Appalachian Fire Learning Network
TNC, the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and land management agencies of the US Department of Interior (DOI) established the US Fire Learning Network (FLN; http://conservationlearningnetworks.weebly.com/fire-learning-networks.html) in 2002. Organizers aimed to catalyze the restoration of fire-dependent ecosystems through landscape-scale collaborative planning, regional capacity building, and national coordination. As of early 2009, a total of 14 regional networks and more than 150 landscape collaboratives involving over 650 partner organizations have participated in the network.
The Appalachian Fire Learning Network engages multiple federal, state and private land management agencies in a collaborative effort to implement ecological fire management. Within this biologically diverse region, the Network seeks to:
- collaborate with stakeholders to strengthen the scientific basis for landscape-scale fire management, and develop landscape-scale desired future conditions and fire management objectives for the Central, Southern and Western Appalachian Region;
- transfer knowledge and lessons learned throughout the Network to facilitate ecological objective setting, effective stakeholder engagement, efficient compliance with regulatory requirements and successful funding of ecological fire management projects;
- identify critical barriers to the restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems, and develop strategies to overcome these barriers; and
- achieve tangible and measurable progress in the restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems at demonstration sites throughout the NetworIE
