Wildfire Wednesdays #32: WWL Postponed - Fire and Fauna Webinar Series - After the Flames Webinar

Hi Fireshed Members,

Wildfire Wednesdays Live is postponed for tonight.

A recent study from the Blue Mountain ecoregion in Northeastern Oregon found that beliefs about future wildfire risks were largely independent of political beliefs and people accurately agreed about the rising frequency of large wildfires and expect this trend to continue. Regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, let’s continue to work together toward the shared goal of wildfire adapted communities.

This week’s Wildfire Wednesday’s features:

• The Fire and Fauna webinar series hosted by the Forest Service

• After the Flames Webinar hosted by The National Cohesive Strategy

Thanks,

Gabe

Fire and Fauna Webinar Series

Wildfire and prescribed fire effects on wildlife

November 16th-20, 2020 at 2-3pm EST

These land-manager focused webinars will highlight the latest science on fire and wildlife. Sessions are open to all – internal and external participants welcome. Three short thematic presentations each day followed by Q&A and discussion. Participation provides continuing education credits for Certified Wildlife Biologist Renewal/ Professional Development Certificate Program.

To learn more, click here.

After the Flames Webinar

Actionable Best Practices for Communities and Agencies Impacted by Wildfire

December 3rd, 2020 1:00pm – 3:00pm MST

What does current science and experience tell us about the near and long-term impacts of fire on water quality and how to recover?

The Western Region of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and Cohesive Strategy is sponsoring this webinar as part of their focus on mitigating post fire impacts. Please take a look, consider registering and share through your networks. These topics are front and center in the west.

To learn more, and to register for this webinar, click here.

Wildfire Wednesdays #31

Hi Fireshed Members,

Good news. If stored properly, some of the flammable vegetation that you may have cleared from the 30’ area around your house will make great firewood as we head into the colder months. I hope you all are healthy, safe, and warm.

This week’s Wildfire Wednesday features:

• An online discussion about the real estate industry’s response to increased wildfire risk

• Fire Has a Role: An Educational Campaign

• Success Story: EMNRD Forestry Division and Partners Provide Fuelwood to New Mexico Native American Tribes During COVID-19 Restrictions

 Best,

Gabe

Calling all Real Estate Agents

Bigger, hotter, and more frequent wildfires are causing increasing amounts of infrastructure destruction, economic hardship, and trauma across the United States. Join the Urban Land Institute (ULI) for a discussion on why wildfire risks and impacts are increasing around the U.S. and how the real estate industry is responding with building design, land use policy, and community resilience solutions. The webinar will feature private- and public-sector experts who are implementing wildfire resilience solutions in their markets and who will share best practices and lessons learned. The webinar will also feature key findings from a new ULI report on wildfire resilience and real estate, to be published Fall 2020.

Webinar Friday, October 30th, at 11:00am mountain time.

To Register for the Webinar, Click Here.

Fire Has a Role

For those of you that missed the presentation at WUFS last week, be sure to check out Fire has a Role. Fire Has a Role is a wildfire awareness campaign focused on sharing the benefits of fire. They have an interactive educational trailer that can be brought to events to help share information with the public about the ecological role of fire. Although they are out of the Prescott National Forest, this approach to education and outreach is exciting.

You can connect with Fire Has a Role by clicking here

To view their presentation slides from the Wildland Urban Fire Summit, click here.

EMNRD Forestry Division and Partners Provide Fuelwood to New Mexico Native American Tribes During COVID-19 Restrictions 

SANTA FE, NM – The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Forestry Division, and its cooperators are working in partnership with New Mexico’s Native American Tribes, Pueblos, and Nations to help elderly and other residents unable to gather fuelwood due to a court-ordered injunction against forest management in Mexican spotted owl habitat and COVID-19 restrictions.

To read the full story, click here.

Santa Fe Water Planning Survey 2020

Please take the time to provide your input!

The City of Santa Fe Water (City) and Santa Fe County Utilities (County) are initiating a science-based, community informed, five-year planning cycle to develop long range water resource management plans—and they would like our input!

Please take the time to provide your input here. You can also help by spreading the word to your neighbors and friends and sharing this blog.

Understanding that successful planning for our water future requires participation and collaboration of both water managers and water users, the City and County are committed to engaging the broad diversity of area water users and stakeholders in this planning process. 

The City and County have partnered to develop a public engagement plan that provides a basic framework for a variety of opportunities for public input into a proposed planning cycle.  These opportunities include a general overview webinar and virtual small discussion group meetings in October, and an electronic survey available now. Details for these public engagement opportunities and additional information about the planning process and public engagement opportunities is also available on the City of Santa Fe Water website: https://www.santafenm.gov/water_division. 

Wildfire Wednesdays #30: Wildfire Wednesdays Live - Summary of Funding Opportunities

Hi Fireshed Members,

Our thoughts are with Mora and Colfax County communities that are being effected by the Luna Fire burning on The Carson National Forest. We especially recognize the hard work of our first responders during the 2020 fire season.

We can all support our first responders by opening up discussion about wildfire preparedness in our communities and by taking action to get good fire back on the landscape. Talk to your neighbors about the difference between prescribed fire and wildfire. If you don’t know what to say, use your network to find the best available information about your concerns.

This Wildfire Wednesday features:

• Wildfire Wednesday Live: Meet Research Ecologist Ellis Margolis

• A Summary of Funding Opportunities for Wildfire Mitigation

Thanks!

Gabe

Wildfire Wednesdays Live: Meet Research Ecologist Ellis Margolis

Join us tonight at 6 p.m. (MT) to learn more about how dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) informs our understanding of fire’s role in forest ecosystems! We will be monitoring and answering questions during the Wildfire Wednesday Live Event hosted by the Greater Santa Fireshed Coalition.

To access the livestream, click here. https://www.facebook.com/santafeNF

Featured Speaker: Ellis Margolis, Ph.D. - Research Ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New Mexico Landscapes Field Station, based in Santa Fe, NM. #WildfireWednesday

 

A Summary of Funding Opportunities for Wildfire Mitigation

This is an excellent resource. Have you wondered how to get funding to complete wildfire mitigation projects in your community?

Take a look at the attached document to see a list of funding opportunities that are available to you in New Mexico. Be aware that some of these opportunities are internal to agencies and would require collaboration with your local agency representatives. Reach out to others in the FAC NM network if you have questions about how to approach these various programs.

To view the full summary, click here.

Wildfire Wednesdays #29: Becoming a Fireshed Ambassador - Pyne Article - Virtual Fire Summit

Hi Fireshed Members,  

There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition in 2021. In the wake of the uncharacteristically destructive 2020 wildfire season, we all want to develop the community connections and wildfire mitigation projects that will keep us safe in 2021. To help us make strides towards a community wildfire resilience, help The Fireshed identify and recruit community ambassadors this Fall and Winter! Full details are below.  

This Wildfire Wednesdays features:  

• Information on recruiting or becoming a Fireshed Ambassador for your community 

• Why We Must Learn to Live with Fire: An Article by Stephen Pyne 

• 2020 Virtual Wildland Urban Fire Summit Next Week: Join for Free! 

Thanks,  

Gabe 

Becoming a Fireshed Ambassador 

The Fireshed Neighborhood Ambassador approach means engaging with your neighborhood to help them understand their wildfire risk and encourage and motivate residents to take action to reduce that risk. This approach builds community and promotes taking personal responsibility for where you live – which is in a fire adapted ecosystem! Within this program, offerings can be tailored to the needs and context of a community while still meeting the overarching purpose.

For full information on becoming a Fireshed Ambassador, click here.

There are numerous benefits to the Fireshed Ambassador approach - whether you are an Ambassador or a community member working with your local ambassador.

• Engaging your neighbors to take action in targeted high wildfire risk neighborhoods

• Accomplishing actions like improving egress and access, reflective signage, home hardening and evacuation preparedness projects in addition to fuels reduction around homes.

• Enhancing relationships with fire departments and local forest and fire professionals

• Building a network of residents who can share their experiences and help other residents as they begin their efforts for the benefit of the whole community.

• Building a network of supporters who can encourage and support city and county wildfire policies and codes.

• Increasing community capacity and preparedness in the event of a wildfire.

Our Burning Planet: Why We Must Learn to Live with Fire 

KYLE GRILLOT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

By suppressing all wildfires and incessantly burning fossil fuels, humans have upset the role that fire has historically played in providing ecological balance. We need to rethink our view of fire and accept its presence by changing how we manage lands and plan our communities. 

In his article “Our Burning Planet: Why We Must Learn to Live with Fire,” environmental and fire historian Stephen Pyne describes three important paradoxes:  

1. The more people attempt to take fire out of places that have co-evolved or co-existed with it, the more conditions change that worsen the fire scene. 

2. Despite the expansion of feral flames, so abundantly recorded in global media, the amount of land burned on Earth continues to shrink. 

3. As we ratchet down our binge-burning of lithic landscapes by cutting our use of fossil fuels, we will have to ratchet up our burning of living landscapes. 

To read the full article, click here. 

2020 Virtual Wildland Urban Fire Summit: Join for Free 

Join this informative event, next week. 

Fire season is a challenging time let alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local governments, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations that have a passion for fire prevention will host a virtual NM Wildland Urban Fire Summit (WUFS) on Thursday, October 22 and Friday October 23, 2020. The event provides a continuous effort among community leaders, fire responders, and government personnel to share the latest techniques, cohesive strategies, and resources for wildfire adaption and economic resiliency, wildfire preparedness, and planning.   

Registration is open until the day of the summit at no charge. Registration is available at https://www.nmcounties.org/calendar/.