2020 Annual Meeting Resources

"Fire as a Tool"

The 2020 Annual Meeting and Outreach Event was held virtually on November 17, 2020. With the 2020 Creek Fire still burning, the meeting had 130 registrants. The meeting was held in a morning and afternoon session with a virtual field tour during the lunch hour.

Strategic Plan

Stacey Frederick, from the Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council Steering Committee and California Fire Science Consortium, gave a brief introduction to the Council and introduced our newly completed Strategic Plan.

Fire Education

Mark Garrett, from the Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council Steering Committee and UCCE Mariposa, introduced Fireworks, a K-12 Fire Science Curriculum specifically for the Sierra Nevada and Oak Woodlands. Please check out the Fireworks Curriculum and contact Mark at mdgarrett@ucanr.edu if you have questions or would be interested in learning more about the Fireworks Curriculum.

If you would like to check out a Fireworks Tool Box to teach the Fireworks Curriculum, please contact:

Prescribed Fire Policy Recommendations

Britta Dyer (American Forests) and Jamie Sammut (Cal Fire), both Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council members, presented an update on the Prescribed Fire Working Groups recommendations for encouraging the increased use of prescribed fire for the purposes of ecological land managment and fuels reduction.

For more information, please see the Prescribed Fire Task Force website and the Prescribed Fire Working Group website.

Cooperative Burning

Susie Kocher, from the Southern Sierra Prescribed Fire Council and UC Cooperative Extension, introduced the status of prescribed fire cooperatives in the Southern Sierra. Fadzayi Mashiri introduced the Southern Sierra Prescribed Burn Association and Jared Aldern and Ben Kimbler introduced the Sierra Sequoia Burn Co-op, two budding burn cooperatives in the Southern Sierra. Lenya Quinn-Davidson also gave an update on the status of the California Prescribed Burn Boss training program set to roll out in the spring of 2021. Cal Fire gave an update on their Vegetation Management Program.

For more information or to join the Southern Sierra Prescribed Burn Association, please contact Mark Garrett at mdgarrett@ucanr.edu or Sheri Mace at smace@ucanr.edu.

For more information or to join the Sierra Sequoia Burn Co-op, please contact Jared Aldern at jared@jareddahlaldern.net.

For more information on the CARX Burn Boss program, please contact Lenya Quinn-Davidson at lquinndavidson@ucanr.edu. Check out the draft copy of the CARX Burn Boss Course Plan.

For more information on programs supported by Cal Fire, such as the VMP/VTP programs, please contact Len Nielson at len.nielson@fire.ca.gov, Brian Mattos at Brian.Mattos@fire.ca.gov or Jim McDougald at jim.mcdougald@fire.ca.gov. Check out a draft copy of the Cal Fire Prescribed Burning Guidebook.

"Fire as a Tool" Moderated Session

Deb Krol, from the Arizona Republic, moderated a session on "Using Fire as a Tool." She interviewed three experts in the field, Don Hankins from CSU Chico, Crystal Kolden from UC Merced and Ryan Stewart from Southern California Edison.

After watching the moderated session, please feel free to contact the speakers with your questions.

More information on prescribed fire can be found on the California Prescribed Fire YouTube Channel.

Lessons from the Creek Fire

John Mount and Ryan Stewart gave an update on the 40 year history of prescribed burning at Southern California Edison as well as an update on how So Cal Edison's prescribed burning protected Shaver Lake during the Camp Fire of 2020.

For more information, please contact John Mount at mount.john@ymail.com or Ryan Stewart at ryan.stewart@sce.com. Look for more information on the Adaptive Forest Management Experiment between UCCE and SCE.

Virtual Field Day

To learn more about prescribed fire and efforts being made in the Southern Sierra, please visit our Virtual Field Day page.