March 7, 2024 – A Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory (pdf) was released by the Southern, Rocky Mountain, and Southwest Area decision support groups in coordination with state and federal wildland fire management partners. The advisory is related to “extreme to unprecedented fire growth and intensity” due to current and predicted conditions within the advisory area. Across the region, unusually heavy grass fuel loading has aligned with dry and windy conditions that have led to unprecedented fire growth. You can find the current advisory and more on the National Interagency Coordination Center Predictive Services page. See below for the full advisory.
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Presentation Recording: Social Aspects of Wildfire Crisis Work
A recent panel discussion (Social Aspects of Wildfire Crisis Work) hosted by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station covered a wide range of social science, communication, and fire-adapted communities concepts. While the conversation tended to have a Western U.S. theme, many of the discussion topics can be related to fire in the South. Social science and social aspects can be some of the most complicated, vexing, and challenging aspects of natural resource and wildland fire management. Check out the recording during your next lunch break! You’ll probably learn something.
Continue ReadingNew Fire Ecology Article Pushes for “Transdisciplinary and Transformative Fire Research”
A new publication in the open-access journal Fire Ecology, proposes four principles for what the authors call “transdisciplinary and transformative” fire research. The research team suggests that “transdisciplinary research” should:
- Embrace Complexity
- Promote Diverse Ways of Knowing Fire
- Foster Transformative Learning
- Practice Problem-Centered Research
The authors of the publication use examples from British Columbia, Canada to explore how such practices can be used to improve future research efforts to tackle complex fire management challenges. Fire researchers could use the concepts described in the publication to guide their research planning and project collaborations.
Copes-Gerbitz, K., Sutherland, I.J., Dickson-Hoyle, S. et al. Guiding principles for transdisciplinary and transformative fire research. fire ecol 20, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00244-w
Continue ReadingNew Yorker Article Summarizes Wildfire in North America
The New Yorker recently published an article “The Perverse Policies that Fuel Wildfire” (Elizabeth Kolbert) that synthesizes a wide range of ideas and concepts related to wildfire in North America. This article could be a good resource to share with friends and family who’re not familiar with some of the bigger issues (e.g. climate change, policy, suburban development) driving wildfire at the macro scale.
Continue ReadingSFE Webinar Recording: Emerging Technologies in Wildland Fire
The recording of our February 29th webinar “Emerging Technologies in Wildland Fire” with Nathan Burmester from The Nature Conservancy North Carolina, is now on the SFE YouTube Channel. The webinar covered topics ranging from UAS (drones) to weather stations and thermal cameras. The chat was alive with tons of links to resources and products mentioned in the presentation. You can find all of those links in the notes on the YouTube recording.
Continue ReadingSFE Partners with DOD, USFS, and others on 2024 Fire Science Research Event
Earlier this month, the Southern Fire Exchange participated in a Department of Defense-supported fire science research event hosted by Fort Stewart near Hinesville, Georgia. Over two weeks, nearly 100 fire scientists, researchers, graduate students, fire managers, and organization representatives gathered at Fort Stewart to conduct fire science research on a series of three aerially ignited prescribed fires.
The event was co-led by the USDA Forest Service Eastern Innovation Landscape Network (EILN), of which SFE is a partner. This event was built on a 2022 fire science event hosted by Fort Stewart and featured in a series of Southern Fire Exchange videos produced by Mary Nell Armstrong.
Elliot Nauert with the Southern Fire Exchange and NC State University Extension led outreach efforts during the research campaign. Local television broadcast media (WTOC Channel 11), the local newspaper (Bryan County News), and the US Army produced stories covering the event. Look for more videos and products related to the 2024 Fort Stewart event in the coming weeks! In the meantime, check out some of the 360-degree videos captured by the SFE team.
Continue ReadingNorth Carolina Learn-and-Burn Opportunity
The Forest Stewards Guild is advertising a Learn-and-Burn this spring at Holmes Educational State Forest in North Carolina. These will be demonstration burns, where participants will be paired with a burn mentor who will talk through the process with them as the burn is conducted. This is a great next step in learning about fire behavior if you have not been a part of a prescribed burn yet. For more information, contact Dakota Wagner ([email protected]). Registration link: https://forms.gle/tZndVG21xXHmSQMs7
Continue ReadingWebinar Recording: Pine Savanna Restoration and Ecosystem Services
The recording of the recent SFE webinar “Pine Savanna Restoration and Ecosystem Services” is now available on the SFE YouTube Channel. The webinar featured a presentation and discussion led by Cinnamon Dixon, fire ecologist at Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Florida. She gave a thorough and easy-to-understand description of a project that showed how prescribed fire, when used over time, can restore agricultural lands, and move former ag lands towards more “natural” reference conditions.
During the webinar, we shared many links and resources with participants. You can find those links below and on the YouTube Description.
- Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Program: https://talltimbers.org/fire-ecology-program/
- Research publication (pdf): https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/2021/ja_2021_ulyshen_002.pdf
- Publication home: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721067917?via%3Dihub
- Research publication summary: https://talltimbers.org/articles/quail-management-provides-many-ecosystem-services/
Webinar Recording: A Prescribed Burners Guide to the Fire and Smoke Map
The recording of the recent SFE webinar “A Prescribed Burners Guide to the Fire and Smoke Map” is now available on the SFE YouTube Channel. The webinar featured an interactive demonstration of the USFS / EPA Fire and Smoke Map along with a discussion of how prescribed burners can utilize the map for smoke management.
During the webinar, we shared many links and resources with participants. You can find those links below and on the YouTube Description.
- AirNow.Gov https://www.airnow.gov
- AirNow.Gov Wildfires https://www.airnow.gov/wildfires/
- Fire and Smoke Map: https://fire.airnow.gov/
- 2020 National Emissions Inventory Technical Support Document: Fires https://www.epa.gov/system/files/docu…
- NWCG Smoke Management Guide for Prescribed Fire: https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/420-2
- Smoke Management Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region: https://southernfireexchange.org/smok…
- Basic Smoke Management Practices: https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/refere…
- Basic Smoke Management Practices (SFE Fact Sheet): https://eadn-wc02-7111601.nxedge.io/w…
- Where there’s fire, there’s smoke: Air quality and prescribed burning in Florida (UF/IFAS Fact Sheet): https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication…
Work in wiregrass restoration? Join us Thursday Feb. 1st at 12:00 PM ET.
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
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