Tools and Trainings
Tool information and access.
The frequency and severity of wildfires are changing around the country. To understand their impact on the landscape, federal agencies and states are conducting fire needs assessments. Fire needs assessments help fire stakeholders understand where, what type of, and how much fire needs to occur to reduce the destructive effects of wildfire and restore or maintain ecosystem health and resiliency.
Fire is a natural and necessary process in many ecosystems, but its role can vary widely depending on landscape conditions, ecological goals, and management history. In some places, fire is missing where it’s needed. In others, it’s occurring too frequently or with damaging severity. Understanding where and how fire should be applied—or avoided—is essential for effective landscape management.
A Fire Needs Assessment (FNA) helps land managers and ecologists evaluate the ecological role of fire across their landscapes. It provides a spatial framework for identifying where fire can support ecological health, and where it may be causing harm.
View TWIG database.
Article describes development and use of the database.
Access the portal.
Maps, data, and other resources for natural resource practitioners.
Access the App
Watch short video on using the App.
Visit website.
As a general rule, humans love trees. It’s not surprising — there’s a lot about trees to like! However, across the globe, vast swaths of the landscape are naturally treeless. In fact, they make up 40% of all terrestrial ecosystems. These meadows, grasslands, and shrublands are some of our most productive and important ecosystems, and they provide society with fertile grazing lands, open space and world-class recreation, and a remarkable diversity of unique wildlife.
Unfortunately, these grassy biomes are among the most imperiled globally, threatened by many factors including tree expansion. In the American West, conifer encroachment in core sagebrush areas results in altered fire regimes, reduced forage productivity, depleted water resources, habitat loss for sagebrush-dependent wildlife, and more.
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The USU Restoration Consortium has partnered with the NRCS West National Technology Support Center and the BLM Aquatic Resources Program to develop a standardized Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration training series. These courses are pending incorporation into AgLearn and DOI Talent. Students will also receive continuing education units (CEUs) and a professional transcript from Utah State University.
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With this training we have the opportunity to learn about Native History in the US, and the resulting trust responsibility of the federal government as a byproduct of colonization. The training then dives into Tribes present day, where sovereignty and self-determination are explored and the third module leads us into culture and identities of Indigenous Peoples across what is now known as the US, with a learning objective to “offend Natives 50% less of the time AND engage with tribes 25% more effectively!” Training background and content summary from the Nature Conservancy.
Access online training modules.
Learn how ESCAPE (WUI Fire Evacuation and Sheltering Considerations — Assessment, Planning, and Execution) provides crucial guidance for wildfire evacuation planning, enhancing life safety for civilians and first responders.
Access training videos.
This virtual- and field-based training was developed and hosted by the Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium, Lake States Fire Science Consortium, and the Huron-Manistee National Forests. The virtual event was held June 1-4, 2021, and introduced participants to:
- tools for selecting metrics that match management/restoration objectives;
- developing site-specific protocols for sampling;
- developing a monitoring handbook and monitoring protocols/program for your local ecosystems;
- how to establish long-term monitoring and quantitative/qualitative data for wildfire risk assessment;
- evaluating the need for prescribed burns and other fuels treatments.
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Technical transfer requires significant time, skills, and expertise, which are rarely explicitly taught or supported. Thus, many people engage in technical transfer with limited capacity or resources. Led by the Institute for Natural Resources and the Intermountain West Joint Venture, the Sagebrush Technical Transfer Network seeks to equip those who support others in using technical information with resources, training, and a professional network to support and strengthen their technical transfer work.