Overview
In 2023, the NW Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), US Forest Service (USFS) R6 Ecology Program, Northern Rockies Fire Science Network (NRFSN), and Northwest Fire Science Consortium (NWFSC), came together to implement a hybrid virtual/fieldbased monitoring workshop modeled after the excellent 2021 training that was developed by the Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium, the Lake States Fire Science Consortium, and the Huron-Manistee National Forests. Building off the recorded videos provided by the 2021 event, the 2023 workshop supplemented in additional live virtual and in-person training from local experts in the NW and Rocky Mountain Regions. Field days were hosted on the Warm Springs and the Spokane Reservations, with each focusing on specific questions that the Tribe and hosts wanted to address with their monitoring. This allowed participants to not only get an opportunity to practice baseline fire effects monitoring protocol, but also to modify standard protocols to the objectives and questions being asked by the host agency in their unique ecosystems.
Since the success of the 2023 workshop, a planning committee has been formed from the participating agencies/consortia with the goal to continue the trainings every two years. These events help support the fire and fuels goals of multiple agencies in the regions and build upon the resources and recordings available to the programs.
2025 Fire and Fuels Monitoring Workshop
During the week of May 12th we held our second biannual Hybrid Fire and Fuels Monitoring Workshop. The workshop started with two half-days of virtual training via pre-recorded videos followed by live interactive Q&A and discussions with Heather Heward (senior fire instructor, University of Idaho) and others on topics like developing a monitoring handbook for your local ecosystem, fuels measurement techniques, standardized forms and how to customize them, estimating burn severity, and others. We also had live presentations by Susan Prichard (research scientist, University of Washington) on mortality measurements and burn severity mapping and by Duncan Lutes (fire ecologist, US Forest Service RMRS) on using the FEAT-FIREMON Integrated platform (FFI).
The field day locations were on the Yakama and the Flathead Reservations. This year’s attendees included people from multiple Tribes across the PNW and Northern Rockies, WA DNR, US Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, Columbia Land Trust, and Salish Kootenai College. While the Flathead group got hit with a severe rainstorm in the afternoon, weather on the Yakama Reservation was delightful! Lead field instructors Heather Heward and Sarah Flanary (USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station) lead attendees in a hands-on walkthrough of the FIREMON sampling protocol.
NWFSC-hosted presentations
Tom Demeo: Why Monitor?
NWFSC-hosted presenters