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January 2017 Newsletter
In This Issue
Whitebark Pine Workshop Recordings Available
If you missed the 2016 Whitebark Pine Science and Management Workshop, September 16-18 in Whitefish, MT, you can still learn from the event.
The workshop theme was Whitebark Pine - Successes and Challenges in Managing the Jewel in the Crown of the Continent. Indoor science presentations covered the full range of whitebark pine restoration and conservation topics. Field trips on Saturday and Sunday toured portions of the Whitefish Mountain Resort and Glacier National Park and included recognition of the first "Whitebark Friendly” ski area and whitebark pine tree climbing and cone collecting demonstrations.
Recorded science presentations are now available on our past event page, and highlights from the field trip to Whitefish Mountain are captured in the field trip summary, Conserving whitebark pine in ski areas. |
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Cohesive Strategy Workshop
The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (NCWFMS) Workshop will be held April 25-27 in Reno, NV. The purpose of this workshop is to provide a clear understanding of the importance and role of science in Cohesive Strategy planning and implementation.
The call for proposals is now open and closes February 3, 2017. Workshop hosts, the International Association of Wildland Fire and NCWFMS, are seeking presentations with examples or case studies where research has been implemented to produce a positive outcome for one or more of the Cohesive Strategy's goals:
- Resilient landscapes
- Fire-adapted communities
- Safe and effective wildfire response
For more information about the workshop, its focus, goals, and potential presentation formats, see the event website. |
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Sage-Grouse Habitat Burned in 2016
As of October 3, 2016, nearly 175,000 acres of greater sage-grouse habitat burned in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The largest acreage burned by state was Idaho with almost 105,000 total acres burned, 55,000 acres of which was land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and about 24,000 of which was privately owned.
Complete details on acreage of greater sage-grouse habitats burned in the northwestern US by state and jurisdiction are available in the Wildland Fire Management Decision Support System report.
More information on these data is available in this table. |
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Gender Discrimination in Wildland Fire
The Association for Fire Ecology (AFE) recently released a position paper on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in wildland fire management. The paper analyzes current research and summarizes results of a 350-person survey of those working in the field of wildland fire. On December 1, this paper was submitted to U.S. congress' House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that addresses harassment and discrimination in the USDA and USFS.
Of the AFE survey respondents:
- 54% observed gender discrimination of others, and 44% personally experienced discrimination
- 64% of respondents experiencing sexual harassment and 60% experiencing gender discrimination did not report it
- 58% of the time, those who reported sexual harassment were supported by their manager, but those who reported gender discrimination were only supported 28% of the time
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At a Glance - Southwestern Crown Collaborative
The Southwestern Crown Collaborative (SWCC), an NRFSN partner, is working to sustain and restore the Southwestern Crown landscape to provide for the full array of ecosystem services and economic and social benefits.
The SWCC landscape is 1.5 million acres and includes the southern boundary of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the lower elevation forests and communities of the Blackfoot, Clearwater, and Swan River valleys.
The SWCC has been a partner of the NRFSN on several past and upcoming projects including the Collaborative Fuels Reduction and Restoration field trip in 2014, the Landscape-Level Restoration workshop in December 2016 at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, and the Era of Megafires presentation, which will be traveling through western Montana in late April 2017 thanks to the efforts of many partners. |
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National Wilderness Training Center Staff Changes
 Connie Myers, Director of the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center (ACNWTC) has retired after 25 years of service. Connie was the founding director of the ACNWTC and its interagency mission, which she believed was best for US taxpayers and wilderness.
 Acting Director, Laura Rotegard, joined the staff in October. Laura has more than 30 years experience with the National Park Service, where she was a four-time superintendent and led the Albright Training Center at the Grand Canyon. |
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New Lessons Learned Center Assistant Director
 John “Alex” Viktora has been named the Assistant Director for the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC). He replaces David Christenson who retired in January 2014. Alex has more than 19 years of fire experience. He worked in Fire Effects, on a Type 6 Engine, and on a Fire Use Module in Zion National Park. He was the Field Operations Specialist for the Fire Use Training Academy at the National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute. Since 2013, he served as the Field Operations Specialist with the LCC.
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