After the Fire is Out

Even before firefighters have left a burn site, a second wave of specialists is deployed. Their task: to assess the burn site; determine the level of risk to life, property, and ecological resources; and determine quickly the most effective postfire treatments for emergency stabilization and initial rehabilitation of the site. For the past 13 years, the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has funded research on this critical phase of work, which often goes unnoticed after the fire is out. With support from the JFSP, scientists have made great strides in improving the tools available to assess postfire risks and evaluate the effects of available treatments, such as erosion barriers and postfire seeding. The suite of tools includes syntheses that recap the latest research findings and improved computer models to facilitate assessment of risks and threats after wildfires. These tools can help managers choose the best treatments to implement postfire stabilization and rehabilitation. This digest presents a synopsis that will help postfire team specialists and land resource managers respond with confidence to the aftermath of wildfire

Ecotourism in Costa Rica: Empowering Local Communities

This paper explores a community-based ecotourism initiative called La Tortuga Feliz, in Pacuare Beach, Costa Rica. This organization founded and run by Western expatriates using a conservation approach provides benefits to the local community while meaningfully involving them in the process. My research included an extensive literature review, informal and formal interviews as well as participant observation for one month on-site. The objective was to understand what it means to empower and involve local communities in a meaningful way in community-based ecotourism projects. I will argue that La Tortuga Feliz, although facilitating some benefits to the community, also disempowers the local community, unable to satisfy the community’s need of autonomy and equity. The administration has a superiority complex, does not appropriately communicate, and does not trust the community, resulting in overall dissatisfaction. Although La Tortuga Feliz faces some challenges, they do not appropriately address these challenges. These challenges include a lack of social and human capital, lack of funding, lack of administrative skill and the right attitude as well as failure to adequately address cultural differences. Community development work is difficult. Fortunately, with the right attitude and knowledge, we can understand what successful community empowerment entails

Climate Change Tipping Points: A Point of No Return?

Summer 2012 saw records fall for intensity of drought and number, size, and cost of wildfires in the Central and Western United States, and the climate forecast calls for more of the same in the near and distant future. When wildfire breaks out, emergency responders decide their immediate strategy based on past experience and quick judgment calls. But in the long term, land managers need to plan for a warmer climate on a time scale of decades, or even a century or more, to better reflect the life span of trees and forests. Studies supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) are beginning to provide this type of guidance for managers. A central question of interest to researchers is whether there are tipping points, points of no return beyond which landscapes will not revert to their historically documented conditions. Can managers’ actions postpone or halt these drastic changes in forest conditions, or will they instead be forced to plan for a response to inevitable, abrupt changes in the landscape

After the Fire is Out

Even before firefighters have left a burn site, a second wave of specialists is deployed. Their task: to assess the burn site; determine the level of risk to life, property, and ecological resources; and determine quickly the most effective postfire treatments for emergency stabilization and initial rehabilitation of the site. For the past 13 years, the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has funded research on this critical phase of work, which often goes unnoticed after the fire is out. With support from the JFSP, scientists have made great strides in improving the tools available to assess postfire risks and evaluate the effects of available treatments, such as erosion barriers and postfire seeding. The suite of tools includes syntheses that recap the latest research findings and improved computer models to facilitate assessment of risks and threats after wildfires. These tools can help managers choose the best treatments to implement postfire stabilization and rehabilitation. This digest presents a synopsis that will help postfire team specialists and land resource managers respond with confidence to the aftermath of wildfire

Climate Change Tipping Points: A Point of No Return?

Summer 2012 saw records fall for intensity of drought and number, size, and cost of wildfires in the Central and Western United States, and the climate forecast calls for more of the same in the near and distant future. When wildfire breaks out, emergency responders decide their immediate strategy based on past experience and quick judgment calls. But in the long term, land managers need to plan for a warmer climate on a time scale of decades, or even a century or more, to better reflect the life span of trees and forests. Studies supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) are beginning to provide this type of guidance for managers. A central question of interest to researchers is whether there are tipping points, points of no return beyond which landscapes will not revert to their historically documented conditions. Can managers’ actions postpone or halt these drastic changes in forest conditions, or will they instead be forced to plan for a response to inevitable, abrupt changes in the landscape

Using Fire to Manage Invasive Vegetation: The State of the Art

People have used fire to manipulate the landscape since prehistoric times. The science of using prescribed fire to manage unwanted vegetation is a fairly new phenomenon, and it recently took an important stride forward. Researchers and land managers have compiled a synthesis of the most current knowledge of fire as a tool to manage non-native, invasive plants. The effort began in 2004 with a workshop where about 30 participants were invited to brainstorm the issues, assess the current state of knowledge, and establish the basic principles of the use of fire in the control of weeds. The findings were published as a peer-reviewed article aimed at the weed scientist community and as a handbook for land managers. Much of the knowledge regarding the use of fire to control unwanted vegetation has been accumulated over time on agricultural lands. The purpose of this project was to make the information relevant to those who manage wildlands, where more complex objectives, including preserving or restoring native vegetation, are paramount. The comprehensive handbook provides wildland managers with the most current knowledge of the use of fire alone and as part of integrated strategies in the control of invasive species. The handbook also addresses general issues such as safety, training of fire crews and managers, budget issues, public education, and responsibility and liability involved in planning and implementing prescribed burns, which are topics of interest to those using prescribed fire to achieve any goal

After the Fall: A Destructive Bark Beetle in the Southern Appalachians Paves the Way for Restoration of a Vanishing Shortleaf Pine Ecosystem

Between 1999 and 2003, an epidemic of southern pine beetles ravaged the southeastern United States from Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas. In five southern Appalachian states alone this destructive insect killed more than a million acres of pine and caused $1.5 billion in economic losses on state, federal, and private lands. In the aftermath, the massive amount of dead and downed trees has multiplied the risk of wildfire. The Forest Service regularly uses controlled burning with the primary goal of fuels reduction. After the latest outbreak of the pine beetle, the Forest Service is also using fi re to promote a healthier and more resilient mix of pine and hardwoods, to reduce midstory vegetation that crowds out shade intolerant species such as shortleaf pine, and to establish a diverse forest floor and understory that supports a variety of wildlife. An experiment in the Cherokee National Forest in the southern Appalachians is helping guide these efforts. Researchers measured effects of fire on soil, water chemistry, and regeneration of pine, hardwood species, and understory vegetation. Results indicate that controlled burning or fell and burn had no signifi cant adverse impacts on water chemistry or soil. In addition, while hardwoods regenerate spontaneously, shortleaf pine on these sites did not. Restoration will likely require planting seedlings on prepared sites, and additional mechanical or chemical treatments may also be necessary to knock back midstory vegetation

Memories of the September 21, 1944 Air Raid by Carr Hooper

Weston Carr Hooper (May 5, 1903–December 8, 1981), a native of Jackson County, North Carolina, married Ruth Hooper in 1931. After obtaining a degree from the Teachers College at Western Carolina University, Carr worked as superintendent of Sylva grade school. In 1932, the Hoopers relocated to the Philippines when Carr accepted a position as an English teacher. After America entered World War II, the Hoopers were forced into Santo Tomas internment camp. The following manuscript is a handwritten account of an air raid that occurred at the camp on September 21, 1944