Issue #78 – July News Cohesive Strategy West

Photo: BLM Utah

Living With Fire in 2020

What does “living with wildland fire” look like in the 2020 fire year, given the current social, health, political, and economic challenges? The Cohesive Strategy continues to provide strategic options to make meaningful progress towards the goals of Resilient Landscapes, Fire Adapted Communities and Safe, Effective Wildfire Response.

These goals remain relevant in the wild times we’re living through,
and call upon us all to up our game. Again.

This outline highlights some of the realities you are likely encountering when one or more of the strategic actions is not an option based on the current environment. We present a few scenarios and the strategic options available for understanding and discussion. We hope you will share it with your stakeholders as you confront your situational realities, determine which actions can be taken, and how the trade-offs impact the constituents/publics you serve in terms of “living with fire” this year.

Please. Stay. Safe.
National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy
Western Regional Strategy Committee

So Much Shared Stewardship!

All three Cohesive Strategy Regions are seeing big wins with Arizona, Texas, and all 20 states and the District of Columbia in the Northeast-Midwest State Foresters Alliance signing Shared Stewardship agreements with the U.S. Forest. These agreements solidify ongoing partnerships to collectively prioritize and leverage funding to create landscape resiliency at scale.

Need more information about the U.S. Forest Service’s Shared Stewardship Strategy?
Check out this FAQ.

Ad Council Wildfire Prevention Campaign

Sponsored by the National Association of State Foresters and U.S. Forest Service, the Ad Council has created a comprehensive collection of posters, videos, banners and other media assets for your use to help spread the critical message of wildfire prevention this fire year. Take a look and get the message out about human-caused wildfire and how they burden our firefighting resources, potentially jeopardizing safe and effective wildfire response.

Truce Called In Long-Standing New Mexico Mexican Spotted Owl Dispute

An inspiring example of what the concept of shared stewardship is all about. Multiple agencies and NGOs coming together to figure out how to best manage landscapes based on the values they provide. This landmark understanding is a win-win for the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the states of New Mexico and Arizona, and the Eastern Arizona Counties Association.

Burning Without Boundaries: Co-Managing Wildfire Risk in Northern Colorado

This research project examines factors that helped and hindered the co-management of wildfire risk in a case study of the Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative (NCFC). The NCFC is comprised of ten organizations spanning federal, state, local, and private forestland and fire management, conservation, research, and community-based watershed organizations. This Fact Sheet breaks down the lessons learned and will be helpful to other land managers crossing boundaries, sharing resources, costs and burdens of managing risk across large landscapes.

Karuk Tribe DNR Wins 2020 ESRI Tribal StoryMap Challenge

Do yourself a favor and take a moment to fully enjoy this award-winning StoryMap of how humans, the earth, the animals and fire have interacted for centuries and helps us all understand the role of indigenous fire use in today’s world.

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