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A great tool for understanding prescribed burns

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A great tool for understanding prescribed burns

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Reading through the plan helped me understand further what all went into the prescribed burn that I attended while I was a journalist in Utah. The picture is from that day.

From my experience, about all the public knows or is told about prescribed burns is that they are happening, assuming they pay attention to local news or that local news cares enough about it to report it. I think taking this document and breaking down the steps into a digestible news story with a narrative along with some quotes would go a long way toward teaching the public about what is happening on the ground. In particular, the plan shows you what those involved are thinking in those moments. It would still take the right visuals to make the reader feel like they are there, but this could be a highly read and informative story about what a prescribed burn is and the operations behind it.

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Watching a bat outflight at El Calderon is a common way to spend a summer evening at El Malpais. NPS Photo

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1. Under Key Discussion Items, B: “Have compliance items and pre-burn considerations been completed”, specifically “[…] threatened, and endangered species”.
Recognizing that for the overall long-term health of the habitat, a prescribed burn might be the best option I am wondering:
• How is this threatened/endangered species compliance handled in advance of a burn? Is an EIS or whatever tool is used for this available for this region? I can’t seem to find anything readily available online about it other than a small amount of information in the 2014 foundation document and that compliance is not mentioned elsewhere in the plan.
• There are a number of bat species in the El Malpais burn area. Since 2021, NPS have a placeholder for a list of spp on their bats page for El Malpais National Monument but that’s it, no list. USFWS ECOS doesn’t report any listed bat species for Cibola County, but do we know the species composition? Is lack of such knowledge considered in the compliance? How fragmented is the habitat for resident spp? Also on bats, the topography of the area is such that there are a number of lava tubes and caves which can host large numbers of bats that might be roosting during burns. I’m wondering if any consideration was made for what time of day these burns would be made? Humans are diurnal, bats are not. One could go on to wonder if consideration was made of where various prey insects are in their repro cycles as well, which could affect predator populations for some time.
• Basically, I’m wondering how much the non-vegetative ecology of the areas is factored in to a burn plan and how. Much of that might be covered in the site EA and EIS which I’d love to see.
More transparent knowledge of how species are considered before a prescribed burn could be useful when communicating with public and in further protecting the resources.

2. More broadly: Do “burn seasons” (element 8.A.1.) consider knowledge (TEK and/or via fire management science observation) of when natural fires have occurred historically? If we’re attempting to mimic a natural process but in a highly controlled way to protect our own resources, wouldn’t that information also be useful?

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As USANPN and EPA (among others) track and report on seasonal shifts, astronomical seasons won’t necessarily align with meteorological seasons which we’ve become accustomed to. Prescribed burn windows, outdoor recreation, harvesting patterns of all kinds, and many other human activities tied to the Gregorian calendar’s ability to keep us aligned with the seasons may need to be adjusted accordingly. Our ability to adapt to change is why we are so successful. Changes to millennia of calendrical habits are going to take a lot of work, sure, but other species are doing this out of necessity and for us to change behavior is a climate solution and opportunity, not a problem.

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FireSense seems like a super important program right to the level of national security, and one that is helpful to the entire nation. It says it's a 5 year initiative: "The FireSense project is a 5-year effort focused on measurable improvement in US wildland fire management," which seems like a very quick turnaround time for developing all the tools to meet their goals. I wondered what the long term plan is for how the program will hopefully be integrated into the larger remote sensing program.

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The News page on the FireSense website is a good resource, and in particular, I really liked the link to the recent NYT article "Understanding the New Era of Fire" (7/30/24).

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Intro to FireSense Code of Conduct Funding Contacts

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It's good the authors mentioned, in addition to their main point of decreased opportunity for RxDays, that "Longer fire seasons also mean that fire personnel are committed to fighting fire in some regions–which in turn reduces the number of trained personnel available to implement burns in other regions where conditions are favorable. In addition, longer fire seasons are particularly challenging for federal agencies since their firefighting workforce is dominated by seasonal employees who can only work for limited durations." Already, despite the fact that people from all over the country will fly in to help with firefighting, there are personnel limitations. And a longer fire season will only more strongly preclude efforts to be more proactive/less reactive, as Michael Falkowski discussed.

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I help to organize our local community fun run, a popular weekly event in the summer, and this year, for the first time, we decided to set an AQI cutoff threshold, above which we cancel an event. 2023 was such a problem with wildfire smoke causing stressful last-minute decision-making. The group chose a threshold of 120 (which I would have liked to set lower, but these runners are hard to rein in!).

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Wildfires are becoming more prominent these days. We often hear of how quick and vast they spread. They are also very easily ignited from just rising temperatures. The past 13 months global heat records have been fueling extraordinary wildfires all over the planet. In California where it is alot more prevalent the Park fire became the 5th largest in state history after it grew to 12 times the size of San Fran. Although it started by arson the hot and dry climatic conditions didn't make it any better for the forest to turn into a tinderbox. It burned for a long time before becoming extinguished. Wildfires cause alot of damage but as much as they are dangerous they are quite beneficial to the environment because it sort of "kickstarts" a new nutrient cycle especially for the soil. Regenerating nutrients back into the soil to make it rich and fertile helps in food security. I think more focus needs to be put on persons who intentionally set these fires that then in turn causes great devastation. Thus far for 2024, the Canada wildfire has been the biggest recorded on record. The interaction between humans and the warming atmosphere turns the ecosystems into a fuel source which makes it harder to predict global patterns about fires. The fires are bigger, hotter and happening way earlier than expected.... which brings to think that Global Warming is REAL!

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Wildfires, driven by climate change, have become more intense and frequent, but scientists are still trying to understand larger patterns.

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This is a hugely important topic. I covered a lot of fires while I was working as a journalist in Utah. Their fire sense effort actually made some big gains in reducing human caused fires in recent years. At least on a state level, it made a sizeable impact. I'm sure it would on the federal level as well.

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I was impressed with the level of detail in the prescribed burn plan. It seemed like it covered all bases but I do agree with Sunita that a coordinated outreach component would be useful. As Dr. Michael Falkowski mentioned, "prescribed burns are not only a fuels issue but also a communications issue".

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When I worked at Shenandoah River State Park, there was a planned prescribed burn but the day of, they told us it wasn't happening. I was so bummed because of course, I wanted to watch a wildfire (what a day!) without worrying about anyone being upset/hurt, since I understood the meaning/need for prescribed burns.

This assignment showed me how much goes into the burns themselves, and the go/no-go checklist is likely why my burn got cancelled. I was surprised to see so much notification efforts and pre-burn considerations in Element 9, since when I knew about the prescribed burn, I didn't hear/see about it on local news/radio or social media, I knew through my work. I would have been surprised if anyone outside of the park knew either, but that doesn't mean they weren't doing notifs.

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I am reaching out to the people at the Fairfax County health department to learn more about air quality/climate change and wildfires!

Curious to see what they have to say.

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This journal was an interesting one. It goes to show while the rapidly changing climate is producing more violent, faster spreading wildfires that burn over a longer fire season at higher elevations it aids in ecosystems resiliency and ultimately replenishment. The more resilient the ecosystems are the better it would be to withstand the burns. However with the vast smoke production and greater carbon emissions it takes a toll on our health and causes the loss of old growth forest and reductions in carbon storage. While prescribed burn is alot safer because we can control it we also have to remember that it still harms us and we should focus on when to do it which is mainly during the spring or autumn months. Climate data using GridMET would be the best option as described in the journal to tell us when we should conduct prescribed burns. While wildfires is something we cannot control entirely we have to do our best to mitigate it and if it ever does happen to ensure its controlled in a timely manner. Our health is our main priority but so is the health of our ecosystem and we have to weigh the options on both to be able to come up with the best possible scenario to help us in both aspects.

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While we don't think we're affected by the big fires, we've certainly experienced the smoke that comes from them. The smoke model presented was very interesting. If we're having major fires, it's not talked about or covered in the media much. There is a lot of prescribed burning going on through our Missouri Department of Conservation in collaboration with the US Forest Service. Some happens on private lands but most is on public which is a small percentage of the state.

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I like the plan from the NPS for the prescribed burned that occurred at El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico. The plan is very straight-forward and concise. It is easy to understand, why, when, how, and what through it all. It even gives post-burn and monitoring which is great so persons can know what will happen after. It also details the smoke as a side effect and how they plan to do the burn at the specific time. The el Calderon Triangle document is very detailed and has all the necessary information needed to educate persons on the Prescribed burn. I like that they have a visual aid of the Complexity Analysis and Final Complexity and it details the units up for for the burn with their locations so this helps for persons to stay away from the area. My only hope is other states that do this type of documentation make it open for the public or its broadcasted in a way for public knowledge.

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Leveraging art as an entry point to wildfire literacy

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Leveraging art as an entry point to wildfire literacy

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Inspired by a personal close call with a wildfire, Arizona-based artist Bryan David Griffith created an incredible exhibit that explores the ecological role of fire and how climate change has exacerbated extreme weather events.

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Exploring "Rethinking Fire" with Bryan David Griffith & Paul Hessburg

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I found it really interesting how detailed and thorough the prescribed burn plan was. I did not have any preconceived ideas that they were not thorough, I just had not put that much thought into it. I believe that this is something that most other people have not thought that much about either. In Idaho there are a lot of misconceptions around prescribed burns and the agencies that conduct them. I definitely see that piece as a problem with "fire literacy" as Brant Porter was mentioning.

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In Idaho, where I live, fire has always been a part of this ecosystem. In much of our ponderosa, lodge poll and Douglas fir forests you can really tell the difference between those that fire has been suppressed in vs those that have had treatment (human or nature created). Some areas have such thick undergrowth and more and more beetle kill trees every year. We also have a decent amount of prescribed burns. Knowing the amount of land in this area and how much of it could use a prescribed burn and that the window for doing so every year is narrowing is frightening. So much to do, so little time. Having the communities understand the importance of fire is critical!

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I remember when I lived in Florida, the melaleuca trees burned hotter than the native vegetation, and therefore supposedly made prescribed burns unsafe for areas with many exotics. Is there something to this? Do you worry about how disturbed the land is? You would think that having a burn on disturbed land would be a good thing.

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We get so much wrong about fire in the U.S. -- from our neighbors to our elected to agencies. It's great to see so much effort into creating deeper understanding of the entirety of fire -- the benefits, the threats and the management tactics that make the most sense (in many cases, a return to indigenous practices and knowledge). Equipped with these tools, our cohort can be a part of this important work. Thanks!

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I'm so this burn plan was included and discussed! I know it helps to see all the prep that goes into doing a burn. So many people think we just run out there with matches and set stuff alight! At the conservation cemetery where I volunteer, we've started integrating fire into our interpretation and social media so we communicate about it year-round. We also invite volunteers to join us in low-risk positions like observers or water-bringers so they see the burn upclose and become ambassadors for us. We hope to "normalize" prescribed and lightning-caused fire, and educate folks on how we use the former to achieve our habitat goals and how we address the latter. Then when we actually do a burn (or have an unintentional fire), at least some of the public has a better understanding. We also plan to connect with local media before the next burn season to increase their knowledge and help us get the word out.

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Bluestem on Instagram: "Perfect weather for prescribed fire! So Bluestem is closed today due to this important activity that supports our habitat restoration program. Thanks to our volunteers for showing up to monitor with us! Hope to see our visitors back out here tomorrow to check out the results 🌿#goodfireisgood #prescribedfire #conservationcemetery #conservationburialgrounds"

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59 likes, 0 comments - bluestemcemetery on March 5, 2024: "Perfect weather for prescribed fire! So Bluestem is closed today due to this important activity that supports our habitat restoration program. Thanks to our volunteers for showing up to monitor with us! Hope to see our visitors back out here tomorrow to check out the results 🌿#goodfireisgood #prescribedfire #conservationcemetery #conservationburialgrounds". 

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Talking about Air Quality in My Community

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Talking about Air Quality in My Community

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I reached out to a neighbor who's an ecologist and we had a terrific conversation about air quality in our community. Here are some excerpts.

Margot: Why is it important for communities at low risk of wildfire (like Carrboro) to prepare for air quality impacts from distant fires?
Jeff: Wildfire smoke can be transported very long distances and can have serious impacts on communities hundreds or thousands of miles away.  For example, the Canadian wildfires of June 2023.  Other closer ecosystems on the NC coast burn regularly and can impact Carrboro's air quality.  As climate change increases the likelihood of wildfires everywhere, we may expect more wildfires directly upwind in the mountains of NC and TN.

Margot: Why do you think communities like ours don't have plans in place and how might we change that?
Jeff: I think our community doesn't have plans because the impacts have been infrequent.  As these events become more common, it will force local policy-makers to adopt plans used by other communities.  The only way to speed that up is public pressure on local elected officials and public health authorities. And perhaps education and outreach to the public health authorities by the folks from UNC public health school.

Margot: What's your most pressing climate-related air quality concern and why?

Jeff: The most obvious issue is emissions from wildfires dramatically increasing with climate change. Not only can smoke/particulate matter emissions cause problems, but also other gaseous emissions that can contribute to Ozone formation downwind from wildfires.  This pollution not only harms human health, it also harms downwind ecosystems by depositing nitrogen and other chemicals and exposes ecosystems to high ozone.  We need to do all we can to manage forests to be more resilient to climate change. All the progress we have made in air quality in the U.S. is being reversed by increasing wildfire emissions.

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Carrboro, NC - Official Website | Official Website

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A very detailed plan. I thought the section about culturally historic areas was an important aspect of the plan. I have hiked through El Malpais and there are some incredible and ancient places in there. There was one site that had a dead tree, but it seemed cleared that it had significance to past generations.

The presentation made the case for prescribed burns. I must admit I haven't given prescribed burns much thought. I wonder in the future if prescribe burns will be the way to go or if another method that hasn't been considered will change it.