Registration is open! On June 16th, 2022, NRFSN will be hosting in-person field trips planned in two locations with partners from the Bureau of Land Management Missoula Field Office and the Flathead National Forest. Field trip presenters will share past experience with planning, implementation, and fire effects of prescribed burning in lodgepole or subalpine forests with mixed- or high-severity fire regimes. After a two-year hiatus from in-person events, we look forward to bringing researchers and managers together on the ground to share knowledge on this topic. 

Participants can choose to attend the field trip in the Blackfoot watershed east of Missoula, MT, or the Flathead National Forest near Whitefish, MT. Details and registration can be found here.

A recent collaboration by ~90 tree-ring and fire-scar scientists has resulted in the upcoming publication of the newly compiled North American Tree-Ring Fire-Scar Network (NAFSN), which contains 2,562 sites, more than 37,000 fire-scarred trees, and covers large parts of North America. We will add the publication to the NRFSN publication database when it is available - Margolis, Q. E, Guiterman, C. H, …L. L. Yocom. in press. The North American tree-ring fire-scar network. Ecosphere.

In the meantime, an upcoming webinar will present major findings from the publication, demonstrate data accessibility, highlight management applications, and discuss future steps planned for the NAFSN. The webinar is hosted by the national Joint Fire Science Program Fire Science Exchange Network.

Registration and information.

The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station recently published a Science You Can Use Roundup that provides information on six fire management tools: Potential Operational Delineations (PODs), WindNinja, WildfireSAFE, the Aviation Use Summary (AUS), Wildfire Risk to Communities, and the Fireshed Registry.

If you would like the Science You Can Use Roundups, Bulletins and upcoming events delivered to your inbox, sign up here.

Finding and downloading LANDFIRE data just got easier. The newly updated interactive viewer from LANDFIRE offers a simplified interface, streamlined downloads, and improvements in data layer visualization.

For more information, read the latest LANDFIRE newsletter.

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center is celebrating 20 years of work to improve safe work performance and organizational learning for wildland firefighters. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture recognized this milestone in a joint memorandum to the Forest Service, BIA, BLM, NPS, and FWS that voiced their support and appreciation for leadership through the past two fire seasons, the continued support for the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, and their shared vision for the investments provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

From an April USDA Forest Service Press Release: "This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most important milestones in wildland fire research history. In 1972, Richard C. Rothermel published his pioneering modeling work. It remains the most widely used tool for wildfire behavior modeling, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The “Rothermel Model” is embedded in dozens of computerized fire behavior systems used for fire management planning, training and operational predictions."

While recognizing the importance of Rothermel's model, scientists at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory are working to incorporate the latest science into a new fire spread model, to "meet the challenge of today's fire." See and hear more about those efforts in a new video from Freethink: The scientists decoding the ancient mystery of fire.

NRFSN Advisory Board member Diane Abendroth, along with Chip Collins, began new appointments in early May as Regional Fire Planners for the National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Region. In these positions, Diane and Chip will provide expertise and oversight for strategic wildland fire planning efforts in national park sites across eight states.

Formerly, Diane served as the Fire Ecologist for Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest for 15 years. Chip served for 12 years as the NPS Wyoming Group Fire Management Officer.

Diane has been a valued Advisory Board member since the inception of the NRFSN. We look forward to continued networking with the NPS and the Intermountain Region!

Congratulations Diane and Chip! 

--Adapted from an InsideNPS press release


Photo Credit: NPS