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The Forest Service’s recently released “Strategy to Expand Prescribed Fire Training in the West” document is blunt: “The prescribed fire implementation environment continues to grow in complexity, IT READS, whereas the ability of practitioners to practice and hone their expertise has lagged, particularly in the Western United States.” The newly established Western Prescribed Fire Training Center is a major effort to address that workforce issue.
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Catastrophic wildfires and other disasters fueled by climate change are raising serious doubts about the future of insurance. But a former California insurance commissioner has some ideas about what could be done.
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New Mexico recently started a program to train private landowners how to safely conduct burning operations on their own land. Those who complete it can be protected from significant liability risks in the state.
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Urban wildfires in unlikely places are likely to become more prevalent as the climate warms, so homeowners across the American West should consider their immediate risk. That’s according to a panel of wildfire survivors and experts assembled for a Facebook Live event with Wyoming Public Media’s Modern West podcast.
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A new paper analyzing the effectiveness of prescribed fire finds that they can substantially reduce the probability of high-intensity fires for as long as six years after the burn.
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A new report from Headwaters Economics and Columbia University’s Climate School paints a damning picture of wildfire policy priorities: those interventions most effective at protecting communities and ecosystems – like building codes, home hardening and prescribed fire – often get the least support, while the least effective (and even sometimes counterproductive) – like wildfire suppression – receive billions in funding.
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In the first of five expected rounds of grant applications, the federal government awarded nearly $180 million to communities across the country to fund projects to reduce wildfire risk. Montana-based Headwaters Economics evaluated how well that first round met the goals of prioritizing high-risk, low-income and disaster-impacted communities. The short answer is pretty well, but there’s still room for improvement, especially when it comes to poorer communities with limited local government staff.
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New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology shows that moving sheds farther away from homes is one way homeowners can reduce wildfire risk.
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With consistent cold weather, space heaters and other strategies to warm your home can put it at risk for a fire. According to the National Fire Protection Association, there is an increased risk of house fires during the winter. And house fires can create another problem for nearby residents.
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Even as the fall season knocks on our door, fire dangers remain high and campers should be wary. One of the nation’s largest wildfires burning right now is the Moose Fire, just outside Salmon, Idaho. It blew up Wednesday night with driving winds, growing to more than 120,000 acres. Evacuations are taking place, and it is threatening municipal water resources.