Texas A&M Agrilife Extension recently released a new prescribed fire guidebook “Prescribed Fire: A Tool for Landowners Large and Small” for private landowners and Cooperative Extension Agents. The 24 page guide has a focus on burning in Texas, but the information maybe relevant to neighboring states and other regions. The guide discusses Texas prescribed fire laws and liability concerns, equipment, planning tools, funding opportunities and resources.
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“The Case for Prescribed Fire Science” Webinar Recording Available
The April Southern Fire Exchange webinar “The Case for Prescribed Fire Science” with Dr. J. Morgan Varner from Tall Timbers Research Station is now archived on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Channel. The slides from the presentation (pdf) can be accessed as well. Thank you all for joining us and we hope you’ll join us for one of our upcoming fire science webinars.
Continue ReadingANREP, Cohesive Strategy Announce New Conference Dates
Two conferences have announced new dates as a result of COVID-19.
The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals Conference has been rescheduled for May 23-26, 2021 in Corvallis, OR.
The 4th National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Workshop has been rescheduled for October 4-8, 2021 in Asheville, NC.
Continue ReadingRemote and Online Wildland Fire and Fire Science Training Resources
During this time of COVID-19 altered work schedules, we recognize that there may be new opportunities to train, update, and learn new wildland fire information. This page is a collection of wildland fire and fire science related training resources that can be accessed remotely for little or no cost. These resources can be used to develop in-service training events, RT-130 refreshers or other classes for professionals, landowners, and students. We are working to add to this list over time as we become aware of new programs and opportunities. If you are aware of additional training resources that should be added to this list, please let us know ([email protected]).
Please note that inclusion on this list does not indicate specific endorsement or review of the information provided by the educational programs.
Fire Weather Training Resources
- COMET Advanced Fire Weather Forecasters Course (18 hrs.) The Advanced Fire Weather Forecasters Distance Learning Course addresses advanced training needs of Incident Meteorologists (IMETs), Fire Weather Program Leaders (FWPLs) in NOAA’s NWS weather forecast offices (WFOs), and Regional Program Managers. These individuals are responsible for maintaining local fire weather programs and supporting all-hazards incidents on site including wildfires, hazardous material releases, and incidents of national significance.
- COMET GOES-R/JPSS Case Exercise: Detecting and Monitoring US Western Wildfires New-generation GOES-R and JPSS satellite products offer improved capabilities for detecting and monitoring wildland fires in the Western US and similar geographic regions. In the case of the northern California Kincade fire of October 2019, satellite monitoring capabilities provided useful tactical information to meteorologists who were working with fire agencies, emergency managers and first responders throughout the life of the fire. The lesson takes learners through two significant points in the life of the Kincade fire. Multiple satellite products are applied toward monitoring the conditions involving a potentially rapidly spreading fire. To identify how and when satellite information can be most effective, learners compare different products that can aid meteorologists in identifying fire starts and rapid spread associated with high winds and low relative humidity in the difficult terrain of California. The intended audience of GOES-R/JPSS Case Exercise: Detecting and Monitoring US Western Wildfires is operational meteorologists, including IMETs, and others needing to use satellite information for fire/smoke detection and monitoring. The lesson should also appeal to individuals from emergency operation centers and others (fire and land management agency personnel, USFS and state forestry fire behavior analysts) with interest in detecting and monitoring fires.
- COMET Navigating the National Weather Service Fire Weather Program (1 hr.) This lesson provides the latest Fire Weather Program information to new and veteran staff in the US National Weather Service. It includes an overview of the organizational structure and responsibilities of each Fire Weather Program branch, main policy documents, and partners that collaborate and use the program’s product and services. The learners will play a Jeopardy-style game and practice using a process map to resolve various problems at different levels of the Fire Weather Program. The lesson will take between 45 and 60 minutes to complete (not including the quiz).
Online NWCG Training Resources
- Fire in the Field wildland firefighter training courses are offered online or on CD-Rom by Interactive Training Media, Inc. The courses are currently recognized as National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) training equivalents in many states. Training may require partnering with a fire agency or NWCG qualified Instructor.
- Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has much to offer to the wildland firefighter and prescribed fire practitioner. With a focus on safety, the center provides feedback and a place to share knowledge to improve safety, performance, efficiency, and organizational learning throughout the entire wildland fire community.
- National Wildfire Coordinating Group Training Catalog includes a variety of resources, including downloadable training courses for some positions. NWCG has also made the following courses available for download: S-131 | S-190 | S-200 | S-203 | S-211 | S-212 | S-215 | S-230 | S-260 | S-290.
- The Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR) library contains the entire catalogue of RT-130 videos and resources developed for annual fire line refresher courses.
- WFSTAR Firefighting Orders and Watch Out Situations Immersive Activity developed and hosted by the WFTSTAR team that creates learning resources for RT-130 programs.
- S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior (15 hrs.) is the second course in a five course sequence developing wildland fire behavior prediction skills and knowledge. In the Wildland Fire Qualifications System Guide, PMS 310-1, this course is required of those planning to work as one of the Single Resource Bosses or a Fire Effects Monitor on wildfires, fire use fires, and prescribed fires. It builds upon the basics in S-190, Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior, but with more detailed information about characteristics and interactions of the wildland fire environment (fuels, weather, and topography) that affect wildland fire behavior for safety purposes.
Online Non-NWCG Wildland Fire Training
- FEMA National Fire Academy Online Courses offer several self-study and online-mediated courses of interest to wildland fire professionals.
- Wildland Fire Learning Portal offers several on-demand self-enroll courses.
- World of Wildland Fire Video Series (1.5 hrs) is a series of technical YouTube videos that cover topics ranging from fire ecology to fuel moisture to fire behavior and fuel load sampling. For more information on this program, see the Wildland Fire Education & Training Collaborative (WETC) includes multiple sources of media, including but not limited to books, videos and classroom exercises, for the purpose of synthesizing the knowledge in fire science.
- LANDFIRE Instructional and Tutorial Video Series provides instructional videos, tutorials and case studies for accessing, using and analyzing LANDFIRE datasets.
- Wildfire Lessons Learned Center TED Ed Lessons are wildland fire focused presentations and discussion materials for learning from past wildfire events.
Fire Science Webinar Recordings
Check out the upcoming and archived webinar SFE webinars from the past ten years. Continuing education credits are often offered for participation in live webinars.
- Other JFSP Fire Science Exchanges also provide fire science, wildland fire, and prescribed fire webinar opportunities that may be of interest.
- Forestry Webinar Portal offers live and on-demand webinars on a variety of topics. Continuing education credits are often offered not only for live webinars, but recorded on-demand webinars as well.
- The U.S. Drought Portal, maintained by the National Integrated Drought Information System provides a calendar of webinars on drought conditions in various regions, including the Southeast.
Online General Prescribed Fire Courses
- Introduction to Southeastern Prescribed Fire is an eXtension course to introduce students to the fundamentals of prescribed burning in southeastern forested ecosystems. At the end of the course, students should have a working knowledge of fire law, fire terminology, fire prescriptions, fire safety, firebreaks, smoke management, and a basic understanding of how to conduct a prescribed burn. To access the training, follow the link and search “prescribed fire”.
- Basic Prescribed Fire Training is an eXtension course for landowners, land managers, and state and federal personnel interested in the use of fire as a management tool in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. To access the training, follow the link and search “prescribed fire”.
- North Carolina State University eFIRE is an interactive online course that uses 360 degree videos to provide information on how to prepare, conduct, and evaluate a prescribed burn. While targeted towards private landowners in the Southeast, the principles are applicable for burners anywhere.
- University of Georgia Preparing for Wildfires with Firescaping is a free course for Master Gardeners and others that provides interactive training on fire-resistant landscaping. The course also provides training and resources to prepare course participants to share the information with their local communities
Online Smoke Training
- Smoke Management and Air Quality for Land Managers is a tutorial on smoke management and air quality. The refresher includes four lessons, each of which can be completed in about half an hour; however, links and interactions allow further investigation of several topics.
- Wildland Fire Personnel Smoke Exposure Guidebook is a draft document and a work in progress. The authors feel the guidance information within will be useful to wildland fire personnel, however in the future content may be added and edited.
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Forest Science and Journal of Forestry Release US Southern Region Collection
The Society of American Foresters’ journals, Forest Science and Journal of Forestry, have compiled recent articles about the southern US region.
Continue ReadingNorth Georgia Prescribed Fire Council to Meet Remotely
**Updated 5/7/20** The North Georgia Prescribed Fire Council meeting scheduled for June 4 will be held remotely as a Zoom webinar. Registration and other details can be found in the meeting announcement below.
Continue ReadingThe Georgia Prescribed Fire Council, a statewide coalition of land managers, landowners, forestry consultants, conservation organizations, universities, and state and federal agencies promotes the safe use of prescribed fire as an essential natural resource management tool to ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. The first North Georgia Prescribed Fire Council meeting was held in 2019 at North Georgia Technical College in Jasper Ga with 200+ in attendance. The Council had plans to hold the 2020 North Georgia Prescribed Fire meeting on Thursday, June 4, 2020 but due to the COVID 19 restrictions on large groups, the 2020 meeting will be a virtual meeting using ZOOM technology. There will be a normal full agenda of speakers with live interaction from the audience available for questions and comments. ZOOM is very easy to use and there will be technical help for any issues. The 5-hour meeting, with breaks, will address critical issues for prescribed fire practitioners and advocates, with a special emphasis on north Georgia and its unique terrain, population, and forest types. Meeting attendees will hear from prescribed fire experts on 8 different topics as you will see on the meeting agenda.
North Georgia’s public and privately-owned forestland is a significant economic, biological, recreational, and aesthetic resource. Carefully planned prescribed fires prevent the build-up of flammable, naturally-occurring fuels that set the stage for destructive wildfires. Prescribed fire also helps ensure healthy habitat for plants and animals, including rare and endangered species in Georgia.
Continuing Forestry Education and Master Timber Harvester credits will be available for those participating in the full conference.
Join us on June 4th at 10:00 AM on your computer or other device to learn about the state of prescribed fire in North Georgia.
For more information about the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council, visit www.garxfire.com
Respectfully,
Frank M Riley Jr. CF
Chair, Georgia Prescribed Fire Council
New USFS SRS GTR: Fire in Southern Appalachians – Understanding Impacts, Interventions and Future Fire Events
A new General Technical Report (GTR) from the US Forest Service Southern Research Station (GTR SRS-249) discusses the 2016 wildfire year in the Southern Appalachians as well as the current prescribed fire situation within the region and forecast fire activity for the region through 2060. Download and read the full GTR here (pdf) or access the USFS SRS source page.
The USFS SRS-249 abstract:
Continue ReadingFrom October to December of 2016, a confluence of human and environmental factors led to an outbreak of wildfires across the Southern Appalachian Mountains. This report examines the time trends of fire in the Southern Appalachian region, including mitigation activities and forecasting acres burned. The introduction (ch. 1) of this report describes the 2016 Southern Appalachian fires on public lands and provides a brief description of the methodology used to understand economic impacts of fire. Chapters 2 and 3 examine how prescribed fire is used in this region. The final chapter (ch. 4) describes how we can expect area burned by both human- and lightning-caused fires to change given increases in global temperatures, fuels, and wildland fire management.
NWCG S-131 Online $35
Our partners at the University of Florida Natural Areas Training Academy are offering an online section of the NWCG S-131 training course in June. Registration is online $35. Register by June 1, 2020.
S-131: Firefighter Type I
Due to the effects of COVID-19, this workshop will take place in an entirely VIRTUAL FORMAT
Registration: $35
This is a National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) training course designed for individuals with wildland fire experience who are currently qualified as a Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2), and who desire to be qualified as a Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) or Incident Commander Type 5 (ICT5) in the National Interagency Incident Management System: Wildland Fire Qualification System Guide (PMS 310-1).
Online component: complete 7.5 hours of work (pre-recorded lectures, readings, and quizzes) at your own pace anytime between June 1 and June 15, 2020
Live virtual component: join us via Zoom for a live session (group exercises and discussions) on June 16, 2020
This course will explore fireline reference materials, communications, tactical decision making, position responsibilities, and operational leadership.
All participants should have wildland fire experience and must have evidence of having completed S-130/190 (Basic Wildland Firefighter training) prior to this course. Please plan to have your IRPG with you during the live session.
Registration closes June 1, 2020. Register here.
***Please note that Eventbrite processing fees are NONREFUNDABLE, meaning that if you need a refund, Eventbrite will provide only a partial refund, minus the Eventbrite processing fees. For more information, visit Eventbrite’s policy here:
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Biennial Longleaf Conference Abstract Deadline Extended
The abstract submission deadline for the 13th Biennial Longleaf Conference has been extended to May 6. The conference will take place in Wilmington, NC October 20-23, 2020.
Continue ReadingAn Extension Guide for Wildland Fire Programming
The Southern Fire Exchange recently contributed to a new informational guide from NC State Extension titled Wildland Fire Programming – A Guide for Extension and Outreach Professionals. The guide includes tips for hosting prescribed fire demonstrations, fire festivals, field tours and prescribed fire related workshops. Natural resource and forestry Cooperative Extension agents will certainly want to check out this guidebook as well as anyone who works in public outreach related to fire.
SFE also has several webinars related to this topic:
- Lessons Learned from Hosting Learn-n-Burn Events: Moving Landowners from Interest to Action
- Fire Festivals: Lessons Learned from Planning and Coordinating