Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Northeast Region
Plymouth, MA Fire Dept.
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  
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.

NE RSC Chair: Brad Simpkins, New Hampshire State Forester
In This Issue
Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy Key Contacts
Chair

New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands

172 Pembroke Road

PO Box 1856

Concord, NH 03302-1856

 

Maureen Brooks

Communications Working Group Lead

U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF

 

Larry Mastic

Coordinator, Northeast Region

Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Important Links

Forest Fire Compacts





Quick Links



Science and Joint Fire Science Consortiums & Exchanges






Social Media
  Follow us on Twitter   Like us on Facebook

Top
March 2016
The Smell of Controlled Burns in the Air  
Smoke rises beyond the shoreline of a river.
Smoke was seen on the horizon as the sun set along the River. The smoke is from a controlled burn - set by New Jersey State Forest Fire Service crews. (Photo courtesy of Toms River Online)
Catherine Galioto, Micromedia Publications, Inc.  March 4, 2016

OCEAN COUNTY - Hundreds of acres of Double Trouble, Warren Grove, Colliers Mills and other forests have had their underbrush singed by fire, part of the annual prescribed burning programs aiming to prevent larger-scale wildfires.

Over February 26 to 29, the [New Jersey] Forest Fire Service prescribed burned 5,125 acres across Central and Southern New Jersey, including areas of Barnegat and Stafford in Ocean County. Before that, areas of Double Trouble in Berkeley and off Route 571 in Jackson saw prescribed burns.

Read the full New Jersey controlled burns article online.


Back to Top
New IAFC Community Wildfire Readiness Web Site Available
Set of four logos. The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is an active partner in the National Wildland Fire Cohesive Strategy. As part of the IAFC's commitment to developing and carrying out this document, they provide information and resources to the fire service, including a focus on Community Wildfire Readiness (CWR) through fire adaptation-a strategy toward the safe coexistence of human populations, infrastructure, and wildland fire.

The IAFC's focus on fire-adapted efforts has taken shape through the work of the IAFC's Wildland Fire Policy Committee , Community Wildfire Readiness, the Ready, Set, Go! Program , and the Wildland-Urban Interface conference .

Learn more about IAFC's fire-adapted efforts by visiting the CWR information page on the RSG! Program Web site.

 
Back to Top
Forest Service and DNR Sign Minnesota Good Neighbor Agreement
Dave Strandberg
February 03, 2016
Forest Service shield. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources logo. DULUTH, MN (KDAL) - In a move that will boost collaborative management of Minnesota's forest lands, the U.S. Forest Service has signed a Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) master agreement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The completed master agreement between the Chippewa and Superior National Forests in Minnesota and the DNR follows similar agreements signed by the national forests in Michigan and Wisconsin. These agreements are among the first signed GNA master agreements in the country.

Read the full Good Neighbor Agreement article online.


New FAC Self-Assessment Tool and User Guide Available
February 2, 2016
Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network logo. Over the past few years, the Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) Learning Network has been working behind the scenes to develop a community-based tool to increase fire adaptation. We are excited to announce that this new tool, the Fire Adapted Communities Self-Assessment Tool (FAC SAT), is now publicly available through the FAC Net Web site.

What exactly is the FAC SAT?

Despite the fact that fire-adapted community concepts have gained more widespread understanding, we still occasionally hear the question, "How do you know when you're a fire adapted community?" We can explain to others that becoming fire adapted is an ongoing process, not an endpoint and, therefore, there is not a checklist. But we know that this still leaves a few folks scratching their heads and asking for further guidance.

One way to explain fire adaptation is to provide a mechanism to help communities work through the process themselves. This is the goal of the FAC SAT. More specifically, the FAC SAT asks a number of questions related to wildfire hazard, values at risk, mitigation activities, public engagement, and partnerships. This information-gathering process enables communities to achieve the following:
  • Identify their community's values at risk;
  • Identify their community's capacity to implement FAC activities;
  • Assess any gaps or limitations in funding, resources, partnerships, and workforce/volunteers;
  • Prioritize future fire adaptation activities;
  • Complement other work plans; and
  • Increase understanding of long-term community fire adaptation needs.
Read more about the FAC SAT.

Wildfire Experts' Paper Informs Effective Policy
Headwaters Economics
January 2016
Headwaters Economics logo.
Ten wildfire experts outline seven key science insights that are important for shaping future policy discussions and development:
  1. Fire size and frequency will increase under a warmer and drier climate.
  2. Fuel reduction on Federal lands will do little to reduce acreage burned and homes lost.
  3. Not all forests need restoration.
  4. High-severity fires often have ecological benefits.
  5. Insect outbreaks do not necessarily make fires worse.
  6. Land-use planning can reduce wildfire risk.
  7. Managing more fires to burn safely can reduce risk and increase ecological benefit.
The 10 wildfire experts who authored this paper came together in an effort to share important insights from fire science with decisionmakers. Congress, for example, is considering a number of policy and fiscal changes concerning Federal wildfire programs.

View the full wildfire experts' paper online.
Collaborative Restoration Workshop
Working Toward Resilient Landscapes and Communities
The 2016 Collaborative Restoration Workshop will be held in Denver, CO, April 26-27 with additional optional training on April 28. The National Forest Foundation will host this event at the  History Colorado Center with the U.S. Forest Service as a sponsor .

Goal: Bring together people who can share what's working in collaborative restoration, and brainstorm solutions for replicating success and removing existing barriers.

About the Workshop
The 2016 Collaborative Restoration Workshop  will be a forum for sharing innovative approaches to collaborative restoration, tools, and lessons about planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration efforts on and around National Forest System lands. Through a series of plenary sessions and five breakout tracks, participants will engage deeply in discussing the successes, challenges, and critical questions facing community partners, the U.S. Forest Service, and others working on collaborative efforts. Through the lenses of science, collaboration, planning, and monitoring, we hope you'll think critically about amplifying restoration and working together towards success in the future.

  
U.S. Forest Service Review Report of the 2015 Northwest Fire Season Released
Cover for the Narrative Timeline of the Pacific Northwest 2015 Fire Season U.S. Forest Service report. The Pacific Northwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service has released a new interactive story map detailing the historic 2015 fire season in the Pacific Northwest. This was designed to tell the complete story of the fire season's key events through a visual and interactive narrative timeline in a geospatial format.    

The 2015 fire season was the most severe in the Pacific Northwest's modern history, with Oregon and Washington experiencing more than 3,800 wildfires that burned more than 1.6 million acres. The Forest Service commissioned this narrative summary to capture the full story, not only for historical purposes, but also to help the agency and the public continue to learn from past experiences and prepare for future fire seasons.    

In the face of changing climate and longer, more expensive fire seasons, the Forest Service is committed to working collaboratively with its partners to ensure communities are prepared and resilient.    

Both the interactive story map and the full narrative summary are available  online , in an  interactive application ,  or as a  PDF document .

NFPA Offers Courses on Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone
 

Brochure cover for Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone seminar.
The good news is, unlike floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes, there are simple and often inexpensive ways to make homes safer from wildfire. With a good understanding of wildfire hazards and mitigation strategies, community residents can effectively lower the wildfire risk and losses to their homes, neighborhoods, and natural resources.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recognizes that the change needed to reverse this loss trend begins with a rock-solid understanding of the basics of how wildfires ignite structures combined with scientifically proven mitigation actions. The  2-day Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone seminar is based on research and post fire investigations. These identify the mitigation techniques that are most effective in reducing wildfire damage potential in the  home ignition zone - the home itself and everything around it within 100 to 200 feet.

The seminar is taught by experienced wildland fire specialists and focuses on both the physical and behavioral sciences behind successful wildfire mitigation. It's also the only national standardized training that offers factual solutions and action strategies regarding modern wildfire mitigation. Download the seminar brochure (PDF, 3 MB).

For more information about Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone courses, go to this NFPA Web site.

Seminar Scholarship opportunities for Spring 2016!
Fire service members and wildfire mitigation specialists: Apply now to attend NFPA's premier wildfire safety seminar free of charge thanks to a DHS/FEMA grant! Five seminars offered March through May 2016 have seats for you, with a travel scholarship to bring you to this unique training opportunity.

 
    
Conferences, Meetings, and Training Opportunities


Lake States Fire Science Consortium logo.
LANDFIRE and North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange logos.
LANDFIRE and Lake States Fire
Science Consortium Webinar
Presented by Randy Swaty, The Nature Conservancy LANDFIRE Team
Thursday, April 14, 2016
1:00 PM Eastern/12:00 PM Central

Midwest Wildfire Training Academy
Sponsored in cooperation with the Big Rivers Forest Fire Management Compact and the U.S. Forest Service
June 8-12, 2016
Jefferson City, MO
Held in conjunction with the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute's Annual Summer Fire School.
Registration Opens February 5, 2016 @   http://www.mufrti.org/summerfireschool/

Mid-Atlantic Wildfire Training Academy
Sponsored in cooperation with the Middle Atlantic Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact, U.S. Forest Service, and West Virginia University
June 4-10, 2016
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
Registration will be open in March @ www.mawfta.com

Conferences and Meetings


--Regional--
 
North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange Oak Capstone Workshop  
Fire in Oak Workshop Regional Differences, Local Applicability
June 15-16, 2016 
Westborough, MA


--National--

5th International Fire Behavior & Fuels Conference
Wicked Problems, New Solutions: Our Fire, Our Problem
April 11-16, 2016
Held concurrently in Portland, OR, and Melbourne, Australia

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? 

 

Tell us about it! Just contact  Larry Mastic .
Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry | 304-285-1524 | creger@fs.fed.us | http://www.na.fs.fed.us
11 Campus Blvd
Suite 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073