OSU Extension Fire Program Celebrates Four Years of Impactful Outreach

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State University Extension Fire Program attracted more than 400 registrants for its recent webinar, “Not All Flames Are the Same,” marking another successful contribution to comprehensive knowledge of the role of fire throughout Oregon and fire preparedness.

The hour-long webinar, which was viewed more than 250 times in the three weeks since it was posted on YouTube, featured diverse stories about how fire has shaped Oregon's landscapes, historically and currently. The webinar was presented by the program team of regional fire specialists who work across the state.

The Fire Program, which was created and funded by the Oregon Legislature, has hosted more than 25 webinars since its inception in 2020. The webinars allow the Fire Program team to reach a broader audience in their regions and share valuable and current information on fires and their effects. , according to EJ Davis, fire program director.

In addition to hosting webinars, over the past four years the program has facilitated community preparedness partnerships and landscape planning processes.

Scheduled before 2020

Based on feedback about the need for more wildfire programs, OSU's Forestry and Natural Resources Extension program in 2017 created a fire science program. The project would later become the fire program proposal funded by the state Legislature.

“A lot of people think we started in 2020 because of the Labor Day fires, but this was years in the making,” Davis said.

Carrie Berger, who has managed the Fire program since its beginning, said, “Because Oregon is so diverse, we needed a program that could reach audiences across the state.

A team of six dedicated people was hired to foster fire-adapted communities and resilient ecosystems throughout Oregon.

“They are intended to be a go-to in their regional areas for anything related to wildfires,” Davis said. “They are experts on the past, present and future of wildfires in their area and help people access resources in their communities. »

Berger said, “Fire specialists have been placed in six regions to meet the diverse needs of Oregon. You have the Rangeland, the Coast, the Valley and Southwest, Central and Northeast Oregon – each geography is so different from the other that it would be difficult to meet the needs of the community and of the landscape without the team.

Davis explained that each fire specialist has unique knowledge about their region and fire ecology, which is essential throughout the state. “Fire can happen anywhere in Oregon. We always had a fire. Even on the coast, even in the high altitude rainforests.

Partnerships are essential

The 2020 wildfire season was the most destructive in Oregon's history. Beginning during the Labor Day windstorm of September 7-8, the fires have killed at least 11 people, burned more than a million acres and destroyed thousands of homes.

The Fire program responded in 2021 with the educational program “Fire Aware.” Prepared fire. The program led an interagency team to produce Wildfire Wednesdays, an 11-episode webinar series dedicated to wildfire preparedness at three levels: individual, community and landscape.

The webinars, featuring speakers from multiple local, state and federal agencies, reached people in all 36 Oregon counties in late 2021, with more than 10,000 people attending the live webinars or watching the recordings .

“The fire program is all about partnerships,” Davis said, adding that wildfires are a large and complex problem and no single entity can tackle it alone.

“Just as our landscapes are diverse, so are our partnerships,” Berger said.

The fire program is housed within the Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Service. This leads to cross-program initiatives. For example, the Oregon Naturalist Program will host fire specialists at events or webinars.

The fire program also partners with the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon State Fire Department, as well as federal agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service.

On the ground, local partnerships such as watershed councils and “fire-conscious” communities are also critical to the program’s success, Davis said.

Recently, the Fire program and its partners received a gold medal from the Association for Excellence in Communications for their “Nuestro Futuro en Nuestras Manos/Our Future in Our Hands,” a bilingual booklet that prepares families for fires forest with simple actions and builds resilience to cope. with potentially negative consequences. The publication includes information on creating a “go-bag,” protecting your home from fire, smoke, and taking care of your mental health during wildfires.

Landscape-scale works

Extension's fire program supports the planning, implementation and monitoring of landscape resiliency projects.

In particular, the team is working to enhance its current support to private landowners and public land managers through awareness, education and training on prescribed burning, a tool used in land management for restore fire-adapted ecosystems and reduce fuels.

“We offer the full range of [prescribed fire] education and training – from introductory to advanced,” Berger said.

The Prescribe Fire Basics Series is a series of digital publications offering information to learn about prescribed burns and how they affect Oregon's landscapes. The learning module provides basic information about prescribed burns and each step of planning and implementing a prescribed burn.

This module is a great starting point for those interested in prescribed burns because it provides a step-by-step overview of the processes to keep in mind, Berger said.

The Ignite Rx Fire trainings, hosted in 2024 by Chris Adlam, the South West program's regional fire specialist, included hands-on training on prescribed burns, as well as voices on fire as an Indigenous cultural practice. The goal of these trainings is to connect with landowners about using prescribed burns as a tool.

OSU Extension is also a service provider in the Certified Burn Manager program, Davis said, meaning it offers training for those interested in becoming a certified burn manager in Oregon.

In 2021, the fire program developed a three-day course for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on prescribed burning. Scheduling was critical because it allowed NRCS staff to be authorized to recommend prescribed burns for land restoration efforts. In May 2024, Extension offered additional training to NRCS, which involved staff from across the country.

Meet the team

Here are some details about the firefighting program faculty and staff:

Davis is the director and associate professor of practice in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society in the College of Forestry. Davis is also a principal investigator for the Northwest Fire Science Consortium.

Berger has worked at the College of Forestry for 17 years. In her managerial role, she supports regional fire specialists and helps guide the overall program direction toward resilient communities and effective organizations, adaptive cultures, and fire-friendly ecosystems.

Adlam has served as an assistant professor of practice and regional fire specialist in southwest Oregon since 2020. He focuses on collective action solutions to address wildfire impacts, including prescribed burning and burning Indigenous culture, forest restoration and community preparedness.

Kayla Bordelon has been an Assistant Professor of Practice and Regional Fire Specialist for the Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge since 2022. Her work focuses on developing collaborative capacity for wildfire resilience, equitable community adaptation wildfire prevention and effective education and engagement practices.

Ariel Cowan has been an Assistant Professor of Practice and Regional Fire Specialist for Central Oregon since 2020. She has expertise in prescribed burning, forest health and management, non-timber forest products, plant diseases and community engagement.

Aaron Groth has been an Assistant Professor of Practice and Regional Fire Specialist for the Oregon Coast since 2021. He has expertise in community disaster preparedness, geography, and environmental education.

Micah Schmidt, the newest member of the team, is an assistant professor of practice and regional fire specialist for Northeast Oregon. Schmidt focuses on prescribed burns, fire history and ecology, forest restoration and management, and geospatial mapping and analysis.

Katie Wollstein is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences and a Rangeland Fire Specialist in Southeast Oregon since 2020. Based at the Eastern Agricultural Research Center Oregon at Burns, Wollstein's work focuses on integrated pathways. and fire management, landscape-scale planning to improve fire outcomes and social and ecological resilience to fire in rangeland communities.

Autumn Ellison is the Fire Program Outreach Coordinator and Program Coordinator for the Northwest Fire Science Consortium, where she works to accelerate public awareness, understanding, and adoption of wildfire science.

Manuel Machado is the Natural Resources Workforce Program Coordinator. Machado works with community organizations in the Pacific Northwest to develop learner-centered, bilingual educational materials for Latino forestry workers. It develops extension programs that raise awareness of the labor-intensive forestry workforce and build solidarity within Oregon's forestry workforce to make it safer and more fair.

Previously titled OSU Fire Extension Program Adds Faculty, Educates Fire Prevention Awareness