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Prescribed Fire and the
Texas Panhandle Wildfires
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Last month, we mentioned this prescribed fire success story that emerged during Texas' historic wildfires earlier this year. In the Windy Deuce fire, a prescribed fire conducted just a few months earlier is credited with stopping the
flames from moving into the town of Borger. This article provides more details and covers the current conversation around fire management in the state.
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Tippin' Torch: Tips for the Season
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The classic signs southern spring and summer are appearing: the forests are green, the cicadas are singing, and the air is hot and stuffy. Above-average temperatures are likely over the next few months and as we go out into that heat to do work, let's remind ourselves about the risks and mitigations of heat-related illness. Checkout this short selection of useful resources below:
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A quick shoutout to a couple of folks that many of us already know but who recently entered new roles as Fire Ecologists with the USFS Region 8 Fire and Aviation Management. Jonathan Stober will serve as a subject matter expert for the Gulf Atlantic and Gulf Coast subregions, while Kelley Corbine's role will focus on the Interior Highlands and Southern Appalachian subregions.
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Prescribed Fire News Roundup
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Stories from the WTREX Program
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TNC's Niobrara Valley Preserve in Nebraska just hosted a successful Women-In-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (WTREX). You can find updates about that event, more information about the WTREX program, and WTREX stories in this recent post on the Fire Networks blog.
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A Novel Model of Federal-Tribal Partnership
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This
article highlights a partnership between the USFS and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma that created the first USFS-funded tribal wildland fire module which we featured early last year. The partnership offers expanded opportunities for training and experience, enhanced capacity for fire management in southern forests, and greater autonomy in the management of Tribal lands.
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Controlled Burns Mitigate Wildfire Losses in the Okefenokee
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A recent study from Tall Timbers looking at the 2017 West Mims Fire describes the beneficial effects of prescribed fire treatments in terms of reduced wildfire severity. LANDSAT satellite data showed a clear reduction in wildfire severity for areas that had been actively managed with prescribed fire compared to those that had not. The difference was stronger for areas that had seen prescribed fire more recently.
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Other Fire Highlights and News
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Fire in the Ozarks Storymap
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An excellent StoryMap by the Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium tells the history of recurrent fire in the Ozarks and
humans' role in that story. It reviews the work of researchers using dendrochronology to build records of fire histories and then reviews the stories that emerge. Although the forests of the Ozarks look very different from many of our forests here in the South, their relationships to fire have many parallels.
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USFS Podcast Features Fire in the South and Beyond
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This season of the USFS Forestcast podcast is focused on fire, including prescribed
fire in the South which is highlighted in episode three. The episode includes conversations with a couple of folks from the USFS Southern Research Station, Virginia McDaniel and Joe O'Brien.
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New Smoke Management Resources
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As the conversation about smoke management continues on, a couple more smoke resources are newly available. This fact sheet from Kansas Flint Hills Smoke Management and Great Plains Fire Science Exchange gives a quick overview of the smoke management advantages afforded by prescribed fire compared to wildfire. For a deeper dive on wildfire and prescribed fire smoke, check out this Science You Can Use document from the USFS.
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DoD's Work for Endangered Species
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In recognition of the 50th anniversary Endangered Species Act, a new video from the U.S. Department of Defense highlights some of the great work being done on DoD lands to support the conservation of threatened and endangered species, including the application of prescribed fire.
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- Funding available towards two objectives:
- Support the participation of underserved forest landowners in emerging private markets for climate mitigation or forest
resilience
- Support the participation of forest landowners who own less than 2,500 acres of forestland in emerging private markets for climate mitigation or forest resilience
- Award amount: Up to $2,000,000
- Application
Deadline: Rolling basis, quarterly
- Next Deadline: August 21, 2024
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- Multiple Locations, FL
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Deadline: May 7
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- Chatham, LA
- LA Department of Agriculture and Forestry
- Deadline: May 12
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- Multiple Locations, FL/SC/TX
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Deadline: May 16
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- Avon Park, FL
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Deadline: May 16
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- Ft. Collins, CO
- The Ember Alliance
- Open Until Filled
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- Wakefield, VA
- The Nature Conservancy
- Deadline Unknown
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- Sarasota County, FL
- Sarasota County
- Deadline Unknown
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- Tallahassee, FL
- Tall Timbers
- Deadline Unknown
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Click here for a useful resource on fire career paths.
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Fire Training Courses and Workshops
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Conferences, Meetings, and Other Events
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Share your stories, events, and information in the next issue:
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The Driptorch Digest is distributed by NC State University as a project of the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) Prescribed Fire Working Group.
NC State University promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon one’s race; color; religion (including belief and non-belief); sex, including but not limited to pregnancy, childbirth, or other related medical condition, parenting, and sexual harassment; sexual orientation; actual or perceived gender identity; age; national origin; disability; veteran status; or genetic
information.
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