NC Extension Agents Attend Timely Workshop on Wildland Fire
Extension professionals attended a workshop on wildfire prevention and mitigation organized by SREF and NCSU Cooperative Extension during NC State Extension Conference in Raleigh, NC.
The North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension and Southern Regional Extension Forestry partnered to introduce NC Extension professionals to wildland fire resources through a workshop at the annual NC State Extension Conference in Raleigh, NC this November. The workshop, entitled Techniques and Resources for Addressing Wildland Fire in North Carolina, provided a wildland fire overview through the video, 8 Things You Should Know about Fire; interactive exercises using NCSU’s 3-D prescribed fire tool, eFire; and the Southern Group of State Foresters’ wildfire risk assessment tool, SouthWRAP. Workshop participants also received a flash drive containing an Extension wildland fire “toolkit”, which contained various resources to support wildland fire programs. Other initiatives, organizations, and resources were discussed during the workshop, including the Cohesive Fire Strategy, the Southern Fire Exchange, prescribed fire councils, the communication tool TELE, Fire Adapted Communities, Firewise, Ready, Set, Go!, the Fire Learning Network, and much more.
Extension professionals in attendance were interested in ways to assist their communities during and after the destructive wildfires this fall. Education and outreach needs expressed were protecting lives and homes, minimizing human-caused ignitions, protecting livestock, partnering with fire departments and emergency services, and other needs during and immediately after the fires. Attendees also indicated a strong need for wildfire prevention activities, including promotion of prescribed fire use. The workshop inspired development of a NC Extension fire education group aimed at increasing Extension's role in fire programming. For more information on the resources presented during this workshop, please contact Jennifer Fawcett (jlevans3@ncsu.edu), Extension Associate with NCSU Extension, or Holly Campbell (hcampbell@sref.info), Extension Associate with the Southern Regional Extension Forestry office.
This workshop was supported by the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPAS): Prescribed Fire Working Group.