Southern Rockies Fire Science Network

Firelab - featuring Megan Matonis, The Ember Alliance
2023-03-14 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Denver)
March 14, 2023, 3-5pm
Tap and Handle, 307 South College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80524 INDOOR • UPPER LEVEL

Inspiring Action after the Planning is Done
Community Wildfire Protection Plans help a community assess local hazards and identify strategic actions to mitigate risk and promote preparedness. CWPPs set the stage for fire adaptation, but they only result in real change with on-the-ground action and an ongoing commitment to risk mitigation at all levels of the community, from individual homeowners to neighborhoods to fire protection districts to land managers and other partners. The Ember Alliance has worked with eight communities in Jefferson and Larimer Counties to prepare CWPPs, and we are currently working with three more communities along the Front Range. Through trial-and-error and best practices from other experts in the field, we have learned a lot about how to use the CWPP process to inspire action. We want to share these lessons with you, both the success stories and not-so-successful stories, and facilitate a conversation with FireLab participants about other ways to make CWPPs more than just planning documents.
Megan Matonis
Wildland Fire Analyst, The Ember Alliance
As a Wildfire Analyst with The Ember Alliance, Dr. Matonis conducts risk analyses, supports community engagement, and prepares holistic and actionable CWPP documents. She has a PhD in Forest Ecology from Colorado State University and formerly worked with the Colorado State Forest Service and Rocky Mountain Research Station. Meg has been an on-call wildland firefighter with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office for eight years.

Montana AgroClimate Workshop for Agricultural & Forestry Professionals and Partners
2023-03-14 08:00 - 2023-03-15 17:00
The Northern Plains Climate Hub (NPCH) in partnership with NRCS, the Montana Association of Conservation Districts, Intertribal Ag Council — Rocky Mountain Region, and Montana State University Extension will host the Montana AgroClimate Workshop for Agricultural & Forestry Professionals and Partners.
March 14 and 15, 2023 in Billings, MT

Increase your weather and climate knowledge;
Network with others and build connections;
Grow confidence to effectively communicate about climate with local agricultural producers;
Develop new skills to guide conservation planning for drought and other extreme events.

View the preliminary agenda here

Registration is open! Click here to register.
Early-Bird: $115/person* through February 15, 2023
Late Registration: $135/person* closes March 5, 2023
A limited number of needs based travel scholarships are available. For information, contact Windy Kelley at wkelley1@uwyo.edu.

Webinar Series: Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Wildlife
2023-03-13 12:30 - 14:00
March 13th:

Wildfire, climate, and invasive Grass Interactions Adversely Affect Sage-Grouse by Reshaping Sagebrush Ecosystems
Post-fire salvage logging: Do birds respond to amount of snags removed or overall logging activity?
From flames to inflammation: how wildfires affect patterns of wildlife disease

Information and registration

Webinar Series: Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Effects on Wildlife
2023-03-06 12:30 - 14:00
March 6th:

Northern spotted owl nesting forests as fire refugia: a 30-year synthesis of large wildfires
Prescribed fire limits wildfire severity without altering ecological importance for birds
Bats and fire: What we know, what we need to know

Information and registration

8th Annual Rio Chama Congreso - Water after Wildfire
2023-02-25
Join us for the 8th annual Rio Chama Watershed Congreso where the topic of the year is Water after Wildfire.
Sat, February 25, 2023, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM MST
Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center 280 Private Drive 1708 Highway, US-84 Abiquiu, NM 87510

What is at stake for the Rio Chama region in this era of megafires? As we have seen in nearby watersheds, one of the answers is water. Save the Date of February 25th for the 8th annual Rio Chama Congreso. We will hear stories about the aftermath of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and impacts to water resources, look at wildfire risk models for the San Juan-Chama region, and learn about collaborative efforts to prevent catastrophic wildfire and post-fire impacts in our region. We welcome all folks to join us as we explore the 2023 Congreso theme of “Water After Wildfire”.

On February 24th we will be offering Field Trips, if interested in more information please sign up for the field trip ticket and we will send out details when we have them!

NoCo Fireshed Risk Assessment for Practitioners
2023-02-08 09:00 - 17:00
On Feb 8, 9-11am, the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute (CFRI) will hold a webinar on the recently completed Northern Colorado Fireshed Wildfire Risk Assessment in coordination with the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed and the Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative. This risk assessment was developed by CFRI in collaboration with dozens of stakeholder groups spanning the Northern Front Range. The primary objectives of the risk assessment were to support cross-boundary wildfire risk management planning, focus area identification, grant development, and treatment outcomes monitoring. In this webinar, we hope to aid potential user groups in applying the risk assessment to their own program of work and to spur enhanced cross-boundary collaboration.
Specifically, this webinar aims to: 1) Provide a brief overview of the risk assessment model and the collaborative process used to identify values and resources at risk, rank landscape priorities, and estimate resource responses to wildfire; 2) Review the numerous data outputs of the wildfire risk model so that stakeholders are comfortable working with the products in their own quantitative analyses; 3) Present case studies and specific suggestions for data uses; 4) Initiate a collaborative discussion to foster coordinated planning, data sharing, and lessons learned

Time

Feb 8, 2023 09:00 AM in Mountain Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElduiqqjkrH92c_LuviOkqCcCHeqEAMisS

2023 Colorado Risk Reduction Network Conference of the Rockies
2023-01-24 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 8:00 AM MDT -to- Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 4:00 PM MDT
The Ridgeline Hotel Estes Park
101 S. St. Vrain Ave.
Estes Park, CO 80517
Join us for the 27th Annual Colorado Risk Reduction Network Conference of the Rockies! This popular conference features speakers from across the US with a wide range of knowledge and information. Topics are designed to empower life safety professionals, emergency responders and private industry leaders to become better risk reduction resources in their field.
Your 3-day registration fee includes:

Attendance to all conference sessions
Keynote speaker
Daily contintental breakfast
Daily lunch

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ejh6nknvcf69c3cc&llr=4qt6jgzab

AFTER THE FLAMES Actionable best practices for communities and agencies impacted by wildfire.
2022-12-09 08:30 - 10:00
Register Now
Register for the upcoming After the Flames webinar, Working with Fire and Flood Impacted Communities: Effective Responses and Resources to Meet Future Challenges.
Join COCO and Quivira Coalition as they introduce subject matter expert, Carol Ekarius, on navigating the many systems to access post-wildfire recovery support.
Learn more at the After the Flames website here.

Rising from the Ashes: Post-fire regeneration management strategies from recent Front Range fires
2022-12-07 13:00 - 14:30
Thank you for attending this webinar. Please see below for additional resources

Watch the Recording: https://youtu.be/ew6ouMzs7-Q
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Presenter Slide Decks:
Chambers et al: Early-stage seedling regeneration in four 2020 Colorado wildfires across multiple forest types
Marshall et al: Site and microsite factors influence the survival and growth of tree seedlings planted after the Cold Springs wildfire
Rhoades: Limited Seed Viability in Gray Phase Lodgepole Pine
Rodman et al: The Historic 2020 Fire Year: A Landscape Assessment to Inform Post-fire Forest Management
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During the webinar, a handful of research links were shared in the chat. We compiled those here for your reference:
Rodman et al. (2022) post-fire landscape assessment report, data, and ESRI storymap
Rodman et al. (2022) technical report
Rodman et al. (2022) planning data
Rodman et al. (2022) story map

Rhoades et al. (2022) study on lodgepole pine seed viability
Rhoades et al. (2022)

Other suggested readings
North et al. (2019)
Nigro et al. (2021)
Andrus et al. (2021)

5th National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Hybrid Workshop
2022-11-14 08:00 - 2022-11-18 17:00 | Ashville, NC
5th National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Hybrid Workshop
November 14-17, 2022
Can’t attend in person? No worries, we will bring the workshop to you virtually. All sessions will be live-streamed and recorded. We will also have networking opportunities for our virtual guests.
Who should attend?
This Workshop is considered “mission critical” for anyone working on these issues in local, state, Tribal and federal agencies, and organizations as well as non-governmental organizations and private companies. There is no other forum in the nation that provides these opportunities.

Save the Date: The Reforestation Pipeline in the Western United States
2022-09-27 08:00 - 2022-09-29 17:00
2022 Joint Annual Meeting
Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association
Intertribal Nursery Council
Intermountain Container Seedling Growers’ Association
Edgewater Hotel, Missoula, MT
Large-scale global reforestation goals have been proposed to help mitigate climate change. A recently published article in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change explores the reforestation potential within the United States in meeting the proposed reforestation goals.

Colorado Aspen Summit
2022-08-09 - 2022-08-11
Summary of Event and Photos
Field visit to aspen stand in Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo credit: Gloria Edwards

Purpose
This field-based workshop united scientists, vegetation and wildlife managers bridging disciplines, institutions, and political boundaries to address aspen management challenges in northwest Colorado. The group examined Process-Based Restoration (PBR), a term borrowed from those working to initiate specific processes and mimic function in river ecosystems, and its applicability to aspen management. By visiting different types of properties – federal, state and private – participants gained a first-hand understanding of disturbance interactions and their implications for aspen management.

Paul Rogers of the Western Aspen Alliance moderates a panel discussion at the end of the first day of the Aspen Science, while Gloria Edwards captures ideas on resources and needs. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Presentations
The summit kicked off with speakers exploring key processes, ecosystem disrupters, and restoration in aspen. Following a general overview by Paul Rogers of the Western Aspen Alliance, speakers used case studies to address herbivory and trampling, climate disturbances such as beetle outbreak and wildfire, and highlighted unique management challenges on federal, state and private land. We ended the August 9th session with a group discussion about research gaps and an exploration of where we are going collectively. Some of the key themes discussed are how to get science to managers, the need to generate up-to-date knowledge about aspen management, and the need to evaluate processes through the monitoring and the adaptive management process.
You can review each presentation at the hyperlinks below:
Aspen Ecology & Science, Paul Rogers, Utah State University
Fire, Climate and Multiple Disturbances, Sarah Hart, Colorado State University
Mountain Pine Beetle and Aspen, Kristen Pelz, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Elk and Aspen Management at RMNP, Hanem Abouelezz, Bureau of Land Management
Aspen and Habitat Management, Casey Cooley, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Aspen Management and Silviculture, Shelby Limberis, White River National Forest
Aspen Management on Private Land, Zach Wehr, Colorado State Forest Service
Many thanks to all our presenters for sharing your insights, challenges, and real-time solutions.

Aspen stand with evidence of past heavy browse at Timber Lake trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Attendees
Approximately, 35 people participated in the three-day summit, including representatives from National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, American Forests, Western Aspen Alliance/Utah State University, Southern Rockies Fire Science Network, US Forest Service, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Colorado State Forest Service, researchers at local universities including University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado and Colorado State University, city and county open space managers, non-profits and citizens.

Field trip at Rocky Mountain National Park East Inlet Trailhead with Scott Esser, director of the Continental Divide Research Learning Center (front-left in park uniform), discussing aspen, herbivory and historical wildfire. Photo credit: Gloria Edwards

Field-based learning
Over the next 2 days, the group visited federal, state and private land to learn about aspen management challenges and opportunities, recognizing the unique goals at each location.
On the morning of August 10th, Scott Esser, Director of the Continental Divide Research Learning Center, Nate Williamson, Fire Ecologist, and Koren Nydick, Resource Stewardship Manager, welcomed us to Rocky Mountain National Park.
The East Inlet Trail to Adams Falls is a .3mi one way hike that has aspen littering both sides of the trail. This site has lots of regeneration however does show some sign of herbivory, one of the main drivers of the lack of aspen regeneration success. This site last burned in 1851 based on fire history research from the early 2000s. Additionally, there was a small blow down event in this area that created a more recent disturbance which is likely what produced a lot of the regeneration we see in the area. This provided a discussion around compounding disturbance or disturbance interactions.

Group discussion in the East Inlet trailhead parking lot. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Dead and down aspen on the East Inlet trail. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

After visiting aspen stands at East Inlet, the group headed into the west-side of the Park to Timber Lake, an area with older aspen encroached by spruce and fir.
The Timberlake trailhead is about a 25 minute drive north from East Inlet through the Grand Lake Entrance. This site consists of a mixed conifer/aspen forest. There is quite a bit of successional evidence here as larger diameter aspen take up a large proportion of the canopy with smaller shade tolerant conifers starting to make their move into the canopy. This site however has nearly no aspen regeneration and the few aspen seedlings/saplings seen on the edges of the canopy gaps had signs of herbivory on them. Directly across the road from this site is an elk/moose exclosure from an experiment in the 1990s. While this exclosure is protecting willow from herbivory, similar exclosures are currently installed on the east side of the park to protect aspen under the Elk and Vegetation Management Plan that Hanem Abouelezz presented on. This site provided an opportunity to see a seral aspen stand exhibiting signs of aspen senescence and herbivory within the park along with the pronounced effects of herbivory exclusion in regenerating sprouting species.

Participants explore an aspen stand near Timberlake trailhead. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

That afternoon, the group traveled from Rocky Mountain National Park to the C Lazy U Ranch, an ~8,500 acre luxury dude ranch, just outside of Granby. There, owner Don Bailey and ranch hands Corey Chase and Jared met the group and shared the ranch history and emerging post-fire management challenges.
The ranch includes 5,500 working acres including pastures for the 200 horses, and a small herd of cattle. The remaining acres are under a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy and this designation ensures that those areas will remain undeveloped. Close to ~80% of the ranch burned in the 2020 East Troublesome fire, which included the loss of 4 buildings. Thankfully all the staff and stock animals safely evacuated before the fires crossed onto the ranch.

Attendees discuss fire effects and management options at the C Lazy U Ranch. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Following the 2020 East Troublesome fire and in the midst of the global COVID pandemic, the ranch owners developed a financial sustainability plan for the ranch, titled, “Vision 100”, a long-term look at how to make the ranch financially sustainable over its next 100 years of operation. This included a look at guest services, surrounding development pressures, and post-fire recovery. This holistic analysis allowed for owners to make critical decisions about future investment in rebuilding and also included the decision to place 500 additional acres under easement.
The group visited a burned aspen stand with shoulder-high sprouts just two-years after the fire. We hypothesized that the aspen might have been part of a stable stand (as opposed to a “seral” stand) given that we did not observe any conifer encroachment in the stand. The regeneration showed little browse, unlike what we saw at Rocky Mountain National Park. We hypothesize that the lower browse pressure may relate to hunting, which is allowed on the ranch. Managers had removed dead and down from the trails, but otherwise left everything standing.

Aspen stand burned by the 2020 East Troublesome fire is recovering vigorously on the C Lazy U Ranch. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Post-fire the ranch has several unique challenges. Burned aspen sprouts, each 6-12 inches tall and with a sharp point, are found throughout the pasture area and have been causing puncture wounds in the horse herd. The ranch has tried removal by hand with pruners and even rented a large masticator to chopper-roll the pastures and remove the burned sprouts, but neither technique has been viable at the scale of the ranch. The group had never seen or heard about burned aspen sprouts and couldn’t provide any advice, other than that already employed by ranch staff.

Photo of the burned aspen sprouts. Photo credit: Yan Chun Su

The ranch also mentioned prolific aspen regrowth on trails and the high cost of maintaining the trails open and aspen-free. The group concurred that aspen often responds vigorously to disturbance, like trail clearing, and would likely continue to be a management challenge. In a few side conversations, some suggested re-routing trails away from aspen to reduce costs of trail maintenance.
Some of the observations from the group included:

Questions about use of the ranch for and by birders, as the fire creates a bunch of novel early-successional ecosystems with diverse bird habitat and species. This was flagged as an opportunity for ranch managers to explore.
Questions about how the ranch messaged the fire and its recovery to guests and a long discussion about the immediate message and storytelling, as well as a shorter discussion of how to talk about ecosystem change over time as part of a long-term natural process. This was a follow-up to some of the conversation at Rocky Mountain National Park, where they had thought carefully about the message to visitors and how to better train rangers and volunteers to tell the ecological story of change over time (instead of damage and loss), and not only the more anthropogenic story of human loss.

Photo of C Lazy U Ranch aspen regeneration. Photo credit: Catherine Schloegel

To end the day and in response to the evolving conversation about the effects of fire in the upper montane forest systems, Brad Piehl led an impromptu visit to a large debris flow at Willow Creek, 5 minutes north of the ranch entrance. There, a small watershed burned at high severity has a major debris flow into the Willow Creek River. The group discussed the significant impacts of fire on water resources, providing a more nuanced response to the general discussion about wildfire and its impacts. While some forest types are particularly resilient to fire, like aspen, the impacts of wildfire are multi-faceted across an entire system.

Debris flow in the Willow Creek drainage west of Highway 125 in the East Troublesome fire burn area. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

On August 11th, the group visited Carter Mountain, a State Land Board trust property just south of Kremmling, with the Colorado State Forest Service’s Northwest Area Manager, Ron Cousineau, local Colorado State forester, Matt Shultz, and private forester, John Trieber. Parts of the area had been coppice-clearcut in the 1990s and supplied to a local mill, the Louisiana Pacific waferboard plant in Kremmling where John Trieber worked. The mill operated for 8 years before relocating out of state.
Local managers expressed concern about a lack of aspen regeneration in some stands. The group visited the stands, exploring how the management in a stable stand, like those at Carter Mountain, is different from the prescriptions for a seral stand. The group observed some parts of the stand that were not regenerating at all after the 1990-era harvest, and other portions of stands had recovered and formed a very dense, even-aged recovery. Other stable stands, including the well-known Pando Clone in Utah, have had a similar post-harvest response, e.g. unable to recover likely due to browse pressure. In reflecting on the adaptive management cycle, it begins with understanding system type, as an input to selecting the most suitable management tools.
Paul Rogers shared that stable stands are often composed of multi-aged individuals with young and old trees present. When you encounter an even-aged stable aspen stand, it is good to look at the factors impacting sprouting. In this case, we observed cattle grazing, which may trample new sprouts. There could also be high browse pressure from elk or moose. We made a key distinction that cattle trample, while elk browse aspen, as there had been some previous confusion about the source of browse.
The conversation ended with a discussion highlighting the importance of monitoring and adaptive management over time.

Special Thanks
Special thanks to Locke + Co, for attending the summit and providing education on private aspen management and the distilling process (and whiskey sampling) to attendees. Locke + Co uses charred aspen rings produced from their private ranch near Fairplay, CO in their distillation process.

Charred aspen disks used in finishing the flavor of the Locke + Co aspen rye. Photo credit: Gloria Edwards

Special thanks to our sponsors: Western Aspen Alliance, The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, American Forests, Southern Rockies Fire Science Network, Colorado State Forest Service, Forest Service- Rocky Mountain Region, National Park Service – Rocky Mountain National Park, and National Park Service – Continental Divide Research Learning Center.

Happy participants of the Locke + Co aspen rye tasting event. Photo credit: Brooke Simmons

Next steps (discussion from the last day)

There is a need for continued sharing between scientist and managers

What sorts of info are we talking about sharing?

From the scientists: Evolving knowledge about aspen management, especially new information that runs counter to decades-old data and management techniques.
From the managers: field observations and associated prescriptions, reflections on monitoring and what is being learned

How?

Field trips/tours with managers and scientists. Annual Western Aspen Alliance conference highly encouraged.
Western Aspen Alliance fact sheets – short summaries of key issues such as oystershell scale
YouTube short videos, ~ 5 minutes

Monitoring aspen stands matters!

Citizen science: Rapid Aspen Regeneration Assessment (RARA) program at Rocky Mountain National Park is one model that uses citizen scientists to monitor stand condition. Training citizen scientists requires an investment, but in this case, it is working well.
Regional trends: There is no large-scale experimental design across sites and there is interest in using individual monitoring to contribute to regional knowledge, but no consensus on who would lead such an effort.

We imagine developing a body of evidence about unique prescriptions or treatments for North versus South-facing slopes, for example.

Browse: let’s be more specific on the effects of browse by domestic and wild animals and how it is affecting aspen.
Compounding disturbances: How is aspen fairing post wildfire in areas with high browse?

Build resilience into management: recognize aspen systems including distinctive seral and stable aspen types and manage accordingly. Use the adaptive management cycle (with monitoring) to incorporate new assumptions and approaches.

Watershed Wildfire Protection Group Field Trip - Aerial Mulching
2022-08-05 08:00 - 17:00
Summary of Event and Photos
Click here to watch a video of the event!

CFRI Firelab
2022-07-29 08:00 - 17:00
The CFRI Fire Lab is an informal group that meets once a month for fun and learning about wildland fire and forestry. Our goal is to bring together professors, students, professionals, and agency personnel from CSU and the local community to discuss current fire and forestry topics. We welcome anyone interested in wildland fire research, issues, and application to join. Our meetings will feature guest-led seminars, discussion of recent journal articles, and presentations by members.

Wednesday, August 10 at Tap and Handle
307 South College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80524 INDOOR • UPPER LEVEL HAPPY HOURS: 3pm-5pm

Topic: Northern Colorado Fireshed Risk Assessment & Colorado POD Atlas
Covering 2 Examples of Spatial Decision Support
Mike Caggiano
Wildland Fire Decision Support Program Manager
Colorado Forest Restoration Institute
Areas of expertise include geospatial mapping and remote sensing, facilitating cross-jurisdictional firefighter training and cooperation, and supporting prescribed fire applications.

An Indigenous Framework to Guide Research & Restoration in Fire-Adapted Landscapes
2022-07-13 12:00 - 15:00
July 13, 2022
12:00 PM EDT
Register Here
Marianne Ignace and Sarah Dickson-Hoyle will be the presenters on this webinar from the Society for Ecological Restoration

Canada Wildfire Webinar
2022-07-08 09:30 - 11:00
Upcoming Canada Wildfire Webinars

Lightning fire occurrence prediction – modelling for operational use
Mike Wotton
July 8, 2022 09:30-11:00 MDT

This presentation is for both academic and operational audience in Canada’s wildfire community. You will learn about lightning fire ignition and the important processes that determine the day to day variation of this important source of summertime fire activity in Canada. Examples from models developed and used in Ontario’s fire occurrence prediction system will be provided as well as some comparison to similar model development in other regions of the country. Reviewing the history and operational use of these models in Ontario provides useful examples of the challenges and opportunities (and ultimately the long-term investment required) in getting research into operational use in wildland fire management.
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Mike Wotton is a Senior Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service – Natural Resources Canada currently stationed at the University of Toronto in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. His research focuses primarily on developing models of fuel moisture exchange, fire ignition, spread and intensity that can be used to provide daily wildfire information to fire management agencies throughout Canada. Dr. Wotton works closely with fire management agencies from across Canada in the application of the results of his research into daily fire management operations and coordinated the CFS’s development of a next generation of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System.

Fire Science Lab - FlamMap Webinar
2022-07-06 11:00 - 12:00
FlamMap 6.2 WEBINAR
July 6, 2022 11-12pm MDT
Register HERE
This webinar will provide an introduction and overview of the FlamMap modeling system and its new capabilities with focus on several new additions!

Wildland Firefighter Health Webinar Series
2022-05-31 08:00 - 2022-06-06 17:00 | ONLINE
Watch The Recording Here!

Wildland Firefighter Health Series
May 31st – June 2, 2022
Join us for a 3-day series of presentations and panel discussions on the current science and knowledge around wildland firefighter physical and mental health and overall well-being.
Each day will offer 4-5 short presentations followed by a 20-30 minute Q & A and panel discussion. Presentations will begin at 11am MDT each day, and conclude by 1:30pm MDT. Registration information and final agenda will be available soon.
Draft Agenda
Presented as a partnership among the Northern Rockies Fire Science Network and the California Fire Science Consortium, the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange, the Northwest Fire Science Consortium, and the Southern Rockies Fire Science Network.
This event was organized with agenda input provided by the USDA Forest Service’s Innovation & Organizational Learning RD&A and Work Environment & Performance Office, and inspiration derived from the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Workforce Resilience Ignite Talks.

Fire and Climate 2022 Conference Pasadena, CA
2022-05-23 - 2022-05-27
Fire and Climate 2022 will bring attention to one of the most important forces shaping wildfire and better prepare how we can focus and respond to this formidable challenge in the new decade.
Registration details here

Infrastructure Law and Forest Collaboratives: Overview and Program Potential
2022-05-06 08:00 - 17:00

Forest regeneration in fire-adapted landscapes - Too Much, Too Little or Just Right?
2022-05-05 10:00 - 11:30 | ONLINE
Too Much, Too Little or Just Right?
Forest regeneration in fire-adapted landscapes
May 5, 2022
10–11:30am MDT
Co-hosted by Rocky Mountain Research Station and Southwest Ecological Restoration Institutes
Join RMRS and the SWERIs for an upcoming land-manager-focused LIGHTNING TALK webinar dedicated to forest regeneration and reforestation in western fire-adapted forests. Short science presentations will highlight what is happening with regeneration following fire and forest treatments plus considerations and tools for reforestation. Discussion and Q&A during this session will facilitate information exchange between scientists and managers.
Status of Knowledge
Hear from three subject-matter experts on recent literature summarizing what is known about post-fire reforestation; natural regeneration following thinning and burning treatments; and natural regeneration under climate change:

Paula Fornwalt, Research Ecologist, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Camille Stevens-Rumann, Assistant Director for Ecological Research and Monitoring, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute
Tzeidle Wasserman, Analyst Coordinator, Ecological Restoration Institute Research Applications and Tools

Hear from three subject-matter experts on tools to understand landscape regeneration potential and methods for planting success:

Jeremy Pinto, Tribal Nursery Specialist & Research Plant Physiologist, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Kas Dumroese, National Nursery Specialist & Research Plant Physiologist, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Kyle Rodman, Research Scientist, Ecological Restoration Institute Connection information:

https://usfs.zoomgov.com/j/16104530612
Meeting ID: 161 0453 0612 | Password: [REDACTED]
RSVP here for calendar invite and follow-up information.

Effects of Forest Management and Climate Scenarios on Biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
2022-04-13 10:00 - 11:00 | ONLINE
Effects of Forest Management and Climate Scenarios on Biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
with Kathy Zeller
April 13, 2022 10-11am MST

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Part of the: Science You Can Use Webinars
Join us for the Spring 2022 Science You Can Use webinar series featuring seven land-manager focused webinars presented by Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists and collaborators. These one-hour sessions will begin with concise presentations followed by Q&A and discussion.
February 16, 2022 to April 13, 2022
10am – 11am MT

Society for Ecological Restoration Rocky Mountain Chapter (SER-RM) Conference
2022-04-12 08:00 - 2022-04-14 17:00 | Colorado State University
The Society for Ecological Restoration Rocky Mountain Chapter (SER-RM) is pleased to announce our 2022 conference. We will again host this scientific meeting at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, and welcome all who work in the varied fields of habitat restoration or simply have a passion for restoring our natural resources.
Registration Details Here

Living with Wildfire - Learning Series
2022-03-31 16:30 - 18:00 | ONLINE
What: In this three-part learning series, we hope to shine a light on potential impacts and adaptations moving forward from the Marshall Fire
When: Studying Water and Air Contaminants After the Marshall Fire on
Thursday, March 31st from 4:30-6:00pm (MT)
Who: These events are especially geared toward those residents and community members in the Boulder County area interested to learn more about what they can do to adapt to living in fire-prone grassland and forested ecosystems.
REGISTER HERE

Recent Megafires Provide a Tipping Point for Desertification of Conifer Ecosystems
2022-03-30 11:00 - 12:00 | ONLINE
Recent Megafires Provide a Tipping Point for Desertification of Conifer Ecosystems
March 30, 10:00 – 11:00 MT
Register Here
Presented by: Dan Neary
Wildfires can produce significant hydrological and ecological impacts on forest, woodland, and grassland ecosystems depending on fire size, severity, duration, timing, fuel loads, and weather conditions. In the past several decades, wildfire conditions have changed from previous ones in the 20th Century. Wildfires are now burning larger areas in hotter, windier, and drier weather. In addition, the timeframe for these fires has expanded by four months in some regions to 12 months in fire-prone states like California. These large fires, known as megafires (greater than 40,000 acres) are burning more wildland areas every year. Some reach the giga-fire classification (405,000+ acres) with increasing frequency. These trends are contributing to increased desertification of forest lands. This presentation examines the role of these large fires in producing desertification of wildland ecosystems.

Recent Megafires Provide a Tipping Point for Desertification of Conifer Ecosystems
2022-03-30 10:00 - 11:00 | ONLINE
Recent Megafires Provide a Tipping Point for Desertification of Conifer Ecosystems
with Dan Neary
March 30, 2022 10-11am MST

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Part of the: Science You Can Use Webinars
Join us for the Spring 2022 Science You Can Use webinar series featuring seven land-manager focused webinars presented by Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists and collaborators. These one-hour sessions will begin with concise presentations followed by Q&A and discussion.
February 16, 2022 to April 13, 2022
10am – 11am MT

Cross-Boundary Landscape Restoration Workshop
2022-03-08 - 2022-03-10 | Colorado State University
Cross-Boundary Landscape Restoration Workshop

All-lands forest and fire management in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and surrounding states
March 8–10, 2022
In-person only event*: Hosted at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Objectives

Share successes and lessons learned on cross-boundary, collaborative efforts to restore and reimagine fire-adapted forest landscapes
Co-develop knowledge, recommendations, strategies, and resources for collaborative landscape-scale restoration projects
Explore gaps and strategies to empower diverse perspectives, and enhance inclusivity and equitability of forestry and fire research and management

Our 2020 Workshop attendance sold out and exceeded the venue capacity. We have increased capacity at the 2022 venue to accommodate 300 participants and are hopeful for another full house. Register early to ensure your attendance!
Regular Attendee**:

Early bird pricing ($150) will be available through February 7, 2022.
Standard pricing ($225) will be available February 8-28, 2022.
On-Site registration available as space allows: $325.

Click Here to Register Now!

Wildfire Bills Legislative Updates - Online
2022-03-04 11:00 - 12:00 | ONLINE
Curious about state and federal wildfire bills that are currently in the legislative process? Register now for this one-hour overview call or proposed bills, their intent, where they are in the process, and how to find out more.
John Whitney, West Slope Regional Director for Senator Bennet, will share about forestry and wildfire bills in the works and recently passed provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Senator Bennett has been working on.
Carolyn Aspelin, Colorado State Forest Service’s Legislative Affairs Specialist and Angela Boag, CO Dept. of Natural Resources, Assistant Director of Climate, Forest Health and Energy will provide an overview of proposed wildfire bills introduced so far this legislative session in the state capitol.
Rachael Hamby, Western Resource Advocates Senior Policy Analyst will share about a prescribed fire bill that Representatives Perry Will and Lisa Cutter are crafting to introduce and provide access to a Colorado Wildfire bills legislative tracker.
Time will be allowed for questions and answers following each presenter.
Fire Adapted Colorado is hosting this session. Thanks to the Colorado DOLA Resiliency Office, Colorado State Forest Service, and Colorado Emergency Managers Association for raising the immediate need of sharing legislative updates about the multitude of proposed wildfire bills with the practitioners who they will most closely affect on a recent planning call for the Post-Fire Recovery Peer Learning Group.
REGISTER NOW
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
—
Rebecca Samulski
Executive Director, Fire Adapted Colorado
PO Box 2312, Dolores, CO 81323
970-739-7899
Pronouns: She/Hers (What is this?)
www.fireadaptedco.org

Seeds of Wisdom: Understanding Forests and Fires in RMNP
2022-03-01 11:00 - 12:30 | ONLINE
Seeds of Wisdom: Understanding Forests and Fires in RMNP
Mar. 1, 2022 – 11:00am MST

“Managing forests to moderate wildfire behavior and create tactical options for wildfire response” by Meg Matonis, Wildfire Analyst, The Ember Alliance
A complete presentation schedule is available at https://go.nps.gov/RMNPWebinarSeries.
One-time registration is required at: https://tinyurl.com/RMNPWebinarRegistration.

Fate of early twentieth century fires: fuels and forest structure of different fire histories in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
2022-03-01 11:00 - 12:00 | ONLINE
Fate of early twentieth century fires: fuels and forest structure of different fire histories in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
March 1st 11AM – Noon MST
Register HERE
