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Simple hand-built structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

Brianna Randall

March 26, 2021 |

Science News |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Idaho

Conservationists, government agencies, scientists, and landowners are working together to restore streams using low-cost solutions from sticks, stones, and even beavers. Restoring these floodplains is important to help communities combat drought and wildfires. In Idaho, scientists relocated nine beavers to Birch Creek so they could help repair the dried-up stream. In three years, the beavers built dams, which helped the creek flow for longer in the summer. This method might not work everywhere, so scientists have also tested stone structures, which also proved effective at improving the ecosystem.

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Indigenous Elders Are at Risk of Freezing to Death Because Wood Is So Expensive

Terry Greene Sterling

January 29, 2021 |

Slate |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Navajo Nation, Arizona

A collaborative experiment between Indigenous community activists, tribal officials, loggers, nonprofits, and the U.S. Forest Service is delivering firewood to residents who need it for heating and cooking. The program, called Wood for Life, also doubles as a forest management initiative to thin out Arizona’s forests to prevent deadly wildfires. The shuttering of a local coal mine and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this home heating crisis and group members in 2020 delivered a total of 650 cords of wood to several Indigenous nations.

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A rural county in Washington state hasn't wasted a single Covid-19 vaccine dose. Here's its secret

Christina Zdanowicz

January 25, 2021 |

CNN |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kittitas County, Washington

Kittitas County is leading the way in Washington state in efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccine thanks to having a strong disaster management system in place. The county is accustomed to responding to disasters, such as wildfires, and tapped the deputy fire chief of Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue to lead the incident response team. He explains, "The infrastructure that we have with everybody communicating, everybody willing to be flexible and play whatever role's necessary and an understanding of (incident command system) and emergency operation centers gives us the framework to do it."

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Firefighter jobs difficult to find for women fire crew after prison

Catie Cheshire Sinead Hickey Miles Green

January 12, 2021 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Arizona's Inmate Wildfire Program trains incarcerated people to fight wildfires, paying them low prison wages to provide a critically needed service as wildfires grow more common. Members of the only all-female crew, from Perryville Prison, tell of their pride of accomplishment in doing a dangerous job, and of the rehabilitative benefits of the program. They also describe their frustrations when regulations often bar them from using their skills after release from prison.

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Prescribed burns and wildfire in Santa Cruz County

Stephen Baxter

December 21, 2020 |

Santa Cruz Local |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Santa Cruz, California

The number of prescribed burn associations in California is on the rise, advocating for more controlled fires that could prevent larger wildfires. There are at least 13 in the Golden State with the latest being the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association. Their mission is to help private landowners through the complex process of organizing a prescribed burn and to educate them about the effectiveness and limitations of the technique. So far, they’ve had 125 who are interested in getting involved and they received a grant of more than $300,000 from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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An Indigenous practice may be key to preventing wildfires

Charles Mann

December 17, 2020 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Indigenous Peoples Burn Network, is a collaboration of Native nations, academic researchers, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations that advocate for and train fire-lighters in the indigenous practices of controlled forest burns. Under careful supervision, fire-lighters spread lines of fire beneath trees to create fuel-free areas and protect old growth trees from burning. Controlled burns preserve resources that are part of Native cultures, encourage and protect wildlife and biodiversity, and decrease the frequency of largescale, out-of-control forest fires.

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Cities Want Green Spaces. Here's How to Make Them More Fire-Resistant

Marianne Dhenin

November 06, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ashland, Oregon

A 20-year project by the nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project to restore native plants helped to spare Ashland, Ore., from the worst destruction of a wildfire. Along the Bear Creek greenway in Ashland, the restoration project's work to replace dense thickets of invasive Himalayan blackberries with native shrubs and trees is credited with slowing the speed and severity of the Almeda Fire. Traditional firebreaks and the greenway at other points on the creek failed to slow the fire, and in some ways even sped its destruction.

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A Lesson in Learning to Live With Fire, and Each Other

Laura Bliss

November 05, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Shaver Lake, California

A collaboration between former adversaries over forest management and preservation in the Sierra National Forest led to a $9 million investment into making 154,000 acres healthier, and able to withstand destruction in one of the largest wildfires in California history. The Creek Fire largely spared land in the Dinkey Landscape Restoration Project, despite severe damage in hundreds of thousands of adjacent acres. Years of strategic tree-thinning and intentionally set small fires proved effective.

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How AI Can Help Save Forests

Ted Alcorn

November 03, 2020 |

Wall Street Journal |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden

Satellite-based forest monitoring, paired with other sophisticated measures of a forest's health, is transforming the speed, precision, and economics of finding and eradicating infestations and pinpointing acreage where preventing wildfires and deforestation will prove most effective. Rather than rely on ground-based, manual surveys of vast tracts, forest managers are refining their ability to observe more useful data from space. As success stories pile up, however, the science still must rely on the political will to enact needed policies for a healthier climate and forests.

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Election Season Is Wildfire Season. These Voters Lost Everything.

Julia Thomas

October 29, 2020 |

The New Republic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Rule changes in counties impacted by wildfires have made it easier for displaced residents to vote in the 2020 presidential election by using their temporary residence, shelter, a P.O. box, or their county election office to receive a ballot. Social media campaigns inform residents about their voting options, in addition to wildfire responses, and thousands of people have changed the address where they want to receive their ballot. The number of registered voters also increased by tens of thousands in many counties.

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