This video about the West Fork Complex is beautiful

West Fork Complex from Hon schlapfer on Vimeo.

Stuff in the news 6/21/2013 – Wildfires

• I’ve heard this weather referred to as a new dustbowl many times. I don’t think it’s quite that yet but it surely is a drought and something about which we should be concerned. Cross-posted from today’s New Mexico news. 8 Images to Understand the Drought in the Southwest
• As if a fire weren’t scary enough on its own…  At Chernobyl, Radioactive Danger Lurks in the Trees: For 26 years, forests around Chernobyl have been absorbing radioactive elements but a fire would send them skyward again – a concern as summers grow longer, hotter and drier
• And elsewhere on the international front, Wildfire training for African locals
• According to Mammoth Times, Eastern Sierra and other areas of California are really in for it this year (as if it’s been a cakewalk so far)…  Fire season could be ‘worst in 100 years’
• 
  ESRI has a current wildfire activity map up. It says that it’s US but it also shows some activity in Canada and in Central America. I believe it is a worldwide tool.
• Staci Matlock has a good piece in today’s New Mexican about the Jaroso fire and how the IMT is managing it. It was good to see the inclusion of Luke Sheehy’s passing at the beginning of the piece.
• In Colorado, a Fireworks Company Says They Can Still Shoot Off Displays Safely
  • ““I hate to go there, but I think that a lot of times, these decisions are made and they aren’t thought out, it’s just ‘Hey, we’ve got fire, we’ve got smoke and this is a good story,’ ” Diaz said.”
    • Yeah, given the fire situation in Colorado, probably you don’t want to go there….

• This blog post was actually written in response to the Alberta floods but helping children develop resilience in the face of tragedy is important, whether it’ a flood, a fire, or a human-caused event. Taking an Opportunity to Build Resilience- Helping Children Grow After a Natural Disaster

Stuff in the news 6/21/2013 – Wildfires

• ESRI has developed an online GIS tool for those responding and those affected by the current Colorado fires to monitor the situation on the ground.
• The US is not the only place experiencing wildfires. Sumatra’s fires are producing haze, extending into Malaysia and Singapore. When haze attacks three countries, cooperation needed
• Today’s policy editorial from the Durango Herald:  Forests, fires and budgets – Tight times mean no easy answer preventing, fighting forest fires
• I’ve made a number of friends in the US Forest Service but not one of them has introduced me to a Smurf. We’ll have to work on that…  The Smurfs™ Encourage Children to Get Outside and Discover the Forest
• The Colorado Rural Electric Association has established a Black Forest Fire Electric Co-op Relief Fund to help the more than 500 members of Mountain View Electric Association, who have lost their homes and businesses during the last two weeks.  Co-ops Battle Persistent Wildfires
• Every community in the West should be this forward:  No warnings: Boulder police to ticket, arrest anyone with fireworks this summer
• Bill Gabbert is pretty upset in his piece in Wildfire Today, InciWeb is failing. While I agree it’s a shame how slow it gets when fire season really kicks into gear, I would have liked to see a little credit given for the social media strides they’re making this year. Doce Fire had its Facebook page set up on the 18th and it already has more than 6,000 followers. They are posting prolifically and are answering comments.  It’s a move in the right direction, while we wait for a better Inciweb implementation.

• For all the time we spend discussing fires in the West, this is a perspective that I think we often miss. Before fire hits, artist aims to capture nature’s beauty

Stuff in the news 6/18/2013 – Wildfires

• Repeating from yesterday because it’s important…. From our friends at incidentinfo.org: Luke Sheehy was a California Smokejumper. On June 10, 2013 he made his last jump into a fire on the Modoc National Forest. He was killed when a piece of a tree fell on him. He was 28 years old. Here’s how you can help. Please share out this page when you click through.
• Following up on yesterday’s wildfire post, in which there was piece on people building in fire zones, the state of Colorado has a task force to address the issue. Colorado wildfire task force tackles building in burn zones
• In 2012, more than 20 wildfires in Utah were caused by target shooting. With a bad fire season upon us again this year in the West, Utah officials have set out restrictions on activity to mitigate risk. The restrictions include a ban on target shooting of exploding targets. Other restrictions are listed in the same source. According to BLM in Salt Lake City, target shooting in dry rocks or vegetation can also spark fires but that doesn’t seem to be included in the restrictions just set out.
• Mother Nature Network released a listing of 10 of the Worst Wildfires in U.S. History. While the rankings aren’t actually consistent – some are based on dollar figures, sone on acreage, and some on the most important factor in my opinion, loss of life – it’s interesting reading.
• More of a fire science piece than a wildfire thing but did you ever wonder how fire works in space? Here’s What Happens When You Light a Fire in Space
• Generally, I’m skeptical of studies done by pharma companies, large or small. That said, this is a frightening statistic: Three quarters (75 percent) of the surveyed firefighters/EMTs are more concerned about dying of a heart attack than in the line of duty. This is International Fire/EMS Health & Safety Week. Why is it harder to accomplish our personal health goals than a work-related task or project? Here’s a great story on a Delaware teen who’s trying to help. Be sure to also  click-through to the Heart Healthy Firefighter program!

• Resources to Cover Wildfire Season: Tips for Homeowners to Prepare Homes, Evacuate
• Check out these pretty amazing data maps on US disaster dangers: The most dangerous places to live in America: Spectacular maps show the devastating effects of Mother Nature
• Waldo Canyon fire survivors are helping Black Forest fire survivors to cope. Colorado wildfire survivors mentor Black Forest Fire victims
• The reason that last post caught my eye is that I found an intriguing book at Unabridged Books in Chicago over the weekend. It’s Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience by Laurence Gonzales. The book deals not so much with surviving the tragedies that happen in rare circumstances (I say this because there was an alligator attack and a crocodile attack in the first few chapters – how often does that happen?). Rather, the focus of the book is the PTSD that besets survivors when they re-enter society. This is a highly recommended read.

Stuff in the news 6/17/2013 – Wildfires

• NM Fire Info has been posting the link to the NIFC daily situation report on Facebook, since we got hot and heavy into fire season. It occurred to me that if someone asked me, I don’t know that I’d be very good at explaining it to someone. You know me – when in doubt, look it up. Here is a link to a PDF document on NIFC that explains what’s in there:  Understanding the Information Provided in the National Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR)
• Speaking of things I use but am sometimes at a loss to explain, I am in search of a good explanation of how to read a fire map. If you can help me find one, please post the link in a comment. I promise to give you credit when I include it in the next stuff in the news post 🙂
• Using the term “scurried” for residents trying to put out this fire may have been a poor choice of words. Flagstaff juveniles burning ants start wildfire
• Here’s one of those articles that is policy-related and something we all ask from time to time, I think. The topic just came up in casual conversation this past weekend in the context of building in flood-plains. I don’t have an answer but I think these sorts of pieces are important to read and discuss. It’s always important, when doing so, to dig all the way back to the original sources, though, especially given the title of the piece. Why does the government encourage people to build homes in wildfire zones?
• Ummm, ewwwww….  Firefighters doused with retardant during wildfires at the Black Forest Fire in Colorado.
• Those of us who live in the West have already pretty much figured this out but… Explosive and expensive wildfires in Colorado becoming `new normal’
• From our friends at incidentinfo.org: Luke Sheehy was a California Smokejumper. On June 10, 2013 he made his last jump into a fire on the Modoc National Forest. He was killed when a piece of a tree fell on him. He was 28 years old. Here’s how you can help. Please share out this page when you click through.

Stuff in the news 6/12/2013 – Wildfires

• “The New Mexico Environment Department and the U.S. Forest Service operate air quality monitors at multiple locations around the state. The monitors gather information about air quality conditions and help to keep the public informed. Data from the Environment Department and Forest Service air monitors can be found at http://air.nmenv.state.nm.us and https://www.airsis.com/usfs/… For guidance on distances and visibility, please visit www.nmtracking.org/fire, which includes three maps with examples.” Source from a June 4th article.
• Things may kinda suck in New Mexico but consider that our Type 1 fire, Jaroso, is not presently threatening structures or causing evacs. Black Forest fire in Colorado, on the other hand, has smoke bad enough to trigger an evacuation of an evacuation site: Heavy Smoke Forces Red Cross To Close Evacuation Shelter
• The Silver Fire has an official site now from US Dept of Forestry. It joins the already existing Thompson Ridge page for NM fires. Hopefully, as the Type 1 team activates for the Jaroso fire, they will be able to stand up an official page, as well. In the meantime, look for Facebook updates from NM Fire Info
• “A recent study in the Journal of Forestry now offers managers a tool to help them identify regions exposed to multiple forest threats. The tool uses a novel 15-mile radius neighborhood analysis to highlight locations where threats are more concentrated relative to other areas, and identifies where multiple threats may intersect. It is a technique that may have never been used before to describe forest threats, according to the researchers.”  Study helps managers identify regions with multiple threat potential, including wildfires

• Post-Fire Watershed Protection Added to National Stormwater Conference

• Got bedbugs? Call an exterminator. Don’t do this:  Man Sets Home on Fire While Trying to Kill Bed Bugs

Stuff in the news 6/11/2013 – Wildfires

 

• “…officials and residents continue to try to rely primarily on firefighting improvements and greater firefighting expenditures, instead of limiting development at the wild-urban interface, enforcing rules for property owners, preventing rebuilding in fire zones, and changing “fuel management” practices to shrink the supply of tinder, these fire-policy critics charge. Wildfire policy: Time for US to rely less on shovels, hoses, retardant? (+video) – CSMonitor.com
• Understory fires have destroyed 3% of the Amazon forests over the past 12 years, according to NASA. That is significantly more than other causes, such as farming, mining, and illegal logging, among other causes previously thought to be the cause of the deforestation. That is not to say any of these identified threats are good, of course, but the dryness in general is a grave threat. NASA Confirmed Urgent Need to Save the Amazon Rainforest
• $67 million has been given to the following states for drought, fire, and storm relief, through the USDA Emergency Watershed Program: Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Mexico and Ohio. Colorado got $19 million of the relief money, with the remainder being shared by the other states.
• I can’t even fathom this number but NorCal is up to about 8,000 lightning strikes over the past two days and p. 60 related small fires.
• On a soft news note, there is a piece on wildland fire leadership and introversion that is worth a read. This source, as a rule, tends to promote how-to-be-a-leader books, which are bit dogmatic for my tastes but the TED talk by Susan Cain is valuable. The Solitude Side of Leadership

Thompson Ridge Sunset Pics 20130606

Two shots of the Thompson Ridge fire in the Jemez, taken from Eldorado, NM this evening.

Stuff in the news – 6/6/2013

Trying something a bit new here. It used to be that blogs were actual web logs – that is, logs of things that interested the blog owner. It think it’s also important to write but sometimes I like to share links (hence, my Twitter account) but I am not so vain as to think that anyone is watching just me and I’d like to make these things easily available at a later time. So, I’m going to try collecting some of the things I find in a digest.

I may or may not annotate with summaries or comments. Think of this as an experiment in culture and communication.

Wildfires

• Western strike teams to help with NM #wildfires – The Denver Post http://bit.ly/11uwcwS #NMFire
• #SantaFe Is Squished in a Sandwich of Fire – John Metcalfe-The Atlantic Cities http://bit.ly/16MAogj #NMFire
  • It’s not a lot of fun, believe you me – but I love the visual analogy.
• Camp operator wants #policy to change (Saskatchewan) – http://bit.ly/14jcLrZ #wildfires #SKFire
  • Interesting that the same discussions take place in Canada, regarding what resources to use in fighting fires and when to deploy them
• Protect your home from urban brush fires : The Issaquah Press – Issaquah, WA – http://bit.ly/13dnFNe #WAFire
  • Good advice, even if you’re not in Issaquah!

Humanitarian

• One Million Bones – Full Schedule – http://bit.ly/13dlJnR
  
  • If you don’t know about One Million Bones, you really ought to. It is an art installation, in the works for some years now. Artists (and citizens) have crafted one million human bones to place on the National Mall to create a symbolic mass grave to bring awareness to the horror of genocide. The installation will start on Saturday the 8th in DC. Short notice but they’re really good about media, so I’m sure there will be things to follow online.
• 2013 Buckaroo Ball Saturday, June 15th, Buffalo Thunder Resort, Santa Fe, New Mexico – http://bit.ly/13dxJFU
  • “Since 1994, the Buckaroo Ball Foundation has been dedicated to its mission of raising and distributing funds to non-profit organizations that serve at-risk youth in Santa Fe County. Buckaroo Ball Foundation is now a fund within the Santa Fe Community Foundation.  The Ball is mostly run by a group of dedicated volunteers who donate their time and resources to produce what is one of the largest and liveliest fund-raising weekends in the Southwest.”
• Samantha Power and the Weaponization of Human Rights » CounterPunch http://bit.ly/14jl07l
  • Commentary on Samantha Power’s views on human rights. I actually enjoyed her book, Problem from Hell. This is an interesting take on her policies.
  • More on her appointment to the ambassadorship: Samantha Power Picked To Take Over For Rice At U.N. : NPR – http://n.pr/14jlt9z

Amateur RADIO

• Andrew Seybold: Communications During Major Disasters – http://bit.ly/13dCyir
  
• Sometimes my aggregator shows a picture for a different story from the same source when suggesting an article. Haven’t found the story for the picture but I’m relatively certain this is a mugshot and totally unrelated to the headline. If not, boy am *I* gonna be embarrassed! Just found it amusing.

science, Tech, and Gadgets

• Congressmen to visit brain science labs | Brown University News and Events – http://bit.ly/14jIFV6
  
  • I can see from the title there’s worth in this concept
• Envisioning my friends and colleagues investing in flashights right now… Turning off OCD-like behaviors in the mouse brain with a flash of light – Science – Boston.com – http://bo.st/14jJcq7
• Get everything done: Any.Do branches out from to-do lists to calendar, email, and notes | The Verge – http://bit.ly/14jJsp6 HT @svartling
  • It’s a good thing most apps for iOS are minimal fee because I cannot tell you how many apps I have in the cloud that I’ve given up on. Stefan comes up with cool stuff to try, though, so I’ll give it a go.
• Cross-file under Humanitarian: “A way of thinking may enable battle but prevent war crimes. Researchers show brain operates differently by the way we dehumanize others” http://bit.ly/15P4QCz

What is the FLAME Act of 2009?

This morning, one of my colleagues, Kelli Merritz, tweeted at me, telling me that there was a Senate hearing of the Energy Committee on wildland fire management. You can watch the whole 2-1/4 hrs session here (sadly, I cannot seem to embed it):  http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2013/6/full-committee-hearing-exploring-wildland-fire-management.

There was talk, throughout, as to whether the FLAME Act had been properly implemented since it was signed into law and how to make sure that happens. I had no idea what it was, so I went and looked it up….

The main provision is the establishment of two FLAME Funds; one for the Forest Service funded at $413 million and one for the Department of the Interior funded at $61 million in FY2010. These funding levels are not permanent and are likely to change in coming years. The FLAME Act requires the agencies to develop new methods for determining fire suppression funding estimates in the future. Not surprisingly, the FLAME Act acknowledges that the previous method of using the 10-year rolling average has not been effective: “the 10-year rolling average has failed to keep pace with actual funding requirements and has led to significant disruptions as agencies borrow from non-fire programs accounts when funds are exhausted”.

One of the main objectives of the policy change was to reduce the transfer of funds to wildfire suppression from other agency programs, a practice which has led to significant disruptions in other non-fire programs. Congress expects the administration to appropriately and fully estimate suppression costs, but not at the expense of other agency programs.

The FLAME Act requires the Agencies to report to Congress on a quarterly basis on the use of FLAME funds, a provision designed to avoid last minute emergency actions. The conference report language encourages suppression planning from year to year through a new approach to budgeting for both the FLAME funds and the Wildland Fire Management appropriation. The funds can only be used after a declaration by the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture that a fire is large or complex or if annual suppression accounts are depleted.

Source: Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (direct link to paper)

I was initially posting this just to share what the FLAME Act is, since this is and will continue to be an ongoing topic of discussion if you’re reading / watching things about wildland fire  funding policy. Frankly, though, the entire session is really quite educational and if you can come up with 2 hours to watch it, you absolutely should.

Note that session didn’t start for 25 minutes so fast forward to there. Also, if you’re based in New Mexico, Martin Heinrich comes on at about mark 45:00 and if you’re in the Pacific Northwest, you can watch Doug Decker, Oregon’s State Forester at about 46:50