Firewise Communities

Welcome to the Firewise Forum Blog. We invite you to post responses to the entries on the page. You can do this by accessing the 'Comments' area under any of the articles. The blog moderator reviews all comments for their relevancy to the wildland/urban interface fire issue, and for their content. No commercial entries will be accepted. All approved submissions will be posted.

Conference Highlights- Reframing WUI Fire Disasters: A New Approach

In case you missed it, we have posted the special panel discussion from last week's conference entitled "Reframing Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Disasters: A New Approach."

The panel discussion features Jack D. Cohen, Research Physical Scientist, USDA Forest Service, Sarah McCaffrey, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service, and Scott Shuford, NOAA and Shuford Planning Services. The panel discussed the historic and social aspects of how decades of fire exclusion in the WUI has increased the probabilities and risks from wildfire threat, and the impact of climate change on wildfires.

(Note: Due to the length of the video, it may take some time to load depending on your connection speed. Please be patient. To view the video in full size, please click here.)

Labels: Firewise, Forest Service, Jack Cohen, Sarah McCaffrey, Scott Shuford

Blogging from Backyards and Beyond

Greetings from Tampa, Florida! This week, Tampa is home to not only great weather but also the third biennial Backyards and Beyond wildfire education conference and several hundred members of the wildfire community from across the country--and the globe!

This year's conference includes representatives from Firewise Communities/USA sites from across the country, community leaders, residents, firefighters, Firewise state liaisons, and wildfire experts from several countries including Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom, and Canada.

This morning we heard remarks from Charles Bronson, Commissioner of Florida Department Agriculture and Consumer Services, James Karels, Director of the Florida Division of Forestry, and a great panel of Firewise experts about the roles and responsibilities in preventing wildfire in the Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI). The group discussion, moderated by Patty Salkin of Albany (NY) Law School, examined a series of hypothetical situations that confront residents, firefighters, planners, developers, and elected officials everyday in the WUI. It was an interesting presentation and reiterated the fact that it really is everyone's responsibility in the real world.

There is still quite a bit to come tomorrow and Saturday, including the presentation of the 2008 Firewise Leadership Award Winners, but I'll leave you with this quote I overhead while leaving a conference session today:

"This is the third Firewise conference I've attended and it's not only a great opportunity to see old friends, but it's incredible to see how far this issue and the Firewise program have come since the first conference four years ago."

More to come...

Labels: backyards and beyond, conference, Firewise, Florida, wildfires

Idaho Statesman series examines fire policy and Firewise successes

The Idaho Statesman is running a series of insightful articles examining the state of wildfires and wildfire policy in the U.S., specifically in the western part of the country. Check out the series, which will conclude this Sunday (July 27). The first of the three articles, entitled "Are we wasting billions fighting wildfires?" explores whether a focus on suppression is the most effective, efficient, or safe appproach. The article includes discussion on the science of fire behavior and a "tale of two towns" - one that had employed Firewise concepts and one that had not. The sidebar on the site features six success stories from communities that "did it right." (Shameless Plug: visit the Firewise Communities/USA page for a look at about 350 communities we think are "doing it right.") Part two of the series, Firefighting burns money, manpower, focuses on the escalating costs of fighting wildfires at the expense of other land management and recreation programs. The third article is expected this weekend, carrying the following teaser: "Science and money demand change, but politics and Western culture resist it." Check out the series and come back to the Firewise Forum to tell us what you think.

Labels: fire policy, fire wise, Firewise, Idaho Statesman, mitigation, wildfires


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