Webinar
Overview: Invasive annual grasses are quickly expanding across the West, dramatically changing sagebrush country. Today we are experiencing more frequent and hotter wildfires that are harmful to communities, western lands, and wildlife. This webinar discusses the wildfire trends, identify the culprits, the impacts, and break down the challenges/opportunities.
Presenter: Michele Crist, leading landscape ecologist with the National Interagency Fire Center.
Resources and information referenced in the webinar available on the SageWest website.
For the safety of our community during this pandemic, Restoring the West has chosen to take this years conference online. Restoring the West is teaming up with the Learn at Lunch Webinar Program to bring you a virtual conference, held over two days.
Description: Fuelcasting is a new program that provides projections of expected fuel conditions this grazing season. It is an important component of the Rangeland Production Monitoring System. he 30-minute webinar provides an overview of the system, demonstrates how to download and use the data, and discusses the 2020 fuel outlook with a focus on hotspots.
Presenter: Matt Reeves, USFS RMRS scientist
This webinar will include two presentations:
Sagebrush in prisons project: Native plant propagation for restoration with Stacy Moore, Ecological Education Program Director, Institute for Applied Ecology
California sustainability in prisons project: Seed propagation of Mojave Desert native plants with Tyler Knapp, Ecological Education Coordinator, Institute for Applied Ecology
Description: Recent advances in wildland fire behavior models (e.g. FIRETEC) utilizing high spatial and temporal resolution fluid dynamics calculations have facilitated complex modeling of fire-atmospheric feedbacks. Unfortunately this fire modeling approach requires exceptional computational resources that are unlikely to be available to most wildland fire managers. QUIC-Fire is a new physics-based cellular automata fire spread tool that that offers advanced fire modeling capabilities without the demand for extraordinary computational resources. QUIC-Fire is a new step towards expanding next generation fire model access to a wider audience of practitioners and users.
Presenters: Rodd Linn, Los Alamos National Lab, Scott Goodrick, USFS Southern Research Station, Kevin Hiers, Tall Timbers Research Station.
Link to webinar recording.
Description: The avifauna within the Sky Islands of southeastern Arizona includes species found nowhere else in the United States, in part due to the availability of diverse habitats created by the mixing of Madrean and Cordilleran ecosystems. Neotropical migratory bird species visit these mountains, as well as many species typical of western North American montane forests. Birdwatchers from across the globe visit the region, providing a vibrant state and local ecotourism industry. Within the last two decades, the Sky Islands have been under increased stress associated with ongoing droughts and wildfires. Nearly every mountain range in the region has been impacted by wildfires. The largest wildfire was the 2011 Horseshoe Two Fire, which burned 90,307 hectares of the Chiricahua Mountains.
Description: Learn about the science and data used to calculate and map wildfire risk nationwide in the new Wildfire Risk to Communities website. Hear from the project’s technical lead about the use of LF and other input datasets, the methods for modeling and mapping wildfire risk, and the data products available through the website. See a demonstration of the website and how to download geospatial and tabular data.
Presenters: Greg Dillon, Frank Fay, Jim Menakis, Kelly Pohl, Joe Scott
Description: See a demonstration of the new Wildfire Risk to Communities website, including use of the interactive maps, charts, and resources available for every community, county, and state in the U.S. Learn how the website and downloadable resources can help community leaders such as elected officials, community planners, and fire managers prioritize actions to mitigate risk. Wildfire Risk to Communities is a new easy-to-use website with interactive maps, charts, and resources to help communities understand, explore, and reduce wildfire risk. It was created by the USDA Forest Service under the direction of Congress. Wildfire Risk to Communities builds on nationwide LANDFIRE data to provide new information about wildfire risk to communities across the U.S.
Presenters: Greg Dillon, Frank Fay, Jim Menakis, Kelly Pohl, Joe Scott
Webinar recording.
Description: Among the values at risk from wildfire are community drinking water supplies, as forested watersheds on public land are often a primary or significant source of drinking water. In some places across the West, watershed protection partnerships have formed to address this threat by bringing together the stakeholders of these watersheds for collaborative planning and investment in source water protection. This webinar will explore the concept of watershed protection partnerships and how they span organizational boundaries for collective action to address wildfire and other risks. We will offer lessons learned from how these partnerships have been implemented in Colorado and New Mexico, and direct implications and applications for communities in Oregon.
Presenters: Heidi Huber-Stearns, University of Oregon; Emily Jane Davis, Oregon State University
Webinar recording.
Description: Join a panel of practitioners from several realms (governmental, contracting, and non-profit) to learn how they are adapting field work plans to reduce risks to practitioners and community members in the time of COVID 19. As we are all learning and adapting to this strange new world together, we’ll wrap up with time for participants to share their own ideas and ask questions of panelists and each other.
Presenters are the following SER-NW chapter board members:
Jeff Barna an ecologist with a wide-ranging research background focusing on plants and wildlife, as well as wetland and riparian ecology. Jeff currently works for Environmental Science Associates, an employee-owned natural resource management and restoration design company. He has worked throughout the U.S., but is now happily based in the Northwest, and lives in Portland. Jeff is very passionate about engaging young people, particularly those interested in becoming ecologists because of the importance of supporting the next generation of restoration scientists.
Ben Peterson an aquatic weed biologist with the King County Noxious Weed Program in Seattle, WA, where he has worked since 2009. Over the years he has worked on restoration projects with several non-profit, for profit, and government organizations (including an internship with the Aldo Leopold foundation where he got to sleep in The Shack for a week). Ben received a MS from the University of Washington in 2008.
Regina Wandler, Stewardship Manager at Skagit Land Trust, Regina is responsible for monitoring and managing over 8,000 acres of conservation land across Skagit County. She began serving on SERNW’s board in 2015 while completing her Masters in Environmental Horticulture at the University of Washington, and is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner In Training (CERPIT).