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Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy
Northeast Region
A firefighter from Plymouth, MA, uses a drip torch to ignite grasses in a prescribed fire.
Resilient Landscapes - Fire-Adapted Communities - Safe and Effective Wildfire Response
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The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) provides executive leadership, coordination, and guidance to carry out the Northeast Regional Action Plan while providing a forum for members to guide strategic direction for fire and land management activities. The NE RSC continues to collaboratively recognize, support, and help with National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy goals and implementation efforts.
Brad Simpkins, New Hampshire State Forester
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Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy Key Contacts
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Chair Chief Fire Warden Mass. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation Maureen Brooks Vice-Chair U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF Larry Mastic Coordinator, Northeast Region Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy |
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Forest Fire Compacts
Quick Links
Science and Joint Fire Science Consortiums & Exchanges
Social Media
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February 2017
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Registration Open for Wildland Fire Workshop
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Registration is now open for the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Workshop. Registration includes admission to all workshop sessions and social activities. There is a $50 discount for regular registrations made before March 15; registration for U.S. Forest Service employees is waived. Register today! Visit the workshop Web page for more information.
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Why Some Places Need to Burn
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The Trustees of Reservations set fire to Wasque, again.
January 4, 2017
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Firefighters conduct a prescribed burn in Long Point Wildlife Refuge in West Tisbury in May of this year. (Photo: Joel R. Carlson)
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After a few delays due to higher winds, The Trustees of Reservations burned part of Wasque on Nov. 14. Folks over 50 might remember television commercials that concluded with Smokey Bear pointing at viewers and saying in a deep voice, "Only you can prevent forest fires." By now Americans are getting used to the
idea
--- Vineyard residents are already used to it
--- that you have to burn some natural places in order to save them or make them work.
Though for decades, fire-suppression strategy was the official policy of the U.S. Forest Service, the service now admits this might be what has fueled the intensity and frequency of the sorts of fires now burning up the American West. In the 1960s, ecologists began to realize that the suppression of fire
--- whether wildfire or those started by humans
--- was not only leading to a dangerous buildup of tinder in a lot of environments, but was also causing some forest and nonforest habitats to disappear, taking along with them the animal species associated with the flora.
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Pennsylvania Reintroduces Fire Towers
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December 23, 2016
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Ricketts Glen State Park is the site of one of the fire towers Pennsylvania may replace. (Photo: Nicholas A. Tonnelli on Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0)
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More than six decades after transitioning to newer methods, Pennsylvania is returning to a tried-and-true approach toward combating forest fires: fire towers. The state plans to replace up to 25 existing towers and to build two new ones by summer 2017. Fire wardens and volunteers will staff the towers during the height of fire season, typically March through May.
The return to fire towers may seem anachronistic in this era of aerial surveillance and cell phones, and the state plans to continue using those methods of detection as well. But officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), which manages 2.2 million acres of state forests, say towers are as reliable and as practical now as when they were first built, at the dawn of the 20th century.
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New Plans for Young Forests
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January 24, 2017
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Prescribed burns are scheduled every year at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, once every 10 years for each site. They promote the health of the preserve habitat. (Photo from Sara Poggi, Albany Pine Bush Preserve)
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ALBANY COUNTY
--- It may seem counterintuitive, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation is looking to remove trees in various protected areas across New York State.
A plan by the DEC includes 10-year plans for two protected areas in Albany County. The
Louise E. Keir Wildlife Management Area is a 187-acre area in the town of Coeymans, and features an uncommon, fire-dependent habitat
--- a pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit. The
Margaret Burke Wildlife Management Area is a 245-acre habitat in the town of Knox. Both have suffered from a decline in young forest habitat.
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National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day
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176 Communities Added to National Firewise Communities/USA Program
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January 9, 2017
They now join communities throughout 41 states that annually complete a required set of
renewal criteria to remain a participant. The grassroots efforts implemented in these sites demonstrates the homeowner's commitment to make important contributions in making their investments better prepared for when wildfires occur. There's currently
1,388 active recognized
Firewise sites located in
wildland/urban interface areas where wildfire risks exist.
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New LANDFIRE Guidebook Helps Meet Local Needs
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Jeannie Patton, Communications Lead, TNC
--- LANDFIRE
January 18, 2017
Dilemma:
You're a land manager who needs consistent, current cross-boundary datasets so that you can do your job, e.g. fire behavior modeling, broad-scale planning, assessing natural resources, prioritizing activities, and securing and decision support. Regrettably, available data don't meet your needs.
Options:
- Create your own datasets. However, given time and expense constraints, that's not a likely scenario.
- Stitch together existing datasets, but that means that users may be challenged by differences in map legends, scale, methods, and currency (i.e. differences in data vintage).
- Modify an existing dataset. Do-able.
Solution
: Option #3, the resolution that the
LANDFIRE
program offers when geospatial data products prove inadequate to meet user needs. But, how does a person modify datasets? Where do you start?
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Investigating Local Capacity in Wildfire Response Networks Report
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Firescience.gov Friday Flash eNews Issue 185 | January 27, 2017
Principal Investigator: Branda L. Nowell, North Carolina State University-Raleigh, School of Public & International Affairs
Relational Risk Assessment and Management is about developing a new set of concepts and rapid assessment tools for assessing risk for problems that occur in interagency communication and coordination on complex fire events. Failures in effective communication and coordination within the network of responding organizations and agencies during a wildfire can lead to problematic or dangerous outcomes.
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Conferences, Meetings, and Training Opportunities
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--Regional--
March 1-2, 2017
Fort Custer National Training Center
Augusta, MI
March 7-8, 2017
Nashville, IN
--National--
Preconference March 18-21, 2017
Conference March 21-23, 2017
Peppermill Resort
Reno, NV
All Hands, All Lands: Implementation Rooted in Science
April 25-27, 2017
Reno, NV
June 4-7, 2017
Boston, MA
Save the Date!
Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors Annual Meeting
June 19-23, 2017
Hanover, MD
FireVision 20/20: A 20-Year Reflection and Look into the Future
7th International Fire Ecology & Management Congress
Held concurrently with the 2nd Applied Fire Science Workshop
Hosted by the Association for Fire Ecology in cooperation with the Southern Fire Exchange
November 28 - December 2, 2017
Orlando, FL
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The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) delivers articles and stories each month that demonstrate the collaborative efforts of agencies, organizations and communities supporting and promoting the three goals of the Cohesive Strategy: Restoring Resilient Landscapes, Creating Fire Adapted Communities and Responding to Wildfire.
This news update is our primary communication tool with our partners and the public. Looking for more Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy information or past published news update issues? Visit this Web site.
Does your agency, organization, or community have a project or event you'd like to see featured in the NE RSC News Update?
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