Prescribed Fire Portal

The Lake States Fire Science Consortium (LSFSC) is committed to ensuring that the ‘best available science’ is available for planning and managing northern fire-dependent ecosystems of the Lake States. Where there are current gaps in the science, the goal of the LSFSC is to assist in filling those gaps so that science informs practice and vice-versa. Unfortunately, for many local fire management issues, there are few resources available to bring managers and scientists together to solve these important issues.

In an effort to enhance the opportunities for managers and scientists to work together, and to expose future professionals to opportunities of management and research collaborations, the LSFSC requests proposals to fund research internships that address relevant fire science and management issues associated with northern fire-dependent ecosystems of the Lake States region (See our Ecosystems page for a description of fire-dependent ecosystems that are the focus of the Lake States Fire Science Consortium). Proposals must be developed by joint manager-scientist teams (i.e. both must be listed as co-PIs and equally contribute to proposal development) and outline how the research internship will address a critical need that will help improve management of fire-dependent ecosystems locally. Preference will be given to partnerships that have not yet received funding from the program.

The LSFSC anticipates awarding several $4,000 research internship awards. It is expected that 100% of the funds should go to support the undergraduate internship experience (preferably for salary, though a limited amount of funds may be used to purchase materials and supplies needed to complete the project - funds should not be used as a supplement or summer salary for graduate students). All proposals must be submitted by 5:00 PM Eastern / 4:00 PM Central on Monday, December 9, 2019 by email to Jack McGowan-Stinski. There will be no exceptions to this closing date and time.

The Forest Steward's Guild is looking to survey organizations that either currently practice prescribed fire or would like to in the future. This will help better understand the insurance market across the country and work with brokers and underwriters to produce a better product. They would like as broad of a sample as possible, spanning all types of fire practitioner backgrounds in order to best understand what is needed!

How you can help: take the survey and forward it to practitioners who might want insurance to implement prescribed burns or better prescribed fire insurance coverage than they currently have.

Prescribed fire is vital to ecosystems and is becoming widely regarded as a cost-effective management tool with major benefit. However, even the most carefully planned burn comes with some risk. This is an incredibly large barrier to implementation due to the lack of high-quality liability insurance available. This problem continues to grow as more agencies pull their prescribed fire insurance plans from the market.

The Forest Steward’s Guild has struggled with this exact barrier and has uncovered some currently available options and potential long-term solutions. For more information on the background of this project and FAQs, please visit https://foreststewardsguild.org/prescribed-fire-insurance

Nominations are now open for new members of the International Association of Wildland Fires' (IAWF) Board of Directors. Nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2019 and successful candidates will begin their 3-year term on January 1, 2020. Individuals meeting the requirements may self-nominate.

The Northeast Region of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources is currently recruiting for four Non-Perm, State Uplands Foresters (Natural Resources Specialist 1) to join our team of Silviculture Foresters. 
 
Are you someone who loves the outdoors, and is passionate about natural resource forester opportunities in Washington State? If you love working in the outdoors, appreciate a remote natural environment, and have good practical field skills with a proven ability for working in a small team, then this is the job for you.
 
These positions will assist the Silviculture Foresters in implementing sound ecological forest management that generates revenue while improving forest health and habitat.  Position responsibilities include assisting in the layout of timber sales. This work includes, locating and marking timber sale unit boundaries, tree marking, GPS mapping, locating and delineating riparian buffers or other sensitive areas, road layout, cruising, and developing detailed summary reports. Additional silvicultural duties include conducting stand surveys, preparing and administering pre-commercial thinning, tree planting and fuels reduction contracts under the agency's forest health program. In addition, this position will assess the health of stands and recommend silvicultural prescriptions and harvest strategies.
 
We have opportunities available in the following locations:

• Arcadia (Deer Park, WA)
• North Columbia (Colville, WA)
• South Okanogan (Omak, WA)
• Highlands (Loomis, WA)