Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today shared their vision for the Biden-Harris administration’s wildland fire preparedness and response, including supporting science and research into the effects of climate change on wildland fire.
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Firescaping Workshop: Preparing for Wildfires
WHERE: Live Online (Zoom)
WHEN: June 9, 16, 23, & 30, 9am – 11am each day (8 hours total; must attend all for certificate). If you cannot attend all sessions, please reconsider your enrollment to allow for others to attend.
FEE: $24
CAPACITY: 60 attendees; Registration closes May 31st or when capacity is reached.
INSTRUCTORS:
Holly Campbell, Public Service Assistant, UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Ludie Bond, Fire Mitigation Specialist, Florida Forest Service
Tanya Anderson, Wildland Fire Prevention Officer, Baker County Fire Rescue
Zachary Prusak, Florida Fire Manager/CFL Program Manager, The Nature Conservancy
OVERVIEW:
Every year hundreds to thousands of wildfires occur across Florida and the southeastern US, threatening both residents and their homes. Fortunately, there are actions residents can take, such as firescaping, to help reduce their wildfire risk.
Join us for an exciting new training aimed at educating and empowering Master Gardener Volunteers, Master Naturalists, other Extension volunteers, and community leaders to make an impact and help protect Florida homes from wildfire.
The 8-hour training (2 hours per week for 4 weeks) includes a blend of presentations, “hands-on” activities, and discussions. The training will introduce participants to Florida fire history and behavior, plant flammability, firescaping design, home wildfire risk assessment, and tips for combining firescaping with other landscape objectives. The training also includes recommended volunteer opportunities and materials.
All sessions must be attended to receive the certificate of completion. The knowledge participants gain from this training can be used to educate their communities on firescaping and other wildfire risk reduction measures.
MORE INFORMATION: Dr. Shelly Johnson, SSA, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension @ [email protected]
Continue ReadingPrescribed Fire & Climate Change – Are We Prepared?
A new blog post on the Southeast Prescribed Fire Update addresses why wildland fire professionals need to begin addressing climate change impacts now, and some resources to help do so.
Continue ReadingRequest for Public Comment: Climate Change, Wildfire, and Forestry
On 27 January 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. This Executive Order laid out a series of actions for Federal Agencies to take regarding climate change mitigation and resilience, including directing the Secretary of Agriculture to collect stakeholder input on a climate-smart agriculture and forestry strategy. As part of this process, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking input from the public to ensure that relevant information is considered. USDA is interested in your comments in response to the topics, categories and questions shown in the Supplementary Information section of the notice.
The deadline to provide public input on USDA’s climate strategy is 29 April 2021.
Specifically, the USDA is requesting public comment on:
- Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Questions
- Biofuels, Wood and Other Bioproducts, and Renewable Energy Questions
- Addressing Catastrophic Wildfire Questions
- Environmental Justice and Disadvantaged Communities Questions
If you have expertise in one or more of these areas, please consider providing input.
How to provide input: The Notice of Request for Public Comment on the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad can be found here: https://www.federalregister.
Winds, Water and Wildfires Southeast Region Summit
Join NACD for the upcoming Winds, Water and Wildfires Virtual Summits this coming May. Disasters such as high winds, wildfires and flooding cause significant damage to natural resources in the South, North, East and West.
Conservation districts are uniquely positioned to assist communities with planning and preparedness before, during, and after disasters. Our sessions will allow you to see how conservation districts are working together with all community members to conquer the challenges facing private landowners. Success happens when landowners and agencies come together to meet the needs of our local communities.
These needs are identified in the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.
For questions, please contact NACD’s Natural Resource Policy Specialist Mary Scott at [email protected].
Click here to register for the Southeast Region’s summit on May 11 & 12 (two half-day events).
Continue ReadingUsing Soil Moisture Information to Better Understand and Predict Wildfire Danger: A Symposium for Researchers and Fire Managers
This free online symposium will highlight the latest advances in using soil moisture information to better understand and predict wildfire danger. These recent discoveries are revealing the potential for soil moisture estimates from in situ monitoring stations, remote sensing, and models to improve fire danger predictions and to advance our understanding of fire behavior.
This interactive symposium will provide researchers and fire managers a unique opportunity to connect with others, to learn about ongoing research in this area, and to discuss ways to move forward with new research and end uses.
The symposium will run from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. CDT and from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. CDT on May 6, 2021.
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New SFE Fact Sheet: Climate Change and Wildland Fire
Southern Fire Exchange has released a new fact sheet, Wildland Fire and Climate Change Impacts in the Southern United States.
Continue ReadingSurvey: Wildfire Analysis Data
The Pau Costa Foundation has created a survey to help better understand the needs of the wildfire community in regards to wildfire data and resources being used.
This survey is done with the ultimate goal of being able to generate a global database of fires, for consultation and downloading, that meets the identified needs of the sector.
Continue ReadingPartner Webinar: Wildfires and Air Quality (Part 2) – Smoke Sense and Smoke Ready Communities
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.
Continue ReadingPartner Webinar: EPA Tools for Addressing Air Quality Impacts from Wildfires – AirNow Fire and Smoke Map
This webinar will be focused on the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map, and how air sensors can be used in a community smoke monitor network to measure how much smoke is entering indoor spaces. Part two of the webinar will focus on SmokeSense and Smoke Ready Communities, scheduled for April 21.
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.
Part two of this series will be held April 21, 2:30-4:00 PM ET.