The NWCG Fire Shelter and Personal Protective Equipment Subcommittee (FSPPE) has updated fire shelter training and reference materials for spring 2021 training. Additionally, ETC recommends serviceable fire shelter PVC bags be retrofitted to improve opening reliability.
Continue ReadingFire Research
This page features regionally relevant fire science news, publications, and resources. You can search for even more fire science publications in the SFE Regional Fire Science Publication Database (RFSPD).
Practitioner Access to Science and Research
A new blog post from the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network is designed to help practitioners access the science, research, and peer-reviewed literature that is so vital to understanding fire, people, and landscapes so that they can do more to change places and help more communities become fire adapted.
Continue ReadingAnnouncement of USGS’ first Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan
The USGS’ first Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan) has been published and is now available. Links are provided below to access the Strategic Plan, Fact Sheet and other information about the program.
The new strategy guides USGS research in the 21st century. It prioritizes the production of innovative science, tools and resources that inform land management and provide an understanding of fire’s role in ecosystems and in human communities, before, during and after wildfires.
The new USGS fire science strategic plan prioritizes the production of state-of-the-art, actionable fire science. We seek to collaborate in this effort with federal, Tribal, state and other stakeholders, to ensure that data and tools are timely, relevant and widely disseminated. Finally, the plan sets up an organizational structure that helps ensure these outcomes.
- U.S. Geological Survey Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan: 2021-26: https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1471
- Fact Sheet on Wildland Fire Science at the USGS : https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20193025
- 12-year compendium of wildland fire science at the USGS: https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191002
- USGS Wildland Fire Science web page: https://www.usgs.gov/fire
Wildland Firefighter Suicide Study
A study from Oklahoma State University is seeking to determine the rates and risk factors for suicide in the wildland firefighter community. This project is designed to be the first of its kind to directly target wildland firefighters in an effort to assess their overall mental wellbeing. Wildland firefighters are being asked to participate in this research study in order to inform important theories in psychology.
Participate in the study here.
Continue ReadingSurvey: Wildfire Management Under COVID-19 – Looking Back and Looking Ahead
An international team of researchers is seeking feedback from wildland fire professionals that looks back at the past year (what are the lessons learned so far?) and ahead (what are positive changes that will be kept after the pandemic?). Particular attention is paid to mental health and work-life balance, to assist organizations in understanding what type of support their employees need. Results will again be shared open access to facilitate sharing of best practices, principles and options for adapting to the constraints and opportunities that COVID-19 is imposing.
Take the survey by March 5 here.
For more information, please contact Peter Moore ([email protected]) or Cathelijne Stoof ([email protected])
Continue ReadingSite Request: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Longleaf Pine Growth and Yield Model
F&W Forestry Services, in cooperation with the University of Georgia’s Plantation Management Research Cooperative (PMRC), is currently identifying properties where permanent inventory plots can be established for developing new longleaf pine growth and yield models for the Southeast US. The project is supported by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and results will be publicly available from the study.
F&W is seeking permission to establish 300 research plots on properties in the Coastal Plain region of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The identification of sites for plot establishment must meet the following criteria:
(1) Cutover sites
(2) Site prepared
(3) Planted containerized planted longleaf (Pinus palustris) 1-0 seedlings
(4) No following year interplanting
(5) Unthinned stands
(6) At least 5 years old (preferably at least 7-8 years old) at time of tree tagging/numbering
(7) No planned harvests for at least 5 years
(8) Ideally a candidate property will have multiple longleaf stands with variable age classes and site
characteristics
In addition to these requirements, ideal additional information will include:
(1) Site preparation methods and chemical rates (if applicable)
(2) Seedling source
(3) Month and year planted
(4) If pine straw has been raked
(5) Plantation spacing
(6) First and second year herbaceous control and rates (if applicable)
(7) Previous stand origin (planted or natural)
Those interested in contributing sites to the study can contact John Bell at 229.883.0505 or [email protected] for more information.
Continue ReadingNew Fact Sheet: Using Drones with Infrared Capabilities to Monitor Fire Behavior
A new fact sheet from Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service covers how landowners and land managers can incorporate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)’s, or drones into fire operations to make burns safer and easier to conduct.
Continue ReadingNew Book: The Fire Manager’s Guide to Blue Ridge Ecozones
In “The Fire Manager’s Guide to Blue Ridge Ecozones” a new book from the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network, TNC fire manager Adam Warwick explores a wide range of fire maintained ecosystems across the Blue Ridge. The beautiful 165 page guide includes full color photographs and illustrations. You can download the full .pdf file here. A print version of the book is expected soon.
Continue ReadingWildland Fire in the Appalachians: Discussions Among Managers and Scientists
Proceedings: Wildland Fire in the Appalachians: Discussions Among Managers and Scientists Download and read the full GTR here (pdf).
The USFS SRS-199 abstract:
Continue ReadingMany challenges face fire managers and scientists in the Appalachian Mountains because of the region’s diverse topography and limited research supporting prescribed burning. This conference was designed to promote communication among managers, researchers, and other interested parties. These proceedings contain 30 papers and abstracts that describe ongoing research, successful technology transfer, and management tools for planning prescribed fires. Five categories of papers include ecology of plants and plant communities, wildlife ecology, fire history and fire effects, tools for forest management, and manager-scientist success stories.
NASA COVID-19 Dashboard
Limits on work and travel during the pandemic also affected how humans interact with the natural environment. For example, satellites observed a reduction in managed forest fires, otherwise known as prescribed burns, on federal lands. Prescribed burns are an important way to reduce fuel loads and maintain biodiversity. In March 2020, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies temporarily suspended all prescribed burns on federal lands in the Southeast United States. State agencies in Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina also issued spring burning bans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forest Service’s suspension aimed to prevent virus exposure to employees and to reduce smoke exposure to vulnerable communities, since COVID-19 is a respiratory illness.
Using fire data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite, researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center detected a 42% reduction in active fires in the Southeastern U.S. this spring compared to previous years.
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