted on the RMRS website.

Register for the webinar

The panelists for this webinar include:

Shawn Urbanski (Rocky Mountain Research Station)
Scott Goodrick (Southern Research Station)
Susan O’Neill (Pacific Northwest Research Station)
Susan Prichard (University of Washington)
Ana Rappold (EPA)
Jeffrey Vukovich (EPA)

Fueling Collaboration Webinar: Fire History as a Bridge Between Ecological Knowledge Systems
2023-11-16 11:00 - 12:30 | Virual
This webinar will kick off Season 4 of the Fueling Collaboration Panel Discussion Series!
This panel discussion will explore how different types of fire history information (Indigenous Knowledge and physical archives), when considered together, provide improved context for understanding the ecologies and processes that are linked to the restoration and stewardship of fire-adapted communities. The panelists include Indigenous Knowledge holders and practitioners, and experts in tree-ring, sedimentary, and archeological fire history, who have collaboratively used fire history information to bridge cultures and knowledge systems. The discussion will use case studies in the Upper Great Lakes Region where a diverse set of partners wove these types of knowledge together to restore culture fire to the benefit of globally-rare pine barrens communities.
Click here to register for Fire History as a Bridge Between Ecological Knowledge Systems.

Panelists Include:

Dr. Evan Larson (Moderator)Dr. Evan Larson is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Society at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He has 22 years of experience using tree rings to investigate forest history and dynamics. The work that is currently at the center of Evan’s thoughts and energy is fueled by the enthusiasm of amazing collaborators who are together working to re-story the interwoven relationships among people, fire, and pine in Great Lakes Forests. Evan received a BA in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Willamette University, a MS in Geography from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and a PhD in Geography from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Kurt Kipfmueller (Panelist)Dr. Kurt Kipfmueller is a Professor of Geography, Environment and Society at the University of Minnesota. He uses tree-rings to reconstruct fire and climate to understand how forest systems change over time. His primary research focus is on reconstructing past fires in Great Lakes forests to better understand and document the importance of cultural fire use in modifying forest patterns.

Dr. Elizabeth Lynch (Panelist)
Dr. Elizabeth Lynch is an Associate Professor of Biology at Luther College. She earned a BSc Honors from Trent University and a PhD in Ecology with a minor in Quaternary Paleoecology from the University of Minnesota. As the Botanist for Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission in the 1990s, she became interested in the role of fire for culturally important plant species. For the past 20 years she and several colleagues have used charcoal and pollen in lake and bog sediments to understand the interactions between fire, landscape, climate, and vegetation in pine and oak barrens of northwestern Wisconsin. More recently her research includes documenting endangered plant communities of northeastern Iowa.

Dr. Sean Dunham (Panelist)Dr. Sean Dunham is an archaeologist and heritage program manager for the Chippewa National Forest in Cass Lake, Minnesota. His current research interests focus on the relationship between people, their culture, and their environment. Dunham received a bachelor’s degree in history and anthropology from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in ancient studies from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD in anthropology from Michigan State University.

Dr. Gregor Schuurman (Panelist)
Dr. Gregor Schuurman is an ecologist with the NPS Climate Change Response Program. He works with parks and partners to understand and adapt to a wide range of climate change impacts. He previously worked on T&E species conservation and climate change adaptation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and holds a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from the University of Washington.

Marcie Gotchie (Panelist)Marcie Gotchie is an archaeologist for the Chippewa National Forest in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Her current research focuses on indigenous archaeology. She received her bachelor’s degree in tribal historic preservation from Salish Kootenai College.

Damon Panek (Panelist)
Damon Gezhiibideg Panek, a citizen of the Mississippi Band of White Earth Ojibwe, has embraced the resurgence of tribal fire for nearly three decades. As a Park Ranger for the Apostle Island National Lakeshore, he led an initiative to restore cultural fire to Stockton Island. “Fire is how we maintain our Anishinaabe homelands and in turn, our identity,” Panek says. Along with a lifetime of study under Indigenous elders in the Great Lakes region, he earned an Environmental Studies Secondary Education Bachelor of Science Degree at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Panek is the Wildland Fire Program Manager for the Fond du Lac Band of the Lake Superior Ojibwe.

Dan Devault (Panelist)Leech Lake Tribal College – photo/bio coming soon.

Webinar: Fire in Southern Pine Systems
2024-01-03 09:30 - 11:00 | Virtual
Prescribed Fire for Forest Management ​Webinar Series
Hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Select Wednesdays at 9:30-11 a.m. ET

Click here to register for “Fire in Southern Pine Systems” hosted on January 3, 2024
This webinar will explore the ecology of southern pines, the reintroduction of fire into fire-adapted ecosystems, and the legacy of prescribed fire and how the “old” links with the “new” with burning in longleaf pine. Participants will discover the importance of the Tall Timbers Private Lands Fire Initiative and hear about​ the cutting edge technology of the Southeast fire map, which helps​ with both on the ground management and re​search.

Presenters:
Geo​rge Jensen, Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conserva​ncy

George Jensen, originally from Savannah, Georgia, grew up in Berlin, Wisconsin. George attended the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he studied Wildland Fire Science and Conservation Biology under Dr. Ron Masters. ​During this time, George had heavy involvement in the UWSP interagency fire crew, where he was an officer for two years; George burned with the crew in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Chicago, Florida, Georgia, and, South Carolina. George also worked for the federal government on a fuels module and helit​​ack crew and did fire with WDNR. Upon graduation, George took a job as a Conservation Biologist for the Endangered Resources section of the WNDR and was also on the state burn team. George was also private lands biologist for the private sector in central Wisconsin. George attended graduate school for forestry at Mizzou under Dr. Ben Knapp. George worked his master’s tenure at the Jones Center at Ichauway, where he researched how Resistance, Resilience, and Transition silviculture treatments affect fire behavior and effects in longleaf pine ecosystems during atypically hotter and drier days. He also studied fine-scale fire effe​cts in patches of longleaf pine. Currently, George works for ​Tall Timbers as the Southwest Georgia Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator and is an Adjunct professor of ecology at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia.
​​Holly Nowell, Ph.D., Project Research Scientist, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conserva​ncy
Dr. Holly Nowell, born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, was interested in weather from an early age. She held several internship positions at the National Weather Service Office located in Wichita, and at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Earth and Planetary Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She continued her studies at Florida State University where she obtained two master’s degrees, one in Geographic Information Systems and the other in Meteorology, and a doctorate in Meteorology. Her thesis and dissertation, under the guidance of Dr. Guosheng Liu, focused on studying the backscatter radiation of aggregate snowflakes in the microwave region. Dr. Nowell switched gears with her postdoctoral position under Dr. Christopher Holmes, also at Florida State University, to focus on the issue and difficulty in the satellite detection of fires in the Southeast United States. As a postdoc, she also participated in NASA/NOAA FIREX-AQ field campaign by providing ground support and conducting field research into pre- and post-burn fuels at the Blackwater River State Forest, Florida. Additional studies included examining the impacts of emissions from smoke plumes resulting from prescribed burning on air quality and public health in South Florida. Currently, Dr. Nowell works for Tall Timbers as a Project Research Scientist on the Southeast FireMap project, a joint venture with the USGS to improve satellite detections of fires in the Southeast US region using Landsat and Sentinel satellites. ​

Moderator:
​​​Michael Tiller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Forest and Fire Management, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Michael grew up in Northern California where he enjoyed an active outdoor lifestyle hunting, fishing, camping, and skiing in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains and coastal redwoods. He enjoyed a 10-year career with Cal Fire serving as a Firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer. In 2006​​​, he moved to College Station, Texas where he attended Texas A&M University and earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. After completing his B.S. degree, he attended Stephen F. Austin State University where he earned an M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Ph. D. in Forestry, both with a research focus on understory fuel flammability in forest and rangeland ecosystems. Michael also served as a Wildland Urban Interface Specialist for the Texas A&M Forest Service for 2-years where he was actively engaged with fuels management and prescribed burning. He recently accepted an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology position at UW-Stevens Point where he leads the fire science program and serves as an adviser for the UWSP Fire Crew.

Future Webinars in this Series Include:
February 7, 2024 – Prescribed Fire as a Restoration Tool for Savanna Communities
March 6, 2024 – Fire and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Lake States
April 3, 2024 – Fire and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Beyond the Lake States
May 1, 2024 – Fire and Game Species
June 5, 2024 – Prescribed Fire in Urban Landscapes
July 10, 2024 – Fire and Climate Change
August 7, 2024 – Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Red Pine
September 4, 2024 – Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Interfering Vegetation
October 2, 2024 – Workforce Development

This Session is Generously Sponsored By

Phenology of Fire: Listening to the Plants and Animals (Fueling Collaboration Panel Discussion)
2024-01-18 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual
Click here to register for the Fueling Collaboration Panel Discussion:
Phenology of Fire: Listening to the Plants and Animals.

Season of fire. Opening the burn window. Both of these focus on one of the elements that make up a fire regime – frequency, intensity/severity, extent/scale, and seasonality. Decades of spring-and/or autumn-centric fire can cause a site or landscape to respond very differently than when burned repeatedly across all flammable seasons. Summer burns can produce differing fire effects including increased species richness averages, biomass, and stem counts (especially forbs), and breaking up the plant species dominance resulting from dormant season burn windows. Panelists will bring fresh voices to how we can learn from listening to our fire-dependent plants and animals and let the fire effects lead us toward desired outcomes.

Panel Includes:

Dr. Brian Sturtevant (Moderator)Dr. Brian Sturtevant is a Research (Landscape) Ecologist with Northern Research Station of the US Forest Service in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where he has worked for 21 years. His expertise lies in broad-scale interdisciplinary investigations of forest dynamics and disturbance ecology, with an emphasis on fire and insect disturbance, using a combination of field study, analyses of spatial datasets, and landscape simulation modeling. His specific fire expertise includes human drivers of fire ignitions, fire severity assessments and mapping, and vegetative response to both wildfire and controlled burning. He also serves on the advisory board and technical committee for the landscape disturbance and succession model, LANDIS-II.

Dr. Todd Aschenbach (Panelist)Dr. Todd Aschenbach is a professor of natural resources management at Grand Valley State University in West Michigan. His teaching and research interests focus on wildland fire and ecological restoration. He also works as an on-call wildland firefighter for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and conducts wildfire research with the US Forest Service’s Fire Behavior Assessment Team.

Tyler Briggs (Panelist)Tyler Briggs works as the Fire Manager for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission. He has been with the Commission since 2011. He is an NWCG Type 2 Burn Boss, Incident Commander Type 4, as well as an Engine, Crew and Firing Boss. He earned a Master’s degree in Geography from the University at Albany and a BS in Geography from SUNY Oneonta. Tyler is a native of Cuylerville, NY where he attended York Central School.

Dr. Donald Hagan (Panelist)Dr. Donald Hagan (he/him/his) is an applied ecologist who studies the effects of fire on population, community and ecosystem-level processes in forest ecosystems. He conducts most of his research in the southern Appalachian and Piedmont regions, but he has also worked extensively in the SE Coastal Plain, Florida, the Northern Great Plains, and in the tropical dry forests of coastal Ecuador. Current research projects are supported by the Joint Fire Science Program, the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Department of Energy. Hagan is passionate about teaching and mentoring and is heavily involved with Clemson’s Creative Inquiry undergraduate research program. He also works closely with the “Fire Tigers” — Clemson’s wildland and prescribed fire crew. Since 2015 he has served on the board of the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists.

Mary Parr (Panelist)Mary Parr is an Indigenous woman, fire practitioner, land steward, and graduate student. Parr is the Stewardship Manager for Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, an environmental education center and biological field station located in Southwest, MI. Parr manages 850 acres, coordinates conservation efforts, leads the prescribed fire program, and mentors undergraduate students. Concurrently, Parr is completing her Masters in Biology at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, studying plant community response to fire season and order of application in prairies and savannas of the Great Lakes Basin. Parr is a tribal member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Matt Vaughan (Panelist)Matt (he/him/his) is a Wildland Fire Ecologist & Practitioner who recently started in a new position as Director of Stewardship and Forestry Education with Forest Stewards & Western Carolina University based in Cullowhee, NC USA. His background is in biogeography, fire history, and fire ecology, exploring basic and applied questions of fire effects on fuels and vegetation. He is currently pursuing projects with partners engaged in active forest management, especially involving low-shade removal (herbicide treatment) and monitoring prescribed fire effects on partner lands in the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network.

SFE Webinar: Advanced Wiregrass Restoration and Management
2024-01-24 13:00 - 14:00
A free one-hour webinar from the University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, St. Johns River Water Management District, and the Southern Fire Exchange.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenters:
Dr. Raelene Crandall, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida.
Chris Kinslow, St. Johns River Water Management District
Dr. Jennifer Fill, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida.
Webinar Description: Wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana/stricta) plays a keystone role in the ecosystem health of imperiled longleaf pine savannas of the southeastern USA. It promotes the grass-fire feedback, provides ecosystem services, and promotes biodiversity. Countless efforts across the region are focused on the restoration of wiregrass on public and private lands. New research conducted in partnership with public land managers is transforming how we understand wiregrass and approach restoration projects. This webinar will discuss the latest research and practical experience from restoration projects. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
Webinar Recording: If you can’t make the webinar, look for the recording to be posted on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Webinar Archive.
Questions? Contactus@southernfireexchange.org
Register here: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E_D2btaAScKg1Q7OlTvMCQ

SFE Webinar: Prescribed Burners Guide to the Fire and Smoke Map
2024-01-31 13:00 - 14:00
A free one-hour webinar from the USDA Forest Service, EPA, Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida IFAS.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenters:
Pete Lahm, USDA Forest Service
Sim Larkin, USDA Forest Service
Rick Gillam, US EPA Region 4
Webinar Description: Prescribed burners can efficiently utilize the EPA Fire and Smoke Map to enhance their burning practices. The map provides real-time information on fire and smoke conditions across different regions. Burners can use it to assess the current air quality and regional smoke movement. By incorporating this information, prescribed burners can strategically plan and time their burns to minimize the impact on air quality and public health. The map allows them to make informed decisions, ensuring safer and more effective prescribed burns while supporting compliance with environmental regulations. Following the presentations there will be time for audience Q/A with the speakers.
Webinar Recording: If you can’t make the webinar, look for the recording to be posted on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Webinar Archive.
Questions? Contactus@southernfireexchange.org

Register for the webinar here: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HO_IHME7Sr-qObwjBBgsiw

SFE Wiregrass Fireside Chat
2024-02-01 12:00 - 13:00
Join the SFE Wiregrass Fireside Chat this Thurs. Feb. 1st at 12:00 PM ET where you can meet in a small group with Dr. Rae Crandall, Dr. Jen Fill, and land manager Chris Kinslow.
The Fireside Chat will be an open Zoom meeting where you can connect with a small group of like-minded fire managers and researchers who are working on wiregrass issues. Just like a field workshop, Fireside Chats are an unscripted, unrecorded, low-stress environment, you can get answers to your questions, share your challenges, and build your network. All you have to do is sign up. Login and link-up with a handful of other dedicated managers.
Register for the Fireside Chat meeting here: https://bit.ly/SFEfiresidechat1
Did you miss the SFE Advanced Wiregrass Restoration and Management Webinar? You can watch the recording here: https://youtu.be/9khPiD5g9pM?feature=shared

Partner Webinar: Overview of Prescribed Fire Liability in State Law with Sara Clark
2024-02-01 13:30 - 15:00
When: Feb 1, 2024 1:30 PM ET
Hosted by: The Nature Conservancy and the Fire Learning Network.
In this 90-minute webinar, Sara Clark will provide an overview of prescribed fire liability in state law, including definitions of liability and how state laws defining liability interact with certified burn manager programs, tribal sovereignty and cultural burning, and prescribed fire insurance. Sara will provide examples from California and a selection of other states that have defined prescribed fire liability in state law, including an overview of the California Prescribed Fire Claims Fund Pilot that began operating in 2023. This webinar is intended for those who are new to the issue of prescribed fire liability or those more experienced who would like an overview of the subject, especially anyone about to engage on similar policy initiatives in their state or jurisdiction.
Sara Clark is a partner at the public interest law firm Shute, Mihaly, & Weinberger LLP based in San Francisco, California. Sara has worked extensively on prescribed fire liability, including an instrumental role in passage of California’s legislation defining gross negligence for suppression costs and establishment of the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund Pilot. She was a co-author of the Good Fire report for the Karuk Tribe, an analysis of barriers to the expansion of cultural burning and recommended solutions. Watch for Good Fire II in February 2024!
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
Topic: Overview of Prescribed Fire Liability in State Law
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://tnc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GJOas2ICRB6dtH9Hg56Czw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Webinar: Prescribed Fire as a Restoration Tool for Savanna Communities
2024-02-07 09:30 - 11:00 | Virtual
Prescribed Fire for Forest Management ​Webinar Series
Hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Select Wednesdays at 9:30-11 a.m. ET

Click here to register for “Prescribed Fire as a Restoration Tool for Savanna Communities”
February 7, 2024

​Restoring Savanna Communities in Wisconsin with Rx Fire at Ecologically Meaningful Scales
Join Jeb Barzen and Brendan Woodall as they discuss the implications of using prescribed fire to restore savanna landscapes. Jeb Barzen will focus on addressing the potential for restoring savanna communities in Wisconsin at ecologically meaningful scales through use of prescribed fire and through expanding social tools such as carbon credits or environmental labels. Most vegetative communities in Wisconsin, including a variety of savanna communities, are fire-dependent and the Wisconsin landscape is approximately 85% privately owned. A 10-fold increase in the implementation of prescribed fire is needed and our current capacity to implement those fires is limited by the number of trained people to burn safely and the incentives necessary to allow private landowners to deploy Rx fire sustainably over decades and across broad landscapes to achieve ecologically significant impacts. ​ ​​ ​​
Brendan Woodall will dive into the details on what he does as a Private Lands Biologist through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and discuss how fire is used as a restoration and management tool in savanna communities on private land. There are many barriers and limitations to actually being able to get fire on the ground safely, such as socially, financially, and logistically.

Presenters:
Jeb Barzen, M.S., B.S.; Chair, Private Lands Conservation, LLC; Chair, Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council; Adjunct Assistant Professor, UW-Madison Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture; Lecturer, UW-Madison Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies​​
Jeb has spent most of his 36-year career studying birds and applying ecosystem restoration tools in wetlands, grasslands, and savannas worldwide. This includes conducting over 770 prescribed burns throughout the Midwe​st, in Vietnam and in the Russian Far East. While teaching prescribed burning in Russia, Jeb can uniquely claim to be the only person to be quoted by Pravda as an ‘expert American arsonist.’ Early on in his career, it became clear that the most interesting projects would last well beyond his own lifetime, so Jeb soon began to focus on teaching, mentoring, and advancing the tools that we depend upon to improve ecosystem restoration – chief among them – prescribed burning and prescribed burn practitioners. To that end, Jeb recently collaborated with the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council, the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, UW Arboretum, The Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and numerous local NGOs to create a course on fire ecology and prescribed burn implementation at the UW-Madison which currently matriculates 24 students each ye​ar.

Brendan Woodall, Wisconsin Private Lands Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
Brendan grew up in Missouri, where he attended the University of Missouri – Columbia and graduated with a B.S. in Forestry and a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife. Brendan first cut his teeth with learning and implementing prescribed fire in college. Since graduating, he has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – PFW Program helping private landowners restore and enhance wildlife habitat in central Wisconsin. He has assisted with over 50 prescribed burns and 13 wildfires totaling over 10,000 acres on both public and private land. This experience helps him to consider the potential for prescribed fire as a management tool when creating wildlife habitat restoration plans​.

Moderator:
​​​Michael Demchik, Ph.D., Professor of Forestry, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Michael Demchik grew up in southern West Virginia in unincorporated Pond Fork. With the freedom to explore the outdoors, a mountain on one side and a stream on the other, a future career in natural resources just made sense. Demchik is cu​rrently a professor of silviculture at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. His previous positions included an Extension Forester specializing in farm forestry in Minnesota, a state Maple Syrup and Non-Timber Forest Products specialist in Pennsylvania, and a number of other jobs ranging across federal, state, and private industries in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. ​

Future Webinars Include:
March 6, 2024 – Fire and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Lake States
April 3, 2024 – Fire and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Beyond the Lake States
May 1, 2024 – Fire and Game Species
June 5, 2024 – Prescribed Fire in Urban Landscapes
July 10, 2024 – Fire and Climate Change
August 7, 2024 – Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Red Pine
September 4, 2024 – Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Interfering Vegetation
October 2, 2024 – Workforce Development

This Session Is Generously Sponsored By:

Successfully Bridging the Gap: Eastern US Models of Fire Science and Management Collaboration
2024-02-15 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual
Click here to register for the Fueling Collaboration Panel Discussion:
Successfully Bridging the Gap: Eastern US Models of Fire Science and Management Collaboration

Land management programs are frequently confronted with the imperative of incorporating the most advanced scientific knowledge into their decision-making processes along with filling voids in research needed to move along effective management. Nevertheless, the persistent disparities between the realms of science and management often impede effective collaboration. In this panel, we will draw inspiration from successful case studies in the eastern United States, where land managers and scientists have forged pioneering partnerships, yielding tangible advancements in the field.

Moderators:
Helen MohrUSDA Forest Service, Southern Research StationDr. David GodwinSouthern Fire Exchange
Panelists:
Coming Soon

Partner Webinar: Climate Adaptation Strategies for Longleaf Pine Ecosystems
2024-02-20 13:00 - 14:00
As part of the monthly webinar series Ecological Forestry in the Context of Climate Change
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET
Hosted by: USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub
Description: Steve Jack with the T.L.L. Temple Foundation present on longleaf pine systems and fire regimes. This session will focus on fire adaptation like managing out of balance fire regimes, resetting fire return intervals, and the synergistic effects of wind and fire with a look at hurricane interactions.
Registration Information

SFE Webinar: Pine Savanna Restoration and Ecosystem Services
2024-02-21 13:00 - 14:00
A free one hour webinar from Tall Timbers Research Station, the Southern Fire Exchange, and the University of Florida IFAS.
Society of American Foresters CFE Credit Expected.
Presenter:
Cinnamon Dixon, Fire Ecologist, Tall Timbers Research Station
Webinar Description: It is expected that restoring southeastern pine savannas will boost ecosystem services. However, the success of this restoration depends on how well we can restore ecosystems and their services, the speed at which ecosystems are restored, and the tradeoffs between restored ecosystems and other typical land uses. In this presentation, we’re comparing the services provided by pine savannas at various stages of restoration with those from reference pine savannas, as well as other common land uses like row-crop agriculture, improved pasture, pine plantations, and unmanaged forests. This presentation will be of interest to anyone working to manage old field ecosystems in the South. Following the presentation there will be time for audience Q/A with the speaker.
Webinar Requirements: A reliable internet connection and speakers / headphones are required to participate. Webinar audio will be broadcast directly to your computer and may be available via a call-in number. See registration email for more details. Webinar participants do not need a microphone or video camera.
Webinar Recording: If you can’t make the webinar, look for the recording to be posted on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Webinar Archive.
Questions? Contactus@southernfireexchange.org
Register for the webinar here: https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__CRTsHZsSNuT2leFXvbfdA

Partner Webinar: Increasing Prescribed Fire Capacity in the Central US
2024-02-22 13:00 - 14:00
Increasing Prescribed Fire Capacity in the Central US
Hosted by: Great Plains Fire Science Exchange and Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium
Speakers: Chuck Stanley, NRCS, Carissa Wonkka, University of Florida, Wes Buchheit, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever
Thursday, Feb 22nd, 12 PM Central
Register for the webinar via Zoom

Partner Webinar: Reflections from 20 Years of Examining the Social Dynamics of Fire Management
2024-02-22 17:00 - 18:00
5:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 22, 2024
Sarah McCaffrey, Ph.D., Retired Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service
Hosted by the International Association of Wildland Fire, Association for Fire Ecology, and Pau Costa Foundation
Description: Sarah McCaffrey, PhD, retired in 2022 after 20 years as a fire social scientist with the US Forest Service where her research focused on understanding the social dynamics of fire management. This included research projects that examined the role of risk perception and risk attitudes, social acceptability of prescribed fire, homeowner mitigation decisions, evacuation decision making, risk communication, and agency-community interactions during fires. Since retirement she has been involved with a number of research and practitioner efforts to improve future fire outcomes including as an adviser to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative and Board member for Fire Adapted Colorado. She received her PhD in 2002 from the University of California at Berkeley where her dissertation examined Incline Village, Nevada homeowner views and actions in relation to defensible space and fuels management.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uf1j-BIxTHq2jL3IawWZ5w#/registration

Partner Webinar: Working with Private Landowners to Increase Prescribed Fire Capacity
2024-02-28 13:00 - 14:00
Working with Private Landowners to Increase Prescribed Fire Capacity
Speakers: Morgan Treadwell, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo, Jennifer Fawcett, North Carolina State Extension, and Brian Teeter, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever
Wednesday, Feb 28th, 12 PM Central
Register here: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkf-urrTMtE92oaWdNjDJKFqCdJ0HkH08G#/registration
