Prescribed Fire Education & Training

from the Extension Fire Program at Oregon State University

By: Carrie A. Berger Photo provided by: Amy Markus, USFS

A T T R I B U T I ON

Prescribed Fire Education & Training from the Extension Program at Oregon State University

e-pub: ISBN: 978-1-955687-02-7

Publish Date: August 25, 2021

Citations for this publication may be made using the following:

Berger, C. (2021). Prescribed Fire Education & Training from the Extension Program at Oregon State University (1 st ed). Kansas City: Extension Foundation. ISBN: 978-1-955687-02-7

Producer: Ashley S. Griffin

Peer Review Coordinator & Editorial Consultant: Heather Martin

Technical Implementer: Heather Martin

Welcome to Prescribed Fire Education & Training from the Extension Program at Oregon State University, a resource created for the Cooperative Extension Service and published by the Extension Foundation. We welcome feedback and suggested resources for this publication, which could be included in any subsequent versions. This work is supported by New Technologies for Agriculture Extension grant no. 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For more information please contact:

Extension Foundation c/o Bryan Cave LLP One Kansas City Place

1200 Main Street, Suite 3800 Kansas City, MO 64105-2122 https://impact.extension.org/

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Attribution .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Meet the Author...................................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5

Part 1: The Need For & Barriers to Prescribed Fire ........................................................................... 7 The Gross Negligence Standard.......................................................................................................................................... 7 Other Barriers ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Part 2: Origins of the FNR Fire Program & Its Prescribed Fire Education & Training .......................... 9

Part 3: Building the Fire Program Team & Education & Training Content ....................................... 11 The Fire Program Team .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Education & Training Content .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Part 4: Other Resources for Prescribed Fire Management and How to Leverage Them................... 16 PFCs................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 PBAs .................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Agreements, Authorities, and MOUs .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Part 5: Measuring Success ............................................................................................................ 19

Part 6: References ........................................................................................................................ 20

M E E T TH E AU THO R

Carrie A. Berger

Carrie A. Berger is the Fire Program Manager for the Forestry & Natural Resources Extension ’s Fire Program at Oregon State University. As manager, Carrie leads the fire team towards accomplishing the goals and objectives of the program put forth to the state legislation in 2019, including: identifying landscapes in highest need of a strategic focus of resources to reduce wildfire and landscape health risks on a statewide scale; assisting with the implementation of projects on the ground in priority landscapes; and providing education and outreach throughout the process for all Oregonians. Prior to this position, Carrie was the coordinator for the Northwest Fire Science Consortium. The NWFSC is one of 15 fire science exchange networks funded by the Joint Fire Science Program, tasked to accelerate the awareness, understanding, and adoption of wildland fire science. Carrie has over twenty years of forestry related experience and has been in her Extension role for seven years. She earned her master’s degree in forest science from the University of Minnesota and her bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Carrie A. Berger Fire Program Manager Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Fire Program Oregon State University College of Forestry Carrie.Berger@oregonstate.edu

I N T RO D U C T I ON

Devastating wildfires are scarring our Western landscapes and jeopardizing the health, safety, and social and economic vitality of our communities. And they’re on the rise. T he 2020 wildfire season in Oregon was one of the most destructive in state history, with fires killing at least nine people, destroying thousands of homes, and burning more than one million acres. In the 2021 wildfire season, the Bootleg Fire alone had burned over 400,000 acres in July, making it the largest fire burning across the nation at that point. Such seasons can cost our state millions of dollars, while costs on a national level can reach the billions. The wildfire problem is a culmination of various factors, including past management practices, human- caused wildfires, and climate changes. Landscapes are stressed due to high tree densities, drought, invasive grasses, insects, and disease. Part of the wildfire solution is prescribed fire. Prescribed fire is the intentional application of fire that minimizes the risk of wildfires, ensuring that landscapes and watersheds are resilient, healthy, and productive by

removing dead vegetation;

releasing nutrients into the soil;

helping native species out-compete invasive species; and

improving the land’s natural defenses against disease and infestations.

Prescribed fire is not a new tool. Indigenous People have been using it for thousands of years, yet, “indigenous perspectives and fire knowledge are too often downplayed or ignored” (Adla m & Martinez, 2021). To understand these perspectives further, listen to the fire episode of Oregon State University’s (OSU ’s ) Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) Extension Program podcast “In the Woods.” In it, David G. Lewis, an instructor at OSU in anthropology and ethnic studies and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, and Amanda Rau, OSU Extension’s regional fire specialist, share historical and current perspectives on fire use, benefits of fire, and changes to our present-day landscapes since colonization and the beginning of an era of fire suppression. You can read more about the decolonization of prescribed fire on the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network blog. SURVEY We Want to Hear From You Does the Extension Service or another agency in your state provide prescribed education and training? If so, which service do you work with?

Yet, only a few states offer prescribed fire education and training for landowners or non-fire agency professionals.

OSU’s Extension decided to do something about this critical lack of knowledge and skill in Oregon by developing a prescribed fire education and training opportunity to benefit public and private landowners across Oregon. This type of education and training is one of several opportunities offered by OSU’s FNR Extension Fire Program, established in 2019. The Fire Program also is involved in such programming and

outreach efforts as fire awareness and preparedness, fire-adapted and smoke ready communities, and post-fire recovery. This eFieldbook focuses primarily on the history of the Fire Program and the creation of its education and training material for prescribed fire. It documents the following:

the need for and barriers to prescribed fire

origins of the FNR Extension Fire Program and its prescribed fire education and training

building the Fire Program team and education and training content

other resources for prescribed fire management and how to leverage them

measuring success

Place-based fire management education and training is more important than ever. We hope our journey and this book inspire and empower you and other Extension professionals to develop a prescribed fire education program that meets the needs of the diverse landscapes and communities in your state.

Part 1: The Need For & Barriers to Prescribed Fire

There is no time to waste in the race to ensure that our lands and watersheds are resilient, healthy, and productive and to mitigate the increasing risk that wildfires pose to many communities. In 2015, a joint study by the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy found that 9.4 million acres of forestland in Oregon and Washington were in

Prescribed Fire Perspectives

immediate need of thinning, followed by prescribed burning in forests that were historically maintained by frequent low- or mixed-severity fires. Unfortunately, there are significant barriers to using prescribed fire in Oregon and other states — from a shortage of people with “ecological knowledge and operational expertise to implement prescribed fire across multijurisdictional landscape s” (Spencer et al., 2015) to a lack of insurance options for qualified burners.

The Extension Foundation and OSU’s Extension Service partnered with “Trust In Food” (a Farm Journal Initiative) to conduct research that provided qualitative and quantitative insights into three goals:

G ain insight into the community’s perceptions of fire and prescribed burning.

U nderstand the community’s knowledge related to fire and prescribed burning.

Conduct a needs assessment to improve the delivery of events, courses, and resources.

RESEARCH

The geographic focus of the survey was the entire state of Oregon. The audience was identified using contacts within the Farm Journal database, which is composed mainly of individuals who have a pre-existing connection to agriculture in general. One hundred sixty-eight individuals completed the survey, giving us a response rate of 1.99%. Seventy-seven percent were landowners, and 21% work in land management. The overall conclusion was that public and private land managers agree that prescribed burning is an effective and economical way to improve the health of ecosystems and reduce the threat of wildfires. They also agree that land managers need to be trained and certified to manage these fires. Nearly all (99%) know that when properly managed, fires provide environmental and economic benefits.

THE GROSS NEGLIGENCE STANDARD

Perhaps the most significant barrier to using prescribed fire is the belief that it’s more dangerous than it is. Studies show that the rate of prescribed fire escapes is low and that most escapes are small and result in no injuries, damages, or insurance claims (Weir et al., 2020). Still, many states have a “simple negligence” standard that doesn’t give landowners much legal protection if a fire does escape.

Although the legal language varies from state to state, the standard basically means that if a landowner sets a prescribed fire and doesn’t practice “reasonable care”— or fails to do something that a reasonable person in a similar circumstance would do — they can be held legally responsible for property damage from the escaped fire. This is true even if the landowner or person conducting the burn did not willfully allow or cause the fire to escape.

A gross negligence standard would give prescribed fire burners more protection, wrote Lenya Quinn- Davidson (UC ANR) in her Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network blog post on March 25, 2021:

A gross negligence standard ... brings the risk profile of prescribed fire back into balance. By reducing the uncertainty that comes with a simple negligence standard, the gross negligence lowers the perceived risk. And because a change like this would represent a statewide vote of confidence for the importance of prescribed fire, it would also elevate its acceptable risk. Other efforts to support prescribed fire (like development of insurance options) may be helpful, but they don’t have the rebalancing power of a changed liability standard. [Changing the liability standard] is the most direct route to changing the comfort and culture around prescribed fire (Quinn- Davidson, 2021).

States with a “gross negligence” standard typically require burners to be certified to be eligible for being held to that standard. There has been an attempt to create such a certification in Oregon, but it hasn’t gotten off the ground. In 1999, the Oregon State legislature passed a bill (ORS 526.360) approving a Certified Burn Manager (CBM) program as the first step toward raising the state’s liability threshold and promoting prescribed fire use through education and certification. However, the bill was never funded and therefore not implemented. In 2002, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) wrote a draft of a training course. Unfortunately, the draft course has been sitting on the shelf for the past nineteen years. Members of the Oregon Prescribed Fire Council (OPFC) agree that the CBM program should be implemented, and legislation passed in Oregon’s 2021 legislative session calls for studying liability for prescribed fires ( HB 2571) and requires the state Board of Forestry to initiate rulemaking to encourage cross-boundary burning and the establishment of a CBM program (SB 762).

OTHER BARRIERS

We asked members of the National Extension Wildfire Initiative (NEWFI), part of the Association for Natural Resources Extension Professionals, about the barriers to using prescribed fire as a land management tool in their states. The word cloud to the right captures what they had to say. The Fire Program team believes that the key to eliminating barriers is not only a revised legal standard but more robust,

consistent education and training in the use of this highly effective tool. Proper prescribed fire education and training could help alleviate fear of fire and would “promote professional development in fire; foster collaboration, learning, and network building; and provide flexible opportunities, with an emphasis on local context to train a variety of professionals and landowners with disparate needs” (Spencer et al., 2015). You’ll read about our work to create this education and training in the next section.

Part 2: Origins of the FNR Fire Program & Its Prescribed Fire Education & Training

The Fire Program was conceived in 2018 during FNR’s annual planning process, in which we identified the most pressing needs of stakeholders and communities throughout Oregon. FNR already had annual survey results dating to 2014 that indicated that forest health and fire were landowner constituents ’ top educational priorities. SURVEY We Want to Hear From You What are the barriers to using prescribed fire as a land management tool in your state?

A 2018 Fire Summit Report developed by OSU’s College of Forestry corroborated these FNR survey findings, reinforcing the need for a way to reduce wildfire severity and increase the resiliency of our state’s landscapes. FNR created a dedicated Fire Program to better meet its stakeholders’

Connect Extension Podcast Episode 13

PODCAST

need to learn about fire and ultimately how to protect their families and lands from wildfire. FNR received funding in 2019, after the Oregon state legislature approved the objectives of the Fire Program for cross- boundary, landscape-scale efforts for enhancing community safety, ecosystem resilience, and economic well- being and for providing education and outreach opportunities for all Oregonians. It began building the Fire Program team in early 2020.

As Fire Program staff were hired and onboarded, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) asked the new program team if it could provide local prescribed fire education and training for NRCS’s Oregon staff ,

Klamath-Lake Forest Health Partnership Landscape-scale, cross- boundary proof of concept that helped launch Fire Program

VIDEO

who’d had to seek training in other states. Fire awareness training unlocks the ability for NRCS staff to get job approval authority (JAA) to recommend prescribed fire as a practice for Oregon private landowners and ultimately provide more cost-share opportunities (Weir, 2019). With support from Extension Foundation ’s New Technologies in Agricultural Extension (NTAE) Cooperative Agreement with USDA-NIFA, the Fire Program is working toward comprehensive prescribed fire education and training in Oregon.

We knew that the material would need to be customized for Oregon but broad in scope to apply to the vast and varied ecoregions and landowners.

We didn’t have to start from scratch, though. We consulted and adapted prescribed fire education materials that already existed in other Extension programs, and we asked for additional input from our stakeholders and Extension colleagues around the country. The result is a science and knowledge- based program that leverages the great work other Extension programs have done and is relevant to our state’s unique needs. With Extension as the conduit for education and training, it has the potential to expand strategic use of prescribed fire (and other management tools and techniques) on a landscape scale through cross-boundary (public and private) land management treatments and partnerships.

Oregon Landscapes Oregon covers 98,000 square miles of rangelands, riparian areas, wetlands, and forests. The forests account for the largest portion of land — covering nearly thirty million acres, or just about half of the state — and have a diverse mix of owners: Local, state, and federal governments hold 64% of our forest land, while private owners (large and small) hold 34%, and Native American tribal forestland owners hold 2% (OFRI, 2021).

DID YOU KNOW

Part 3: Building the Fire Program Team & Education & Training Content

Carrie Berger Oregon State University Campus

Daniel Leavell Oregon State University Campus

Aaron Groth, Clatstop County Extension, Astoria FSA: Coast Amanda Rau Lane County Extension, Eugene FSA: Willamette Valley and North Cascades Chris Adlam Southern Oregon Research & Extension Center, Central Point FSA: Southwest Ariel Cowan Deschutes County Extension, Redmond FSA: Central John Rizza Union County Extension, La Grande FSA: Northeast Katherine Wollstein Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns FSA: Southeast

FIRE PROGRAM TEAM

THE FIRE PROGRAM TEAM

Had 2020 been a typical year, the Fire Program team could have been hired and onboarded relatively quickly and then started to develop the education material. But the COVID-19 pandemic slowed everything to a crawl. FNR was able to hire its Fire Program Manager, Carrier Berger, in May 2020, but it took several months to assemble the rest of the team. In July, Daniel Leavell came on board as the Extension statewide fire specialist. By January 2021, we finally had hired all six

regional fire specialists, each covering a Fire Service Area (FSA) (see map), bringing the team to eight.

Due to the immediate need and training request from the NRCS, we decided to start developing the prescribed fire education and training content even before the whole team was on board. We gave ourselves six months to get it ready for a beta test in spring 2021.

EDUCATION & TRAINING CONTENT

We started by reviewing the draft CBM curriculum that ODF and prescribed fire expert and long-time Extension professional Alan Long wrote in 2002. ODF’s fourteen -chapter textbook provided a good foundation for us and we had cross-referenced it with other prescribed fire education material from around the country. But after nearly twenty years, much of the content was outdated and not written in a way that would appeal to our learners or reflect our diverse landscapes. In partnership with the OPFC, we began updating the content for Oregon landowners, sorting through the original ODF textbook for the content we wanted to preserve, developing new content, and creating a live training component. We also made sure that our material would align with the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and USDA’s 2018 -2022 Strategic Goals #5 : “Strengthen the Stewardship of Private Lands Through Technology and Research” and #6: “Ensure Productive and Sustainable Use of Our National Forest System Lands.” We began our material creation process by developing the following logic model and determining outcomes:

Outcomes/Effects

Input/ Resources

Activities/ Outputs

Situation

Short Term (knowledge)

Intermediate (actions)

Long Term (conditions)

High-intensity fires on the rise in the western U.S.

Fire program team time, communication skills,

Convene multi- agency working group. Conduct prescribed fire survey. Social networking (e.g. blogs, Twitter,

Increased community of practice Increased understandin g of fire’s benefits More partnerships More opportunities for prescribed fire education, training

Land managers

Acceptance, cross- boundary use of prescribed fire when, where appropriate

increasingly equipped to use prescribed fire safely, effectively Incorporation of prescribed fire in land management planning More use of broadcast burning across state Built/stronger partnerships; agreements, MOUs in place; more

professional connections

Social, ecological, economic effects of wildfires

Extension expertise, resources: Extension Foundation, ANREP NEWFI,

Improved landscape

resilience to disturbance Communities less vulnerable to wildfire Funding, technical support established

In 2020, wildfire burned 1M+ acres in Oregon on public, private land. Prescribed fire underused tool for land managers

Facebook, YouTube, newsletter, media/news releases)

Extension agents &

specialists, EESC, PACE

Fire program website content maintenance, expansion Presentations, attendance at meetings Active role in Prescribed Fire Council

Time, knowledge, skills of multi- agency working group, collaborators, 9 Tribal Nations of Oregon

Decreased number of pile burn escapes

Identification of funding, technical support

funding, technical support

Input/ Resources

Activities/ Outputs

Situation

Measurement Measurement Measurement

Many barriers to prescribed fire use; lack of education and training is unnecessary barrier

Partner information, knowledge about prescribed fire issues, curricula, training Peer-reviewed literature, agency research reports, existing prescribed fire curricula & training, case study data/info Propper PPE, prescribed fire tools Fiscal support from OSU’s fire program, NTAE wrap-around services, RREA, NRCS (CESU & RCPP)

Draft prescribed fire curriculum. Organize, lead, evaluate beta training for agency partners.

Pre/post surveys

Stakeholder interviews

Web metrics

Testimonials

Stakeholder interviews

Stakeholder interviews Number of management plans that include fire Number of acres burned

Policy documentatio n Existing environmenta l data

____________

Publish prescribed fire curriculum. Launch PACE online course. Online, face-to- face training opportunities Burn plan templates that help managers assess locations,

methods for prescription

We also consulted the following resources:

“ Basic Prescribed Fire Training,” Extension Foundation Online Campus

“How to Become a North Carolina Certified Burner,” North Carolina Forest Service

“Wildland Fire Programming for Extension and Outreach Professionals”

“Lessons Learned from Hosting Learn -n- Burn Events,” Southern Fire Exchange

Prescribed burn school, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

“Certified Prescribed Fire,” Florida Forest Service

University of Nevada Extension Fire Toolkit Portal

We used the Connect Extension platform to host a virtual chat session with Extension colleagues from across the country. We discussed everything from liability to insurance to training formats. We asked questions like, “What level of credentialing is required for your prescribed fire education and training?” A vast

PRESCRIBED FIRE EDUCATION TRAINING

Based on virtual chat session

BLOG

majority of our Extension colleagues told us that National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) standards don’t meet the training needs of landowners or accommodate the diversity of state/local agencies. They also

pointed out that the NWCG system of task books, training, and experience

UC ANR

Texas A&M

Okla.

NMSU

doesn’t work well for private landowners or local agencies.

Burn plan template?

yes

Nonetheless, a handful of states — particularly those that offer a CBM program — require NWCG standards for their education and training. When developing prescribed fire education and training, the Forest Stewards Guild, in its report (2020) on “Insights and Suggestions for Certified Prescribed Burn Manager Program,” recommends striking a balance between achievable and rigorous standards. Extension experts in the field also talked to us about the burn policies and practices at other land grant universities. See table at left for a sample of what we learned — from University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), Oklahoma State University Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (Okla.), Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension (NMSU). Onboarding a team while trying to meet our ambitious timeline, however, became challenging, mainly because of the pandemic-related restrictions that prevented us from bringing people together for the training component. We needed help. We emailed several of our FNR colleagues

Release of liability for burn participants? Training required to participate in burns? NWCG quals required? Anyone can light burn? Employees can be burn boss?

no *

yes

yes**

yes

BURN POLICIES/ PRACTICES

Minimum PPE Requirement/ Practice Natural fiber long sleeves, pants; leather gloves/boots?

yes ***

yes

Ball cap or hard hat?

yes

Nomex shirt may be provided? (unwritten rule)

yes

* Working toward it ** Private landowner/any UC ANR employee on university property *** Protocol co-developed with university risk management

Table: Case studies (Data compiled by Chris Adlam, 2020)

to ask for advice and support, and what they told us was invaluable:

Step back, reflect, ask for help.

Build the foundation, then put in the plumbing.

Use agreements and partners to your advantage.

With these new perspectives, we re-evaluated our process. We determined that our program team needed to be more adaptable because of all the changes and uncertainties related to the upcoming 2021 legislative session. Liability laws could change, and a CBM program could be mandated for implementation with the Board of Forestry responsible for creating and approving rules and regulations. Under the “fo undation first, plumbing later” heading, we decided to create an easy -to-read, less technical version of our content first. We decided to do the following: Create separate modules and publish them as part of a prescribed fire series similar to this work: https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/ec1573. This series provides foundational information at a basic level. Our hope is that by gaining an understanding of prescribed fire, people will have an interest in participating in the CBM program, which will be more robust and technical.

Provide an in-person workshop and live-fire training opportunity as a beta test for NRCS staff based on draft modules and use the feedback from those interactions to refine the work.

Provide additional localized live fire training opportunities for NRCS by connecting staff to existing opportunities on USFS lands, TREX, etc.; learn from, adapt, and incorporate information gained from these experiences into future live-fire training, for non-fire professionals and landowners. Build an online opportunity for Oregon similar to the “ Basic Prescribed Fire Training,” that targets specific audiences (e.g., agency or landowner) and narrows in on specific topics (e.g., broadcast burning, pile burning).

In taking the third piece of advice — leverage partnerships — we were grateful for the participation of several agencies, organizations, and people:

ODF (state partnership)

NRCS and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) (federal partnership)

OPFC (collective prescribed fire community)

Individual contributors: Aaron Groth, Amanda Rau, Chris Adlam, Ariel Cowan, John Rizza, Katie Wollstein, Daniel Leavell, Stephen Fitzgerald, Jacob Putney, Dan Stark, and John Punches from OSU; Ryan Gordon, Jason Pettigrew, Christina Clemons, and Tim Holschbach from the ODF; Amy Markus, USFS; and Andrew Owen, NRCS; Jenna Knobloch, OPFC

Part 4: Other Resources for Prescribed Fire Management and How to Leverage Them Many prescribed fire experts around the country are doing this kind of work, and our project would not have been poss ible without them. If you’re creating a similar program in your state or region, we highly recommend that you consult, work with, and leverage state and federal resources, existing Extension resources, organizations such as

prescribed fire councils (PFCs);

prescribed burn associations (PBAs); and

agreements, authorities, and memorandums of understanding.

We have taken full advantage of our national network of diverse, knowledgeable Extension colleagues. We urge you to do the same if you are considering landscape-scale, cross-boundary work in your area.

PFCs

PFCs are organized at the state and local chapter levels. They exist to connect private landowners, fire practitioners, agencies, non-governmental organizations, regulators, and other stakeholders to network and share information related to prescribed fire. Strategies that PFCs use to get more fire on the ground include the following:

public (and partner) education and understanding

training and expertise

information and resources sharing

cooperative burning

policies, regulations, and practices

communications

The OPFC was formed in 2013 under the leadership of Amanda Rau (now also with OSU Extension, Willamette Valley and North Cascades Fire Specialist). OPFC was created to promote and facilitate communication and information about prescribed fire and to provide a forum for interested parties to congregate and participate in discussions about prescribed fire (OPFC, 2021). The OPFC recently went through two working group exercises that helped contribute to OSU’s development of prescribed fire education and training: 1) charting the prescribed fire regulatory system in Oregon with a focus on burn planning, liability, and smoke management on private land and 2) mapping capacity for prescribed fire.

The purpose of the fire regulatory system flowchart is to map out critical bottlenecks for prescribed fire in Oregon to identify solutions. The chart only focuses on private lands, but the Council hopes to expand the

chart to include: public land burns, liability cross-boundary burns, landowner capacity/resources for developing and implementing a burn plan.

Mapping capacity focused on basics for landowners interested in prescribed fire and included: outlining the purposes of a prescribed fire, knowledge needed, key considerations for a burn plan, boots on the ground, resources (both financial/cost-share and technical assistance), burn plan development, risk management/regulatory steps, and equipment/labor. PFCs are great conduits for moving the dial for prescribed fire. Need guidance on starting up a prescribed fire council in your state? The Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils promotes prescribed fire and fosters the development of Prescribed Fire Councils across the country.

PBAs

PBAs are groups of diverse people with varying prescribed fire skill sets who form partnerships to pool their knowledge, equipment, and other resources to conduct prescribed fire.

Chris Adlam, the Extension Fire Program’s Fire Specialist for Southwest Oregon, supports forward momentum for

prescribed burning. He helped the Rogue Basin Prescribed Burn Association (RVPBA) plan and implement two demonstration burns, giving 75

landowners and local residents a transformative first experience with the practice. Few people have ever seen a prescribed burn. Experience in other parts of the country has shown that a single exposure can profoundly affect participants, alleviating concerns over risk and stimulating interest in adopting the practice. (Jesse Kreye et al. manuscript in prep .)

Photo credit: Chris Adlam

A prescribed burn association gets more good fire on the ground in the Rogue Basin.

“Prescribed Burn Associations,” with Jennifer Fawcett, North Carolina State University Extension

VIDEO

The RVPBA, established by wildland firefighter Aaron Kirkava, is the first PBA of its kind in Oregon. It is composed entirely of volunteers, ranging from landowners participating in their first burn to seasoned wildland firefighters contributing their expertise to building community capacity for prescribed burning. One of the goals of the RVPBA is to demonstrate the accessibility of the practice, which is one of the reasons why agency participation has been kept minimal. Because it is run by volunteers, the organization has no budget. However, the growth of the RVPBA will depend on being able to train new leaders in the practice, including from outside the ranks of professional firefighters.

RVPBA and other PBAs will be the testing grounds for how successful changes to state policy will support prescribed burning on private lands (for example, the implementation of the CBM program and changes to liability standards).

“Humboldt County Prescribed Burn Association,” with Lenya Quinn-Davidson and Jeffery Stakehouse, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension

VIDEO

AGREEMENTS, AUTHORITIES, AND MOUs

Agreements, authorities, and MOUs open doors to shared stewardship not only in Oregon, but across the U.S. On April 15, 2021, the Wyden Amendment Authority was used to conduct a prescribed fire starting on the Fremont-Winema National Forest (NF) (federal land) and moved onto private land. Here is a recap of the day from Extension State Fire Specialist Daniel Leavell on the scene (email provided with permission from Daniel): Wanted to inform about an innovative use of the Wyden Amendment Authority by the Fremont-Winema NF. As you know, “Under the authority of the Wyden Amendment, managers of Federal lands may spend funds to conduct treatments on adjacent non-Federal lands to treat private lands where treatments are designed to improve the viability of, and otherwise benefit, fish, wildlife, and other biotic resources.

Photo credit: Amy Markus, USFS

Cross-boundary burning, using the Wyden Amendment Authority.

Yesterday, while participating in a workshop and prescribed burn on public and private land, the USFS person in charge said he had researched this and received permission to apply it to the burn. With an agreement in hand between the private landowner and the Forest, he was able to initiate the burn on a quarter acre of public land cleared for burning and continue on to 40 acres of private land that was prepared for burning with harvests and slash treatments implemented in the last several years. Here’s the good part: Because the private land prescribed burn enhanced the benefit to public land, he was able to have the FS assume the cost (about $100 per acre) and the liability for the entire burn. He was also able to utilize USFS personnel and equipment to light, hold, and back up — and patrol after any mop-up at no cost to the landowner. The operation yesterday went very smoothly. The landowners who were there to observe and take part in the workshop were very impressed. Technically, that Authority could have been used for 1,000s of acres or more of private land burning. The Forest could also have contracted with a private outfit to do the burning —

their discretion. Granted, not all private land is adjacent to public, and not all public agencies will interpret the Wyden this way. But now that one has — and succeeded with it — perhaps more will. Also, this would not have happened but for the cross-boundary, landscape-scale efforts (Extension Fire Program Phase 3) going on in Klamath and Lake SURVEY We Want to Hear From You What agreements or MOUs have you used to get cross- boundary prescribed fire work done across large landscapes?

Part 5: Measuring Success

The use of prescribed fire is just part of a larger strategy to create resilient landscapes and communities. With the ability to deliver science-based education and knowledge to a broad audience and specific communities, Extension can play a lead role in offering prescribed fire education and training. The acres needed for restorative treatment are so large, a cross-boundary, landscape-scale approach is imperative. Working in partnership with other organizations, agencies, Tribal Nations, and National Extension is key to these efforts.

Ultimately, the measure of the success of our prescribed fire education and training will be

acceptance and cross-boundary use of prescribed fire;

improved landscape resilience to disturbance;

communities less vulnerable to wildfire; and

funding and technical support.

We hope this document is useful to you as you think about your relationship with prescribed fire and its use in your state.

Part 6: References

Adlam, C., & Martinez, D. (2021, January 28). Project Firehawk: Decolonizing prescribed fire. Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. https://fireadaptednetwork.org/project-firehawk-decolonizing-prescribed-fire/

Haugo, R., Zanger, C., DeMeo, T., Ringo, T., Shlisky, A., Blankenship, K., Simpson, M., Mellen-McLean, K., Kertis, M., & Stern, M. (2015). A new approach to evaluate forest structure restoration needs across Oregon and Washington, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 335 ,(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.09.014

Matonis, M.S. (2020). Insights and suggestions for certified prescribed burn manager program. Forest Stewards Guild [Report]. https://foreststewardsguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/InsightsRecommendationsCPMBprograms.pdf

Melvin, M.A. (2020). National Prescribed Fire Use. National Association of State Foresters & Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, Inc. [Report]. https://www.stateforesters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-Prescribed-Fire-Use-Report.pdf

Oregon Forest Facts 2020-21 Edition [Fact sheet]. Oregon Forest Research Institute (accessed March 25, 2021). https://oregonforestfacts.org/

Oregon Prescribed Fire Council (accessed May 22, 2021). https://www.oregonrxfire.org/about-us.html

Quinn-Davidson, L. (2021, March 25). In our element: Changing liability standards to increase use of prescribed fire. Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. https://fireadaptednetwork.org/in-our-element-changing-liability-standards/

Spencer, A.G., Schultz, C.A., & Hoffman, C.M. (2015). Enhancing adaptive capacity for restoring fire-dependent ecosystems: The Fi re Learning Network’s Prescribed Fire Training. Ecology and Society, 20 , (3).

Weir, J.R. (2019). How can the NRCS get more prescribed fire on the ground? https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338716947_HOW_CAN_THE_NRCS_GET_MORE_ON_THE_GROUND?channel=do i&linkId=5e270640299bf15216707e0b&showFulltext=true Weir, J.R., Bauman, P., Cram, D., Kreye, J.K., Baldwin, C., Fawcett, J., Treadwell, M., Scasta, J.D., & Twidwell, D. (2020). Prescribed Fire: Understanding Liability, Laws and Risk [Fact sheet]. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, NREM- 2905. https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/print-publications/nrem/prescribed-fire-understanding-liability-laws-and- risk-nrem-2905.pdf

Full Connect Extension “Prescribed Fire Education & Training” chat, archived (2020).

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20

impact.extension.org