| Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy
Northeast Region
Pagami Creek Fire, Superior NF, Minnesota, September 2011. (Photo: Kari Greer)
Resilient Landscapes - Fire-Adapted Communities - Safe and Effective Wildfire Response
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The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) provides executive leadership, coordination, and guidance to carry out the Northeast Regional Action Plan while providing a forum for members to guide strategic direction for fire and land management activities. The NE RSC continues to collaboratively recognize, support, and help with National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy goals and implementation efforts.
NE RSC Chair: Brad Simpkins, New Hampshire State Forester
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Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy Key Contacts
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Chair
New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands 172 Pembroke Road PO Box 1856 Concord, NH 03302-1856 Maureen Brooks Communications Working Group Lead U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF Larry Mastic Coordinator, Northeast Region Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy |
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Forest Fire Compacts
Quick Links
Science and Joint Fire Science Consortiums & Exchanges
Social Media
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September 2016
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Wildfire Prevention Resource: New Smokey Bear PSAs Unveiled
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(Photo courtesy of the Ad Council, U.S. Forest Service, and NASF)
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Wednesday, August 10, 2016
The National Association of State Foresters and its partners on the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention campaign have unveiled new Smokey Bear wildfire prevention public service announcements.
Back to Top
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Northeast LANDFIRE Update
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 Editor's Note: This section will regularly update you with the latest news and activity of the coordinated LANDFIRE effort in the Northeast.
Northeast Region LANDFIRE Coordinator Sought
The Northeast LANDFIRE budget proposal has been fully funded by the U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region (R9) in partnership with the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry (NA), the State of Wisconsin, and the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact. This project will entail hiring a full-time dedicated coordinator with primary responsibilities that will include outreach, communications, and data management and organization. Through a grant to the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact, this position will be based within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Madison, WI. The coordinator will work closely with various project partners and a multistate steering committee. (
See outreach notice below)
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Northeast Region LANDFIRE Coordinator --- Outreach Notice
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The original LANDFIRE models and mapping products, produced a decade ago, are being systematically updated. Responding to this opportunity and to calls for data improvements among Northeast Regional Strategy Committee members in developing the
National Cohesive Strategy NE Regional Action Plan, we are seeking a coordinator to help integrate local knowledge and spatial data into the mapping process for the 20-state Northeast Region (U.S. Forest Service Region 9). The coordinator's primary responsibilities will be outreach and communications (70%) and data management and organization (30%). This position is based within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Madison, WI, and funded via a 3-year grant awarded to the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact. The coordinator will work closely with various project partners and a steering committee, the Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC), which represents the 20 Northeastern states. This position will require extensive collaboration across a large geographic area and offers exceptional network building and professional growth opportunities. Competitive salary will be commensurate with experience.
Potential Activities
- Coordinate with the Joint Fire Science Program's Fire Science Exchange Consortia corresponding to the Northeast Region to identify and engage fire ecologists for local knowledge input.
- Coordinate with Federal, State, and local agencies; private conservation groups; and educational institutions to acquire, develop, and share GIS data and expertise relevant to the use and improvement of LANDFIRE in the Northeast Region.
- Work with LANDFIRE users to determine and document data collection standards, data storage strategies, and data distribution methods.
- Maintain a broad awareness of the Northeast Region's LANDFIRE users' and the GIS industry's standards, policies, initiatives, and activities related to geospatial data administration.
Interested? Contact Jed Meunier (Research Ecologist with the WI DNR) with questions.
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2016 National State & Private Forestry Report Now Available
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(Photo: National Association of State Foresters)
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Editor's Note: Please take a few moments to check out this report that has a number of Cohesive Strategy, wildfire, and wildland-urban interface topics that may be of interest to you.
Report published by the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and the USDA Forest Service
Trees and forests form a major portion of the green infrastructure of this country. Actively and sustainably managed forests bolster local economies, improve human health, and bring communities closer together. Trees and forests filter our air and water, serve as places for recreation, provide habitat for wildlife, and produce wood products and job opportunities.
Healthy forests do not happen by chance and require investments of dollars, time, and expertise. State forestry agencies and their Federal partners, including the USDA Forest Service, are dedicated to working together to achieve national-level conservation and economic goals that are outlined in the state strategies and assessments, collectively referred to as the Forest Action Plans.
Forest Action Plans are a strategic roadmap for trees and forests, and they help direct limited resources to priority areas where they are needed most. These documents offer proactive strategies to conserve, protect, and enhance the trees and forests upon which we all depend.
View the complete National State & Private Forestry report summary.
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The Smoke Management Photographic Guide
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Firescience.gov Friday Flash eNews
Issue 161, August 5, 2016
Communicating emissions impacts to the public can
sometimes be difficult
because quantitatively conveying smoke concentrations is complicated. Regulators and land managers often refer to particulate-matter concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter, but this may not be intuitive or meaningful to everyone.
The primary purpose of this guide is to serve as a tool for communicating potential particulate matter (PM2.5) levels
during wildfire events using visual representation.
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New Wildland Fire Potential (WFP) Map Available
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Classified Wildland Fire Potential (5 WFP classes, plus non-burnable lands and water)
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Abstract: The wildland fire potential (WFP) map is a raster geospatial product produced by the USDA Forest Service, Fire Modeling Institute that is intended to be used in analyses of wildfire risk or hazardous fuels prioritization at large landscapes (100s of square miles) up through regional or national scales.
Click here for more detailed maps, GIS data, and other information.
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Drought in the Northern Forests?
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Posted by Chris Swanston
USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub Director,
U.S. Forest Service
August 31, 2016
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Drought-stressed saplings begin to shed their leaves early in a Michigan forest. (Photo: U.S. Forest Service)
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When I hear the word drought I imagine dusty rangelands and drying lakes. But it's hard to imagine tumbleweeds blowing through the
Northern Forests of the
Midwest and
Northeast regions. In fact, these forests have seen overall
wetter conditions in recent decades and their annual precipitation is expected to continue increasing with the changing climate.
So why worry about droughts in these northern forests?
Well, it's not just about how much precipitation arrives in a year, but when the precipitation arrives and in what form. We certainly don't need to worry about a dust bowl blowing across New England, but there is genuine concern about late-growing season moisture stress increasingly occurring in many species in our northern forests.
Read the full Northern Forests drought blog post.
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Science Tuesday: Why Mesophication Matters
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August 23, 2016
Editor's Note: Please read this excellent article on fire and oaks from New Hampshire to California.
No matter where I am, I always find myself subconsciously looking for two things: fire and oaks. I start looking for clues, trying to uncover the stories and processes that I know are there, and wondering where the
Quercus is to round out the picture. (I remember being elated to find oaks in the cloud forests of Chiapas, Mexico, and having the feeling that something was missing when I've visited my sister in Alaska.) I know
--- by default, I seem to have a fairly narrow focus
--- but alas, I come from a fire-loving state with more than 20 species of oaks. It's in my nature.
View the complete Science Tuesday article.
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Crews Continue to Battle Month-Long Island Wildfire in UP
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By Newsroon Friday
August 12, 2016
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Forest fire on Poverty Island. (Photo courtesy of Bureau of Indian Affairs)
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(WPBN/WGTU) --- Since late June, firefighters have been working to contain a 127-acre forest fire on an island off of the southern part of the Upper Peninsula.
On June 26, a lightning strike caused the fire on Poverty Island. Firefighters have been trying to keep the fire away from the lighthouse at the southern part of the island, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Attempts to put out the fire earlier this week reduced the size of burning area by 60 percent.
Read the full Upper Peninsula Poverty Island fire article.
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U.S. Forest Service Supplemental Fuels Funding
--- Request for Proposals
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The Forest Service Washington Office is now accepting proposals from field units for Fiscal Year 2017 Supplemental Fuels Funding projects. This is an opportunity for U.S. Forest Service Districts and partners to apply for funding if there are projects that include partner investment, cross-boundary coordination, community protection, and solid fuels work that is strategically located in high-risk areas and consistent with Cohesive Strategy principles and Forest Service program direction. Proposals that are landscape scale in nature and include both National Forest System lands and adjacent State, local, and/or private lands could be potential projects. Projects that were previously submitted for Joint Chiefs funding are eligible. There are limited funds available for this national solicitation and competition may be very strong.
Submit proposals from Forest Service field units to
Laurie Kurth
by October 17, 2016. For questions, please contact Laurie by e-mail or call 202-205-1511.
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Northeast Wildland Firefighting Personnel Support Western Fires
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Editor's Note: Crews and overhead personnel from the Northeast Region assisted with a number of large wildfires in the Western U.S. in early September. The graphics below from the EACC show that a total of 565 personnel were on assignment as of September 4, 2016.
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Conferences, Meetings, and Training Opportunities
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October 20-30, 2016
Brookhaven National Laboratory
An Instructional, Practical and Pragmatic Approach to Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation
December 6-8, 2016
Mystic, CT
--National--
Beyond Hazard Fuels: Managing Fire for Social, Economic, and Ecological Benefits
Held concurrently with the 1st Applied Fire Science Workshop
November 28 - December 2, 2016
Orlando, FL
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The Northeast Regional Strategy Committee (NE RSC) delivers articles and stories each month that demonstrate the collaborative efforts of agencies, organizations and communities supporting and promoting the three goals of the Cohesive Strategy: Restoring Resilient Landscapes, Creating Fire Adapted Communities and Responding to Wildfire.
This news update is our primary communication tool with our partners and the public. Looking for more Northeast Region Cohesive Strategy information or past published news update issues? Visit this Web site.
Does your agency, organization, or community have a project or event you'd like to see featured in the NE RSC News Update?
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