Volume 45 | February 2018
Welcome to the February edition of the Network Pulse! Learn about Ed Smith's retirement, sign up for the Battle Born Trail Series: Fire Up for FireFighters Multi-Hour Run, and view a funding opportunity for state and local agencies, tribes, non-profit organizations, companies, homeowners' associations and educational institutions.
Smith to Retire from Cooperative Extension
Headshot of Ed Smith, Natural Resource Specialist and Co-manager of the Living With Fire Program
Ed Smith. Photograph courtesy of University of Nevada Cooperative
Extension.
After a thirty-year career with Cooperative Extension, Natural Resource Specialist and Living With Fire Program founder Ed Smith has announced his retirement starting in May. Following graduation with a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Management, he worked eight years with Resource Concepts, Inc., a Carson City consulting firm. In 1988 he accepted the Natural Resource Specialist position with Cooperative Extension located at the Incline Village office. Working closely with Fire Marshal Gerry Adams and the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Ed created some of the first defensible space educational tools in the country. He acquired funding from the University of Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension in 1998 for a project entitled “Wildfire Threat Reduction Along the Sierra Front.” This project would lay the groundwork for the Living With Fire Program. Living With Fire has become a model program producing some of the most used and recognized wildland-urban interface wildfire threat reduction educational materials in the nation.

Elwood Miller, PhD. and former Associate Director of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension summarized Ed’s career at Cooperative Extension this way: “Whether it was providing administrative leadership or creating a nationally recognized university educational outreach program, Ed always strived for and exceeded the standards of professional excellence. The Living With Fire Program is a continuing testament to Ed’s unselfish commitment to help vulnerable people and communities survive the devastating destruction of wildfire.” Among Ed’s favorite career activities were “Only Ewes Can Prevent Wildfire,” a demonstration of prescribed sheep grazing to create fuel breaks for Carson City; establishing the Nevada Fire Safe Council; producing “Nevada Burning”, an award-winning primetime KOLO television program; and development of the Living With Fire Program. 

Reflecting on his career experiences Ed stated, “What I’ll miss most are all the great individuals and personalities that I was privileged to work with over the past 30 years, from Manhattan to Mt. Charleston, Pioche to Lake Tahoe, and Washoe Valley to Crescent Valley. And, I will especially miss interacting with my awesome colleagues Sonya Sistare, Jamie Roice-Gomes and Elwood Miller”. 
Register Now for the Multi-Hour Run
Funding Opportunity
Logo for Nevada Division of Forestry.  Outer circle reads Nevada Division of Forestry. Inside is a pine tree shape with text reading Range Forest Watershed Protection.
Western States Fire Managers (WSFM) & Hazardous Fuels-Community Protection (HF-CP) Grants –  Open Through March 2, 2018
The following announcement was made by the Nevada Division of Forestry: http://forestry.nv.gov/grants/

Eligible applicants include State and local agencies, tribes, non-profit organizations, companies, homeowners associations, and educational institutions. Emphasis is on hazard fuel reduction, restoration of fire adapted ecosystems, prevention education, and community wildfire protection planning.
NDF has produced an overview presentation of available grants and process. The presentation can be  downloaded here .
Please use the following forms for the pre-proposal:
Reviewing past successful applications will help you prepare a good, competitive project and proposal. The applications below provide good examples of content and format that clearly describe the project, address the scoring criteria and explain how funding will be used.
Western States Fire Managers (WSFM) past successful applications:
Go to   https://www.forestrygrants.org/cwsfWUI/   and click on the “CWSF/WUI” button, then click on the “FY2018 Proposals” button. Then click on the grant names at the website that are listed below. 
WA – U. Kittitas
WA – Antoine 
WA – Hunters 
AK – KPB CWPP Updates
OR – Chickahominy Creek C
MT – Bitter Root RC&D
MT – Blackfoot Challenge
Hazardous Fuels-Community Protection (HF-CP) past successful applications:
Contact:
Cooperative Forestry & Fire Supervisor, Community Protection Coordinator
775-684-2511
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension | Living With Fire Program | roicej@unce.unr.edu
This newsletter is provided by University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, an EEO/AA institution, with funding from a State Fire Assistance grant from the Nevada Division of Forestry and USDA Forest Service. Additional support is provided by the Bureau of Land Management - Nevada State Office.