News and Announcements
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Apr 20, 2021
Prescribed Fire Effects on Water Quality in the Southern Appalachians April 22nd, 12:00-1:00 EST
Kipling Klimas (Utah State University) will discuss his work assessing the impact of prescribed fire on high value forested watersheds in… More -
Apr 20, 2021
National Association of State Foresters Weekly Newsletter April 16 2021
Smokey awardees named, NASF rallies support for new bill & Forest Stewardship… More -
Apr 20, 2021
Conservation Corridor April 2021 Newsletter
Identifying priority areas for binational connectivity of large… More -
Apr 19, 2021
Paul Hessburg: Why Wildfires Have Gotten Worse-and What We Can Do About It
Megafires, individual fires that burn more than 100,000 acres, are on the rise in the western United States -- the direct result of… 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.
