Planning Smokey Bear’s Retirement
Animal mascots are effective for engaging information with children. Animal mascots are relatable to children and are engaging to a child's imagination and creativity, and helps to draw their attention to playful characters that can emphasize the retention of learning the material being presented.
National Parks Need More Employees, not Less
Politicians who want to conceal their actions often do things on Friday afternoon to avoid the attention of the media. Last Friday, the Trump regime fired hundreds of people in agencies that protect our environment. The Environmental Protection Agency, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service and the National Park Service all saw staff fired.
Leather Hinges
Blow-up conditions, fire-freed rocks blasting downhill, and stealthy snags falling without warning remain dangerous on all fires and keep ethical wildland firefighters vigilant for safety. But the privilege of being there often allows intimate observation of rudimentary ecosystem change.
Grizzly Bear territory in the past, no doubt. Will it become Grizzly territory again? Right now in this area, young subalpine fir and a lot of lodgepole pine seem to be crowding out the white bark pine that Grizzlies favor as food sources.
Colorado Condensate
Lots of wildland fire workers enjoy being a part of the virtuous fire cycle and pridefully protect human structures. But many times unknown circumstances compromise their safety.
From the air, we got a good look of the millions of years old interplay of wildland fires’ creative destruction and promise of rebirth, renewal and vibrant growth on this landscape of piñon, juniper, and sagebrush. We also saw the encroaching fossil fuel infrastructure that sprawled as gigantic spider webs of pipelines binding derelict carcasses of rusting storage tanks and decaying pump jacks.
Meditations with Wildland Firefighters
I had the pleasure and privilege of representing FUSEE at a 6-day mindfulness retreat for 24 wildland firefighters (current, former, and retired) in mid-January at Great Vow Zen Monastery. Helena put in much of the leg work on FUSEE’s behalf with the three facilitators in planning and leading up to the retreat. Late into the planning process, I asked if I could join and I was tasked with going to observe and help determine whether this would be a good thing for FUSEE to continue to sponsor and support in the future. I also have a background in mental health, prior to my administrative and nonprofit law work, and I worked in few different roles for mental health organizations after majoring in Psychology in college.
Undulating Undulates
Wildland fire workers’ “Ethics” contemplates “Ecology” within the Golden Rule. Sometimes institutional biases prevent participants from doing the right thing, still wildlands abide.
From the plane I saw the herd of elk below. Our airplane and jumpers floating into the meadow jumpspot must have disturbed them. The elk herd began to stampede.
Disaster and Dishonesty in the California Fires
As a society, we cannot function well if misinformation comes from the President of the United States. If Trump chooses to be ignorant or half-informed on issues, that’s our problem. When he shares false narratives with the public to divide people and promote conservative interests over the public interest, we must call him on it and make sure people know he is misleading us.
The recent fires burning suburban areas of Los Angeles have raised political tensions during widespread property damage and human suffering. Trump used the fire disasters as a wedge issue and to demand that California implement unrelated pro-industry policies. He even demanded that California institute voter suppression laws (voter ID requirements) of the sort that helped him to get elected in swing states. He implied he would withhold federal disaster aid unless his conditions were met.
Whistling Past Catastrophe
Maybe after the endless Russiagate recitations America is experiencing “scandal fatigue” with regard to President Musk, or Trump, or whoever is driving this crazy train. Why else would Trump get a pass on the very real scandal emerging from his first two weeks in office?
When Santa Ana winds made a late appearance early in January and found an abundance of available desiccated vegetation, it should have not been surprising that fires would occur. When they did, bringing enormous property damage and lives lost, prominent conservatives attributed the perceived inadequate response to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. They argued that prioritizing DEI initiatives somehow compromised the effectiveness of firefighting efforts.
“I’m Receiving That”
They came because they grieved a loved one, friend, or fellow wildland firefighter lost to accident or suicide. They came because they grieved the loss of love. They came because they grieved lost time with family members, especially growing children and ailing family members, while on assignment. And they grieved for the earth in a thousand ways.
They came from everywhere: Oregon, Idaho, the Southwest, the Midwest, and Alaska--the latter in most notable numbers. The Alaska Fire Service is embracing mindfulness as valuable skills training for their wildland firefighters. In increasing numbers, fire management agencies are paying travel and training expenses for their employees to attend mindfulness retreats that can last a week or more.
Down Air Prickly Pear
Frontline wildland fire workers usually stay “United” in solidarity for survival when facing danger or “bad deals.” They help each other and enjoy the hardship and hilarity endemic to wildfires.
Blistering deserts, steep, tall mazes draped in tangled, stoic forests, the Gila can be unforgiving. That’s why you’re gotta trust your wildland firefighting partner to support and be there for you.
L.A. Burning: 2024 Wildfire/Climate in Review
Sunset Boulevard lies in ruins in Pacific Palisades where hydrants ran dry, millions are without power, and authorities say the worst is still to come. Some inhabitants are surrounded by large fires, and over a hundred thousand residents are under evacuation orders. There are at least 1,100 structures lost with tens of thousands more in harms way.
Fire Dancers
Recently, I had a delightful and captivating experience observing a group of magnificent entertainers who danced with a myriad of flaming iron torches. Swaying, twirling, swirling, these dancers of flames excavated a forgotten incident from the creaking edge of my memory.
(photo credit: @brexi-brexifer)
Lawmakers Are Failing Federal Wildland Firefighters-Our Public Lands Will Pay the Price
Federal wildland firefighters aren’t just emergency responders; they are the frontline stewards of over 600 million acres of public land in the United States. Their work extends far beyond suppressing wildfires.
Prescribed Fire at Mt. Pisgah: A Day of Renewal and Reflection
October 3rd, 2024 wasn’t just any day. In fact, for fire ecology experts and enthusiasts alike, it happened to be the perfect day. Just the evening before, my email pinged. It was the message I had been highly anticipating this fall, from Pisgah's Volunteer and Intern Coordinator, Jared Tarr.
It was go-time: prescribed fire was to be implemented the morning of Oct. 3rd, on the east side of Howard Buford Recreation Area.
Fly on the Wall: The Northwest Forest Plan Federal Advisory Committee meeting in Eugene (Part 1)
The Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) working on the USFS' Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) amendment held their third in-person meeting in Eugene, Oregon in January. Comprised of 21 volunteers representing diverse interests and groups from across the Pacific Northwest, the FAC has done a remarkable job of producing policy recommendations for the upcoming Environmental Impact Statement. In fact, they delivered 81 single-spaced, double-sided pages full of recommendations divided among the six subcommittees they created (Climate, Fire resilience, Old-growth, Tribal inclusion, Communities, and Biodiversity).
Northwest Forest Plan Amendment: Categories of Focus
With the initial round of public comments and meetings amongst the FAC coming to a close, the focus of the upcoming NWFP amendment will be honing in on protections for old-growth forests, tribal inclusion, and fire resilience. It is clear that current policies that aim to suppress fire have failed to protect native old-growth forest ecosystems, as fire suppression has resulted in uncontrollable wildfires. Old-growth forest ecosystems are one of the planet’s biggest carbon sinks and offer a natural solution to the climate crisis. Logging is one of the region's largest sources of carbon emissions. The NWFP amendment needs to protect forests from commercial logging that removes the most carbon-rich, fire-resilient trees.
Failed National Park Proposal Could Have Displaced the Manhattan Project
Just about anyone who lives in the Los Alamos area recognizes the stunning scenery that we live among daily. Who can ignore the view from the Main Hill Road, looking at the beautiful cliffs, canyons, and distant mountains? But how many people know that there was a big movement to create a new national park in the Los Alamos area before the Manhattan Project?
Between 1905 and 1930, various bills in Congress would have created a national park in the Los Alamos area. Had the bills passed, the Manhattan Project and LANL likely would have been located elsewhere.
Fire Hiring
We have a National Strategy for updating our response to ever-hotter wildfires. With years of learning, careful consultation, and consideration, the Cohesive Wildfire Strategy offers a chance to respond to climate change and its effect on wildfires. But will personnel problems in our federal agencies sabotage the National Strategy?
Driven by the FLAME Act of 2009, the National Strategy gives energy and coherence to fire management during climate change. Inherent in this national strategy is an assumption that governments on all levels can hire a skilled workforce to respond to fires in ever more creative ways over the next few decades.
Review of "Ignition: Lighting Fires in a Burning World" by M.R. O'Connor
I must say I loved this new book by nature and science writer M.R. O’Connor. “Ignition” has O’Connor spending significant time away from her partner and home in New York as she enters the world of fire practitioners plying their trade as nomadic pyrotechnicians, burn bosses and controlled fire specialists. These are wildland firefighters, many of whom maintain the same credentials as local, State and Federal wildland firefighters. Known as the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), this body sets training and experience requirements for the many specialized roles that wildland firefighters fill on both wildland and prescribed fires.