POSTPONED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – 4th Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshop

The 4th Annual

National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Workshop

The best things come to those who wait…and wait.

With sincere disappointment, we made the difficult decision to postpone the 4^th Annual National Cohesive Strategy Workshop. The theme for the event was “Hard Truths, Fantastic Failures and Landscape Implementation”. Set for Asheville, North Carolina, we were excited to bring you the first workshop in the Southeastern Region. But like nearly all of this year’s face-to-face events, the hard truths of COVID-19 required us to the workshop for 2021. So, we’re still coming for you Asheville! We just have to be patient.

As we look behind us to appreciate our accomplishments, and ahead to consider the challenges still before us, we have identified many topic areas to be addressed when we gather again in Asheville, at next year’s Workshop:

Hard Truths – What are they and how do we make decisions based on them? What are the lessons learned and how do we adapt for future decision-making to achieve change?

Fantastic Failures – Where alignment of ideas and resources (both financial and people) did not produce the desired outcomes. What did we learn?

Large-Scale, Cross-Boundary Landscape Collaboration – We have the perception that there are many examples of large landscape resiliency being created. Are those areas large enough? How much is enough to create landscape resiliency? How do we prioritize treatments across boundaries and collectively invest in that stewardship? How will we validate that?

Latest advances in science and risk assessment tools – How do we use these new tools to collectively make the right decisions and investments?

From Intent to Action – The Cohesive Strategy provides the framework and intent. What comes next? How do we share risk, responsibility and stewardship of landscapes, communities and wildfire response to meet the goals of the Cohesive Strategy?

Futuring – How do we plan for an unknown future and how do we act in it? What are we doing about it?

But don’t fret, during this delay we’re keeping the momentum going by presenting an interactive virtual engagement, “The Cohesive Strategy in 2020: Dynamic Adaptation in a Novel World.”  We will focus on how the Cohesive Strategy has continued to provide the intent and supportive framework for success even under the unique constraints and unprecedented challenges this year.