By Faith Berry Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is celebrated the first Saturday in May, and this year, it lands on Saturday, May 4th! Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is a national campaign focused on getting individuals to take action to avoid wildfire damage to their homes and community spaces. Preparedness Day projects vary in size, shape, [read more]
Hurricane Michael left millions of acres of timber uprooted, broken, and prime for burning. In Florida, 72 million tons of timber – that's 2.5 million log trucks worth of wood – were damaged across 11 Panhandle counties. In Georgia, 20.5 million tons of pine and 17.2 million tons of hardwood – totaling 37.7 million tons [read more]
Guest blog by Kelsey Ocampo, Two Way Direct Sometimes all it takes is a cigarette, careless campfire, or stray firework. Then, if conditions are right, a fire can grow to massive proportions, engulfing 3,000+ acres in under 24 hours. Firefighters and first responders of all kinds need to be ready. When the call goes out, this [read more]
By Whitney Forman-Cook On Monday, December 11, 2017, the National Association of State Foresters joined a select group of forestry and wildfire policy stakeholders at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways we can work together to prevent severe and catastrophic wildfires. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue hosted the summit, and [read more]
By Parker Jones On Wednesday October 23, 2017, Wyoming State Forester and NASF immediate past president Bill Crapser will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. The hearing will consider new legislation introduced by Chairman Barrasso, “The Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2017.” The Bill provides streamlining planning requirements in order to [read more]
The Wildfire Mitigation Awards Committee is pleased to invite nominations for the 2018 Wildfire Mitigation Awards. Established in 2014, in response to an overwhelming number of great wildfire mitigation program efforts across the nation, the Wildfire Mitigation Awards are the highest national honor one can receive for outstanding work and significant program impact in [read more]
Officials from key fire service organizations of Texas are asking for monetary donations and equipment to help local Texas fire departments impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Texas A&M Forest Service, State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association, Texas Fire Chiefs Association, Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System, and State Fire Marshal’s Office, officials deployed an online Rapid [read more]
The full solar eclipse that will swoop across the United States on August 21 is exciting enough to draw up to 130 million people out to see the sun go dark. Unfortunately, this rush also poses a risk to our nation's wildlands. There aren’t many cities located on the eclipses's optimal viewing path. While that's a boon to many [read more]
The National Interagency Fire Center says unauthorized drones have been detected over or near wildfires 17 times this year in nine western states. Of those incidents, 14 caused aerial firefighting operations to be grounded entirely. In 2016, unauthorized drones cropped up near wildfires more than 40 times, grounding air operations more than half the time. “Any [read more]
Help spread the word about the importance of wildfire prevention! The National Association of State Foresters is now accepting pre-orders for a customized cover of its best-selling Smokey Bear pocket planner. This year's cover features the classic art work “High Five for Fire Prevention” by Rudolph Wendelin. Pricing and the 2018 custom cover pre-order form are available at www.jotform.com/NASF1920/2018-Custom-Smokey-Bear-Planner. Personalize [read more]
