Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Northeast Region
Helicopter flies over a forest fire.
Pagami Creek Fire, Superior NF, Minnesota, September 2011. (Photo: Kari Greer)
Resilient Landscapes - Fire-Adapted Communities - Safe and Effective Wildfire Response 
The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) provides executive leadership, coordination, and guidance to carry out the Northeast Regional Action Plan while providing a forum for members to guide strategic direction for fire and land management activities. The NE RSC continues to collaboratively recognize, support, and help with National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy goals and implementation efforts.

NE RSC Chair: Brad Simpkins, New Hampshire State Forester
In This Issue
Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy Key Contacts
Chair

New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands

172 Pembroke Road

PO Box 1856

Concord, NH 03302-1856

 

Maureen Brooks

Communications Working Group Lead

U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF

 

Larry Mastic

Coordinator, Northeast Region

Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Important Links

Forest Fire Compacts





Quick Links



Science and Joint Fire Science Consortiums & Exchanges






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July 2016

50th Annual Meeting of Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors in Pennsylvania  
Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors 50th Anniversary logo.From June 20 to 24, the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry (NA S&PF) Fire and Aviation Staff and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Bureau of Forestry hosted the 50th meeting of Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors (NFFS) in Valley Forge, PA. NFFS was established in Pennsylvania with members from both State and Federal agencies. Its mission is to improve efficiency in the protection of rural land and wildland from damage by fire as well as promote development of wildland fire equipment, techniques, training, and safety.
A group of people pose in front of a large stone archway.
Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors meeting attendees pose for a picture at Valley Forge National Historical Park, PA, June 23, 2016. (Photo: Maris Gabliks)
 
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service North East Region's 2016 Prescribed Burn Season: Partners in Success
By Gerald Vickers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
 
[Ed. Note: Many thanks to Gerald Vickers, Regional Fire Management Specialist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) Region 5 Fire Management, Cambridge, MD, for providing this article chronicling some of the many often unrecognized contributions made by the USF&WS and their many partners of the Northeast Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy in restoring and maintaining resilient landscapes in the challenging environment of the Northeast.]
 
"The dangers of excluding natural fire include large and damaging fires resulting from the accumulation of flammable vegetation above historic levels; loss of life or serious injury to firefighters and the public; property loss and damage; adverse health effects and impaired visibility from intense or extended periods of unmanageable smoke; loss of plant and animal species and their habitats; and damage to soils, watersheds, and water quality."
(Living With Fire 2012).

When we refer to the three goals of the Cohesive Strategy--Restoring Resilient Landscapes, Creating Fire Adapted Communities, and Responding to Wildfire--the Mid-Atlantic States and Federal partners are setting a high-reaching bar. This year's season appeared to get off to a slow start. Normally, winter is when we begin our
Marsh burns at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge. In an average year approximately 8,000 acres of burning is accomplished. This year we were able to complete 3,800 acres total. Time and again the weather did not cooperate and our efforts were obstructed. Finally, Mother Nature gave us a much-needed break and afforded us the opportunity to open up areas in the region that proved to be both rewarding and challenging to burn.

 
Flames burn common reed, a grassy plant.
Common reed burns fast, so helping control this invasive plant with fire helps reduce fire risk, too. (Photo: Tom MacKenzie/USFWS)
U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry Has New Landscape Scale Conservation Web Site

Photo overlooking a river with open space and forested areas.
Bird's-eye view of the Merrimack River near Lawrence, Massachusetts. (Photo: William Frament, U.S. Forest Service)

The U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry has recently set up a new Web site, Landscape Scale Conservation in the Northeast and Midwest. This Web site supports the Cohesive Strategy by providing an inventory of many of the landscape scale conservation efforts occuring in the Northeast and Midwest.

For example, two recently published reports include:
 
Federally Led Landscape Scale Conservation Initiatives in the Northeast and Midwest provides an inventory of initiatives led by the U.S. Forest Service and other Federal agencies (e.g., Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior).

Multi-State Priority Areas in the Northeast and Midwest and Multi-State Priority Issues in the Northeast and Midwest each summarize and compile the priorities that State Forestry agencies identified in their 2010 State Forest Action Plans. These documents identify existing partnerships as well as opportunities for cooperation.
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Studying WUI Fires in Pennsylvania
Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network logo.
June 30, 2016

View down a highway on a sunny day in winter with snow covered hills in the distance.

When it comes to wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, most people think only the western states have that problem.
 
Many of us who respond to wildfires in the East know better. It is the norm for our station, Penn Forest Fire Control Station, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, to have a structure of some kind or another mixed in with our wildfire.
 
Pennsylvania ranks fifth in the US for the percentage of houses in the WUI, with over 2 million houses (The 2010 Wildland-Urban Interface of the Conterminous United States, 2015).
 
 

A Special July Webinar
Finding the Best Science Available on Fire Ecology and Fire Regimes in Eastern Ecosystems
Logos for North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange, Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists, Lake States Fire Science Consortium, and Joint Fire Science Program.

July 27, 2016

1 PM ET/ 12 PM CT/ 11 PM MT

Robin Innes and Ilana Abrahamson

U.S. Forest Service

 

Join us for our next Webinar in cooperation with the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange and Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists highlighting the new fire features of the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS)  

 

Managers and planners need scientifically sound information on historical fire regimes and contemporary changes in fuels and fire regimes to make informed management decisions. To address this need, two new fire regime publications--Fire Regime Reports and Fire Regime Syntheses--are now available and spatially searchable in the recently updated user interface for the FEIS.


Source: Lake States Fire Science Consortium, April 2016 Newsletter


Conferences, Meetings, and Training Opportunities

 
October 20-30, 2016
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY
 
An Instructional, Practical and Pragmatic Approach to Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation
December 6-8, 2016
Mystic, CT
Contact your state or provincial forest fire prevention specialist in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic
 
Conferences and Meetings

 

--National-- 

NASF 2016 Annual Meeting

September 19-22, 2016 

Savannah, GA

Hilton Savannah DeSoto 

The Georgia Forestry Commission is pleased to partner with the NASF to bring together the nation's forestry and wildfire leaders at the beautiful Hilton Desoto in historic downtown Savannah, GA. NASF looks forward to hosting you for an exceptional week of business, learning, and networking. Register today. More information.

2016 Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference October 17-19, 2016
LaCrosse, WI
Contact the
Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium if you are interested in contributing to a special session about suppressing invasive plants using integrated treatment that includes prescribed fire.  

2nd International Smoke Symposium
November 14-17, 2016
Long Beach, CA
The Call for Presentations, Posters, and Special Sessions closes on May 16.   

3rd Southwest Fire Ecology Conference 
Beyond Hazard Fuels: Managing Fire for Social, Economic, and Ecological Benefits
November 28 - December 2, 2016
Tucson, AZ
Now Accepting Submissions for Special Sessions, Workshops and Trainings
and Attached Meetings. Call for oral and poster presentation abstract submissions opened April 1. Early Bird Registration opens June 1.

Save-the-Date: 7th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress
November 28 - December 2, 2017
Orlando, FL
Buena Vista Palace Spa and Hotel 

The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) delivers articles and stories each month that demonstrate the collaborative efforts of agencies, organizations and communities supporting and promoting the three goals of the Cohesive Strategy: Restoring Resilient Landscapes, Creating Fire Adapted Communities and Responding to Wildfire. 

 

This news update is our primary communication tool with our partners and the public. Looking for more Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy information or past published news update issues? Visit this Web site.

 

Does your agency, organization, or community have a project or event you'd like to see featured in the NE RSC News Update? 

 

Tell us about it! Just contact Larry Mastic.
Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry | 304-285-1524 | [email protected] | http://www.na.fs.fed.us
11 Campus Blvd
Suite 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073