News and Announcements
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Sep 16, 2020Cal FIre Incidents
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) responds to all types of… More -
Sep 08, 2020USDA Launches Strategy to Continue Conserving the Gopher Tortoise and its Critical Habitat
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has… More -
Sep 04, 2020Scientists Uncover Secret In Centuries-Old Mud, Drawing A New Way To Save Polluted Rivers
A pair of east coast scientists met and fell in love over an interest in researching mud, years… More -
Sep 04, 2020They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?
This is a story about frustration, about watching the West burn when you fully understand why… More
Key Issues:
Prescribed Burning
Prescribed fire, also known as controlled burning, refers to the controlled application of fire to help restore health to fire-adapted environments, benefitting wildlife and timber values. Prescribed fire reintroduces the beneficial effects of fire into an ecosystem, producing the kinds of vegetation and landscapes we want, and reducing the hazard of catastrophic wildfire caused by excessive fuel buildup.
Wildfire
The Southeast has a complex fire environment unlike any other in the nation. While fire has long played a critical role in the landscapes across the Southeast, it is becoming increasingly difficult for agencies, organizations, and landowners to plan for and respond effectively to wildfire, while protecting vulnerable communities and providing for firefighter safety. The Southeast leads the nation in the number of annual wildland fire events.
Fire Mapping
Maps are an essential tool in fire management because they describe, in a spatial context, factors that help fire managers effectively plan, allocate, and mobilize both suppression and prescribed burn resources. Under Regional Fire Mapping you will find information on the Southeast (SE) FireMap, a project funded by USDA-NRCS and managed by The Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the Longleaf Alliance.
Training Resources
Education and training equips professionals to conduct wildland fire management safely and effectively, and ensures they are up to date on the latest information, research, regulations, and policies. A variety of wildland fire training resources are available from state and federal agencies, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, and other entities.
Policies
Principles, policies, and laws from legislatures and agencies provide a structured approach to managing and regulating wildland fire and smoke emissions. However, these are implemented within jurisdictions and at scales that create a patchwork across large landscapes and can impede efforts to manage for wildfire risk and ecological restoration of fire-dependent ecosystems. First, it is important to know and understand what these policies and regulations require. Secondly, we must work collaboratively to address situations where fire management is inadvertently suppressed or eliminated across natural landscapes.
Research
Wildland fire research is critical to understanding the complexities of how to best manage the natural and human elements of wildland fire. Communicating research findings helps ensure that they are used to inform wildland management across jurisdictions.
