FireGeneration wants young people to help shape wildfire policies
The FireGen cohort believes that getting more young and Indigenous people involved in developing wildfire policies can increase support for proactive tactics like prescribed burns. It’s a shift that Tim Ingalsbee, an instructor at the University of Oregon and a former wildland firefighter, said he’s noticed among his students in recent years.
“Young people want to get involved in putting good fire on the ground,” said Ingalsbee. “Thirty years ago, no one asked me that. They all wanted to be firefighters.”
The FireGen cohort believes that getting more young and Indigenous people involved in developing wildfire policies can increase support for proactive tactics like prescribed burns. It’s a shift that Tim Ingalsbee, an instructor at the University of Oregon and a former wildland firefighter, said he’s noticed among his students in recent years.
“Young people want to get involved in putting good fire on the ground,” said Ingalsbee. “Thirty years ago, no one asked me that. They all wanted to be firefighters.”
Wildfires were once slowed by night and winter. Not anymore.
We live on a flammable planet. The public and government agencies need to move from an emergency and reactive mind-set about wildfire to a proactive, planning mind-set that emphasizes resilience. Data and partnerships can help: We can use satellites to give us early warning of wildfires the way we do with dangerous storms. We can use social media to better understand and manage evacuation chokepoints. We can use housing data to identify highly flammable neighborhoods.
We live on a flammable planet. The public and government agencies need to move from an emergency and reactive mind-set about wildfire to a proactive, planning mind-set that emphasizes resilience. Data and partnerships can help: We can use satellites to give us early warning of wildfires the way we do with dangerous storms. We can use social media to better understand and manage evacuation chokepoints. We can use housing data to identify highly flammable neighborhoods.
‘The fire equivalent of an ice age’: Humanity enters a new era of fire
Sooner, rather than later, it may all start to feel normal. There will be a smoke season, just like there is now an allergy season, Pyne said. Fires will become a part of the rhythm of our everyday lives.
Prescribed burns, dramatically cutting carbon emissions — all of that will help soften the changes to come. But there is no getting around the fact that most of humanity is now plunged into an extra fiery age. “We have created a Pyrocene,” Pyne wrote. “Now we have to live in it.”
Sooner, rather than later, it may all start to feel normal. There will be a smoke season, just like there is now an allergy season, Pyne said. Fires will become a part of the rhythm of our everyday lives.
Prescribed burns, dramatically cutting carbon emissions — all of that will help soften the changes to come. But there is no getting around the fact that most of humanity is now plunged into an extra fiery age. “We have created a Pyrocene,” Pyne wrote. “Now we have to live in it.”
Will wildfires like these become the new normal?
In places that become hot and dry, wildfires can become more prevalent or intense.
The unifying fact is that more heat is the new normal.
The most efficient way to keep temperatures from rising further is to reduce the combustion of fossil fuels. They are the drivers of heat and its hazards.
In places that become hot and dry, wildfires can become more prevalent or intense.
The unifying fact is that more heat is the new normal.
The most efficient way to keep temperatures from rising further is to reduce the combustion of fossil fuels. They are the drivers of heat and its hazards.
Canada’s ability to prevent forest fires lags behind the need
“We need to do more to get ahead of the problem,” said Mike Flannigan, who studies wildfires at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, a community in the heart of that province’s wildfire country. “And progress on that has been slow, primarily because we are kind of stuck in this paradigm that fire suppression is the solution.”
“We need to do more to get ahead of the problem,” said Mike Flannigan, who studies wildfires at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, a community in the heart of that province’s wildfire country. “And progress on that has been slow, primarily because we are kind of stuck in this paradigm that fire suppression is the solution.”
Forest managers using lightning-caused wildfire near Flagstaff for ecological benefit
The Volunteer Fire was initially reported as just a single acre two weeks ago within the scar of the 2021 Rafael Fire. But following the burn-out operations, it’s grown much larger though managers intend to keep it within a broader 3,580-acre footprint. In the coming days they plan to ignite another 1,800 acres, which will likely produce smoke that’ll impact Flagstaff. It’s among several prescribed and managed wildfires currently taking place in the region.
The Volunteer Fire was initially reported as just a single acre two weeks ago within the scar of the 2021 Rafael Fire. But following the burn-out operations, it’s grown much larger though managers intend to keep it within a broader 3,580-acre footprint. In the coming days they plan to ignite another 1,800 acres, which will likely produce smoke that’ll impact Flagstaff. It’s among several prescribed and managed wildfires currently taking place in the region.
Three national forests in Colorado receive nearly $47 million for wildfire barriers
North of Pagosa Springs in Archuleta County, the 2021 fuel break project cleared shrubs and small trees across about 100 acres in a narrow, 25-foot-wide strip along Fourmile Road. During wildfires, similar undergrowth can act like a ladder and carry flames higher into tree canopies, which helps the fire spread.
Clearing it away from roads, rivers and other landscape features helps slow down wildfires, reinforces existing barriers and enlarges the buffer zone. Wildland crews use these fuel breaks as safe spaces to work while battling fires or assisting with prescribed burns.
North of Pagosa Springs in Archuleta County, the 2021 fuel break project cleared shrubs and small trees across about 100 acres in a narrow, 25-foot-wide strip along Fourmile Road. During wildfires, similar undergrowth can act like a ladder and carry flames higher into tree canopies, which helps the fire spread.
Clearing it away from roads, rivers and other landscape features helps slow down wildfires, reinforces existing barriers and enlarges the buffer zone. Wildland crews use these fuel breaks as safe spaces to work while battling fires or assisting with prescribed burns.
Readers respond: Invest in workforce with Oregon Conservation Corps
The Oregon Conservation Corps offers a glimpse of the future community wildfire preparation workforce needed to live with fire on the land but keep it out of our homes. This science-based, socially-progressive program should be expanded, even exported to other western states, and the Legislature would be wise to fully renew its funding as an investment in youth and rural communities.
The Oregon Conservation Corps offers a glimpse of the future community wildfire preparation workforce needed to live with fire on the land but keep it out of our homes. This science-based, socially-progressive program should be expanded, even exported to other western states, and the Legislature would be wise to fully renew its funding as an investment in youth and rural communities.
A ‘Canadian armageddon’ sets parts of western Canada on fire
In a country revered for placid landscapes and predictability, weeks of out-of-control wildfires raging across western Canada have ushered in a potent sense of fear, threatening a region that is the epicenter of the country’s oil and gas sector.
Climate research suggests that heat and drought associated with global warming are major reasons for the increase in bigger and stronger fires.
In a country revered for placid landscapes and predictability, weeks of out-of-control wildfires raging across western Canada have ushered in a potent sense of fear, threatening a region that is the epicenter of the country’s oil and gas sector.
Climate research suggests that heat and drought associated with global warming are major reasons for the increase in bigger and stronger fires.
Almost 40% of land burned by western wildfires can be traced to carbon emissions
Almost 40% of forest area burned by wildfire in the western United States and southwestern Canada in the last 40 years can be attributed to carbon emissions associated with the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, according to new research that seeks to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their role in climate change.
Almost 40% of forest area burned by wildfire in the western United States and southwestern Canada in the last 40 years can be attributed to carbon emissions associated with the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, according to new research that seeks to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their role in climate change.
Controlled burns help prevent wildfires, experts say. But regulations have made it nearly impossible to do these burns.
Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.
Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.
Fire retardant kills fish. Is it worth the risk?
Retardant contains ammonium phosphate, which is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. In the years following the accident, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE), a Eugene, Oregon-based nonprofit that represents former and current Forest Service employees, has called for policy changes regarding the use of retardant. The group has won two lawsuits against the Forest Service restricting its use and is now suing the agency over employing it in and around streams and creeks. The suit has reignited debates over retardant’s firefighting efficacy, and the outcome could change how it is used in the future.
Retardant contains ammonium phosphate, which is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. In the years following the accident, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE), a Eugene, Oregon-based nonprofit that represents former and current Forest Service employees, has called for policy changes regarding the use of retardant. The group has won two lawsuits against the Forest Service restricting its use and is now suing the agency over employing it in and around streams and creeks. The suit has reignited debates over retardant’s firefighting efficacy, and the outcome could change how it is used in the future.
This tribe was barred from cultural burning for decades — then a fire hit their community
Cultural burning — the practice of using controlled fires to tend the landscape — was once widespread among many Indigenous groups, but ended with the arrival of European settlers.
The practice is central to tribal culture, said Coats, who recalled how when he was a child, basket makers would gather basket making materials, hunters would gather hunting tools and medicine people would gather medicine. Burning was performed to help all of those tradespeople collect the best supplies possible, he said.
“We didn’t call it cultural burning,” he said. “We just called it taking care of the land.”
Cultural burning — the practice of using controlled fires to tend the landscape — was once widespread among many Indigenous groups, but ended with the arrival of European settlers.
The practice is central to tribal culture, said Coats, who recalled how when he was a child, basket makers would gather basket making materials, hunters would gather hunting tools and medicine people would gather medicine. Burning was performed to help all of those tradespeople collect the best supplies possible, he said.
“We didn’t call it cultural burning,” he said. “We just called it taking care of the land.”
Prescribed fire training in Central Oregon aims to make communities safer, forests more resilient to wildfires
Forty firefighting professionals from the U.S. and Canada gathered recently in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon to gain hands-on experience with prescribed fires.
Such fires help reduce fuel load, improve forest health and protect communities from wildfires which have grown more intense due to climate change and 100 years of suppressing fires.
Since its launch 15 years ago by the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of the Interior and The Nature Conservancy, the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange Program, or TREX, has taken place in more than a dozen states and has grown to include the involvement of Tribal nations, state and local governments, private landowners and other partners.
Forty firefighting professionals from the U.S. and Canada gathered recently in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon to gain hands-on experience with prescribed fires.
Such fires help reduce fuel load, improve forest health and protect communities from wildfires which have grown more intense due to climate change and 100 years of suppressing fires.
Arguments get heated in fire retardant case
The Forest Service in court documents argue the only way to prevent retardant from being dropped or spilled into the waterways is to stop the use of it altogether – an action the service and other stakeholders say would not be in the best interest of the public.
The Forest Service in court documents argue the only way to prevent retardant from being dropped or spilled into the waterways is to stop the use of it altogether – an action the service and other stakeholders say would not be in the best interest of the public.
No formal charges yet in October arrest of Forest Service burn boss in Grant County
Six months after a U.S. Forest Service employee was arrested on suspicion of reckless burning while supervising a prescribed burn in Grant County, no formal charges have been filed in the case.
In the days that followed, the case drew national and even international media attention. It was believed to be the first time a Forest Service firefighter had ever been arrested while doing their job. The arrest was widely condemned by federal officials and members of the wildland firefighting community.
Six months after a U.S. Forest Service employee was arrested on suspicion of reckless burning while supervising a prescribed burn in Grant County, no formal charges have been filed in the case.
In the days that followed, the case drew national and even international media attention. It was believed to be the first time a Forest Service firefighter had ever been arrested while doing their job. The arrest was widely condemned by federal officials and members of the wildland firefighting community.
Skepticism reigns during hearing on banning Forest Service fire retardant
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Dana Christensen noted that a ruling is likely soon to follow Monday’s hearing as wildfire season in the western United States is about to commence. Along with an overarching skepticism at the nationwide impact of siding with FSEEE’s position, Christenson rejected its push for an extended buffer zone for aerial drops.
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Dana Christensen noted that a ruling is likely soon to follow Monday’s hearing as wildfire season in the western United States is about to commence. Along with an overarching skepticism at the nationwide impact of siding with FSEEE’s position, Christenson rejected its push for an extended buffer zone for aerial drops.
California wildfires grew worse. The Forest Service dropped more retardant. Did it help?
Some studies on aerial retardants conducted by a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that they can slow the spread of a fire. But the conditions in which they are dropped have a huge impact on its efficacy; high winds, weather and the type of terrain take significant tolls on whether the retardant can properly impede a fire’s progress. Now at least one group is questioning if they work, and if the benefits of using them outweigh the costs of chemicals accidentally contaminating water.
Some studies on aerial retardants conducted by a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that they can slow the spread of a fire. But the conditions in which they are dropped have a huge impact on its efficacy; high winds, weather and the type of terrain take significant tolls on whether the retardant can properly impede a fire’s progress. Now at least one group is questioning if they work, and if the benefits of using them outweigh the costs of chemicals accidentally contaminating water.
How Native American traditions control wildfires
In Happy Camp, both the Native and non-Native communities have engaged in intensive discussions about how to use cultural and prescribed burns better and more frequently. And in recent years, local students have begun visiting sites before and after prescribed burns to understand the process and observe the health of various species. Some have also started attending the prescribed burns themselves, to start getting used to what it’s like to be around flames again. “Fire can be your friend if you can learn to understand it,” Tripp said.
In Happy Camp, both the Native and non-Native communities have engaged in intensive discussions about how to use cultural and prescribed burns better and more frequently. And in recent years, local students have begun visiting sites before and after prescribed burns to understand the process and observe the health of various species. Some have also started attending the prescribed burns themselves, to start getting used to what it’s like to be around flames again. “Fire can be your friend if you can learn to understand it,” Tripp said.
The Next Fire Generation
Over the past few months, Trefny has collaborated with a diverse group of young, fire-focused leaders to develop, build power around and present a vision to the United States Forest Service (USFS), the Department of Interior (DOI) and other government officials. It’s called the FireGeneration Collaborative, or FireGen for short, and their ask is simple: to provide young people, particularly those from Indigenous and other marginalized communities, with the space to influence wildfire policy-making.
Over the past few months, Trefny has collaborated with a diverse group of young, fire-focused leaders to develop, build power around and present a vision to the United States Forest Service (USFS), the Department of Interior (DOI) and other government officials. It’s called the FireGeneration Collaborative, or FireGen for short, and their ask is simple: to provide young people, particularly those from Indigenous and other marginalized communities, with the space to influence wildfire policy-making.