Wildland Fire Leadership Council - Western Region
2023 Accomplishments Report
motivation
As we look back over 2023, we see a year of heartbreaking extremes. From the hottest year on record in the United States to the deadliest wildfire in over a century, we are witnessing the catastrophic devastation of lives, communities, economies, natural resources, habitat and budgets. We continue to experience the trauma and grief as our families, friends and neighbors linger with the se vere impacts from wildfire.
While we recover from the last few fire years, the Western Region of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) finds itself in a rather unique and opportunistic space.
Never before have we experienced such a sizable influx of federal funding to the wildland fire community.
Never before has the public awareness and will to change the negative trajectory of wildland fire been so high.
Never before have there been so many efforts focused on improving the wildland fire environment.
Cover photo: Father and son clearing their property for defensible space and resiliency in Montana. Credit: Bronte Wittpenn.
Top photo: Palm trees on fire in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii on August 8, 2023. Credit: American Oceans. Bottom photo: South Fork Complex Fire, Humboldt County, CA. Credit: US Forest Service.
RUNDOWN 2023
The Western Region is leaning into these opportunities to expand our efforts to educate partners and interest-holders about the Cohesive Strategy and how it can be applied at every level for substanti al investments and progress toward the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.
Planned and co-hosted the 6th Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshop to foster collaborative, actionable solutions and recommendations around significant issues in the wildland fire environment.
Hosted 11 monthly strategy meetings with a variety of agenda topics including examples of successful Cohesive Strategy implementation and progress toward the three goals; lessons learned from innovative approaches to implementation; and addressing issues and challenges in specific places across the region.
Engaged in hundreds of in-person and virtual opportunities to support 43+ individual agencies and organizations as they endeavor to better understand and implement the Cohesive Strategy.
Finalized the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Addendum Update.
Co-developed the All-Lands Wildfire Resilience Framework and the All-Lands Wildfire Resilience Planning and Implementation Playbook.
Convened three deep-dive working groups to identify root causes of growing issues across the west and nationally; and develop actionable solutions and recommendations for further consideration by interested and involved parties/entities.
Photo: Implementing prescribed fire by the Washington Rx Fire Council. Credit: John Marshall.
Our mission is unchanged - to promote and facilitate enabling conditions for action toward the three goals of the Cohesive Strategy across the geographic and political boundaries of the western landscape.
Through strategic engagement and effective communication, we accomplish our mission by working with local, state, Tribal, regional and federal agency and organizational partners to facilitate understanding of what the Cohesive Strategy is and how it can be applied to make
Photo: The Geronimo Interagency Hotshot Crew, administered by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, sets a prescribed fire. Credit: Lance Cheung, USDA.
THE ADDENDUM UPDATE
Across 2022 and 2023, the Western Region participated heavily in the year-long, collaborative effort convened by the WFLC to review the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy) and identify new drivers negatively impacting the wildland fire system, as well as provide a deeper dive into those challenges not addressed in depth in the original 2014 framework. The resulting Addendum Update to the Cohesive Strategy provides enhanced strategic direction and new guidance for us in the Western Region to address today’s wildland fire challenges and support our partners and interest-holders as they continue to implement the Cohesive Strategy for decades to come.
The Addendum notes four new critical emphasis areas that were not present during the original development of the Cohesive Strategy at the level we are experiencing them today:
Climate Change
Workforce capacity, health and well-being
Community resilience (preparation, response and recovery)
Diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice
Five key implementation challenges were also identified:
The existing wildland fire management system has not kept pace with demands.
There is still a need for the significant increase in the proactive use of fire (prescribed and managed wildfire for resource objectives across the country).
Science, data and technology (including Indigenous Knowledge) has not kept pace with the extent of wildland fire and post-fire impacts, or been fully integrated into decision-making for fire, land and community managers.
Markets, infrastructure, and skilled human resource capacity are inadequate to utilize biomass and other wood products from ecosystem management or hazardous fuel treatments.
Education, communications and marketing are insufficient to inform interest-holders and decision-makers about Cohesive Strategy implementation.
Photo: Extremely dry, cracked desert floor. Stock photo.
STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT
The Cohesive Strategy has been affirmed as the solid, strategic framework for implementing significant, meaningful change that reduces the risk of loss from wildfire across the nation. The WFLC and President Biden’s Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission, along with many others ha ve acknowledged the value and long-term benefit of implementing the Cohesive Strategy to reach our collective resiliency goals.
We’ve learned over the last decade that the best opportunities to promote the understanding and integration of the Cohesive Strategy is through personal engagement and “meeti ng people where they are.” The Western Region continues to facilitate “Learning Labs” at the local lev el, and the Coordinator takes the lead in personally visiting with interest-holders throughout the year. In 2023, th e Western Region convened, participated in, presented at, and conducted Cohesive Strategy learning engagements with t he following:
The WFLC, the SRSC and the NERSC
National Association of Counties and its Western Interstate Region
Western Fire Chiefs Association Fire Committee
Council of Western State Foresters
Western Forestry Leadership Coalition
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
FAC Collaborative Partnership
CA Smoke Communications Work Group
Interagency Post Fire Working Group
CA Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force
Prescribed Fire Practitioner Work Group
Fire and Climate Workshop
Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration Wildfire Simulation
Utilities Wildfire Consortium Conference
6th Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshop
WFLC Cohesive Strategy Refresh Task Force
IAFC WUI Conference
State of the Eastern Mojave Convening
Western Regional Partnership Wildfire Deep Dive
Western States Fire Managers
US Senate and US House of Representatives
Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council
The Nature Conservancy
WFLC All-Lands Wildfire Resilience Framework
W FLC Strategic Communications Working Group
NE-MW Prescribed Fire Workshop
Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils
Community Firestorms Work Group Sonoma County, CA Kauai County, HI
Hawaii Fire Chiefs Association
Assuming Command Podcast Weather.com
Oregon Living with Fire Wildfire Resilience Coalition
PODs User Community
CommA Communications Group
SWERI Cross Boundary Workshop
The White House Wildfire Resilience Interagency Working Group
Biden Administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission
Photo: Prescribed fire on the Coconino National Forest with assistance from Flagstaff Fire Department. Credit: Neil Chapman, Flagstaff Fire Dept.
TELLING THE STORY
Embracing the guiding principles and implementing the Cohesive Strategy is the pathway for changing the negative trajectory of wildland fire in the West. This is no easy task, nor is it quick. Visionaries of the Cohesive Strategy knew from the start that this approach would require social and cultural change as well as unprecedented collaboration among and within federal, Tribal, state and local agencies, and in communities to accept that we can no longer resolve these issues alone, we must work together.
The Cohesive Strategy was only a couple years old in 2016 when the Soberanes Fire burned over 132,000 acres in Monterey County and along the Big Sur coast in California. The devastating fire provided an excellent example of early implementation of the Cohesive Strategy and a budding opportunity to change the outcomes of wildland fire there in the future. In 2017, Joe Stutler and Katie Lighthall worked with a handful of Soberanes-impacted volunteers to facilitate the Western Region’s first ever “Learning Lab.” Over 60 U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire and law enforcement personnel, local residents, Tribal representatives and elected officials convened to hear from incident commanders and responders that made up a unified and integrated management structure on the Soberanes Fire, a relatively new concept in fighting large fires at the time, and directly in alignment with the goals and principles of the Cohesive Strategy.
Participants were immersed into the Soberanes experience and its lessons learned along with information about the area’s fire history, the climate and vegetative components that contributed to Soberanes losses, current resiliency projects on the Los Padres National Forest and a local mitigation project. The audience came to understand the relevance and benefits of implementing the Cohesive Strategy as well as what their risk of future wildfire still was, and the magnitude of losses that could still occur if they did not act soon to mitigate that potential.
Participants were asked to use what they had learned, and brainstorm specific actions that will increase the pace and scale of landscape resiliency, community fire adaptation, and provide for a safer, more effective wildfire response. Everyone was also asked to identify which actions they could personally and/or professionally support and commit to through achievement. At the top of the list was the commitment to ongoing collaboration across jurisdictions, and to support a county-level organization that coordinates programs that support the development of fire-adapted and resilient communities there.
The Western Region continued to provide coaching at the county level over the next few years as they received some funding for mitigation projects around private properties and for ingress/egress. It soon became clear however, that the effort needed full-time coordination to address these projects and broaden efforts to apply for more grants, build relationships, and coordinate additional collaborative projects. Using the relationships built over the last few years, they approached the largest private employers in Big Sur and the Community Association of Big Sur (CABS) with a funding request to hire a contractor for one year to get the organization started. In June 2022, they hired Rayner Marx for the position and officially launched Fire Adapted Big Sur (FABS) to implement fuel breaks, the Firewise USA® recognition program and a significant community outreach program.
Rayner hit the ground running and in August 2023, CABS received a Wildfire Prevention Grant of $553,977 from Cal Fire to expand FABS for five years! Looking ahead, FABS is now broadening its scope to address community safety and evacuation, infrastructure and business protection, and fire-related public health.
This is one of our favorite Cohesive Strategy implementation stories because it demonstrates that although understanding and implementation of the Cohesive Strategy take time, the positive outcomes and significant progress toward the three goals are so worth it!
“Solutions should not and cannot be accomplished by federal agencies alone, but must involve individuals, entities, and jurisdictions at every level of society.
All-Lands Wildfire Resilience Framework
Photos: Left - Workshop participants Zander Evans, Forest Stewards Guild; Jim Durgo, Intertribal Timber Council; Right - Cass Moseley, University of Oregon; Mike Zupko, WFLC. Credit: Katie Lighthall.
ALL-Lands WILDFIRE RESILIENCE FRAMEWORK
The Cohesive Strategy identifies the need for large, landscape-scale wildfire risk reduction and resiliency efforts. Planning landscape resiliency and wildfire risk reduction activities at scale and across ownership boundaries is relatively uncharted territory. As a result, there are no adaptable models to which interest-holders have ready access to plan activities across tens of thousands of acres, that anticipate the kind of efficiencies that will be necessary across jurisdictions for success.
Recognizing this critical need, the WFLC and the Western Region are spearheading a multi-party effort to develop a planning and implementation framework that can be used by collaborating agencies, organizations and landowners for the development of location-specific, resiliency-building activities at scale.
We convened a cross-sector steering committee that includes individuals from federal, state, Tribal, local, NGOs, academic agencies and organizations and hosted a two-day, in-person workshop in Denver, Colorado to begin the development of a playbook that will assist land managers, planners and interest-holders, at multiple scales, in facilitating the development of a tactical plan for wildfire risk reduction and landscape resiliency across ownerships and years.
As we head into 2024, we are completing the draft playbook and look forward to piloting the strategy on priority landscapes on its way to its final home as a web-based application where information can be regularly updated, and users can interactively learn about models and examples of large landscape resiliency efforts and how to develop and implement their own plans.
Photos: Kelsey Delaney, Council of Western State Foresters and James Fortner, State, Tribal & Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service lead conversations and report out at the workshop. Credit: Kate Lighthall
COMMUNITY FIRESTORMS
The Maui fires in August of 2023 now hold the dubious place in our history as the most devastating wildfire in the last century. The death toll sits at 102 lives lost, many still missing, and a complicated recovery effort that will last years. In the weeks between the fires and our standing meeting in September, many of our partners expressed their thoughts about “these types of fires” - urban conflagrations, urban firestorms, community conflagrations, etc., that are becoming more prevalent, with greater catastrophic losses each year.
The Western Region launched the convening of a deep dive into “these types of fires” and in only a few short months, we’ve gathered valuable information by asking folks to identify and consider what the commonalities are among “these types of fires.” The list is long but insightful and has led to this draft problem statement:
There are an increasing number of wildfires negatively impacted by extreme climate-related events and other specific commonalities that are contributing to fast-moving fires. These wildfires become “community firestorms” as they are significantly propelled by structure-to-structure ignitions that almost immediately overwhelm fire response, emergency management and other resources, and result in significant loss to life and property.
Next steps: The working group will identify and solicit appropriate partners from all levels of fire response and land management, emergency management, elected officials, social scientists, building and WUI code practitioners, mitigation specialists, land planners, ecologists, climate specialists and the public - to think strategically and develop solutions to address the issues and challenges before us.
The Western Region is focused on providing the immediate space for people to have the difficult conversations about what the challenges are and what can and should be done to mitigate the risk of these tragedies in the future. Our objective is to produce actionable recommendations over the next 12-18 months.
From left: Michiko Martin, Regional Forester, Southwest Region, USDA Forest Service; Melanie Barnes, State Director, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management; Laura McCarthy, State Forester, New Mexico Land, Mineral and Natural Resources Department; Matt Embry, Interagency Recovery Coordinator, FEMA; Katie Lighthall, Coordinator, WFLC Western Region. Credit: Alison Mims.
With an audience of over 300 in-person participants, the 6th Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshop was a STUPENDOUS success! All three WFLC regions planned and executed four full days of shared learning about:
Work-shopping solutions to real-life challenges;
Provocative and illuminating sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion;
Applying the Cohesive Strategy to wildfire and post-fire response;
The importance and value of appropriate, effective communication;
The case for and use of managed wildfire;
Fireside chats among peers about some tough situations and some even harder truths that we must address collectively going forward.
Mark your calendars for The 7th Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshop
Atlantic City, New Jersey September 16-19, 2024
COHESIVE STRATEGY WORKSHOP
From left: Bear Carillo; Elizabeth Cavasso, Modoc County, CA; participants workshopping challenges; Anne Jewell, DoD; Sage Mountainflower, Pueblo of Tesuque. Credit: Kate Lighthall.
THE VISION
where allowable; manage our natural resources; and collectively, learn to live with wildland fire. effectively extinguish fire when needed; use fire The vision of the Cohesive Strategy is to safely and
RESILIENT LANDSCAPES
Landscapes, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries are resilient to fire, insect, disease, invasive species and climate change disturbances, in accordance with management objectives.
THE GOALS
FIRE ADAPTED COMMUNITIES
Human populations and infrastructure are as prepared as possible to receive, respond to, and recover from wildland fire.
SAFE, EFFECTIVE WILDFIRE RESPONSE
All jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient, risk-based wildfire management decisions.
“At Fire Adapted Colorado, the Cohesive Strategy is our North Star. If a workshop, meeting, or one-on-one call isn’t likely to increase safety or effectiveness of wildland fire response or lead to more resilient landscapes and communities, we don’t do it. As we preach and connect around the Cohesive Strategy in Colorado, we rely on the WFLC Western Region and our national FAC partners and fire science networks for the connections and latest information we need to rekindle a healthy, sustainable human relationship with fire.
Becca Samulski Executive Director
Fire Adapted Colorado
Increasing the proactive use of fire
Mitigating post-fire impacts and supporting common-sense recovery strategies
Increasing cross-boundary, large-landscape resiliency collaboration
Increasing community smoke readiness
Mitigating impacts of community firestorms
The Western Region continues to focus on national and regional priorities, and specific issues that are challenging the implementation and acceleration of the Cohesive Strategy. Our relationships with interest- and rights-holders throughout the West have allowed us to stay current on emerging issues as well as barriers and needs. Issues that dominate the dialogue around wildland fire have surfaced as priorities for the Western Region. Our charge is to help our partners understand WHAT the Cohesive Strategy is, and HOW it can be implemented for success across these priorities and for significant progress toward lanscape resiliency, community resiliency and fire adaptation, and a safer, more effective wildfire response.
PRIORITIES
The Western Region acts as the western working committee of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and is tasked with facilitating implementation of the Cohesive Strategy across the West. Our Leadership Team provides the knowledge, experience and innovative thinking necessary to keep our efforts relevant so we can facilitate actionable solutions to today’s western wildland fire challenges.
Bill Tripp
Director of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy
Department of Natural Resources, Karuk Tribe
Elizabeth Cavasso
County Supervisor
Modoc County, California
Mike Zupko
Executive Director
Wildland Fire Leadership Council
Bob Roper
State Forester, Retired; Fire Chief, Retired
Nevada Department of Natural Resources
Ventura County Fire Department
Jason Kuiken
Forest Supervisor
Stanislaus National Forest, USDA Forest Service
Molly Anthony
Division Chief, Fire Planning & Fuels Management
National Interagency Fire Center
Bureau of Land Management
Katie Lighthall
Coordinator
LEADERSHIP
THE VALUE
The power of the Western Region lies in the reach, determination and influence of its members and partners. We provide the forum and the connective tissue of a robust network for those who are passionate and care deeply about wildland fire issues. Through these opportunities and pathways, we are collectively involved across a wide range of activities that facilitate understanding and implement ation of the Cohesive Strategy for significant progress toward the three goals.
The investments in the Western Region by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have allowed us to carry out the practical business of our charter to WF LC. The real value however, has been realized through our relationship building, communication and facilitation efforts to implement the Cohesive Strategy and provide this unique space for collaborative solutions to a variety of wildland fire issues.
These relationships continue to grow as we march forward with a focus on convening around our regional priorities, and the Critical Emphasis Areas and the Key Implementation Challenges of the Cohesive Strategy. Never before has collaborative, prioritized, collective action been more important.
Our work groups have spilled over from 2023 and continue in 2024 to provide space for collaborative, actionable solutions and recommendations around significant issues in the wildland fire environment. In addition to our leadership of the Community Firestorms and All-Lands Wildfire Resilience Framework Work Groups , we also lead a convening that is taking a deep dive into the challenges around Wildland Fire Incident Communications and the 209 Form .
Top: Joint Chiefs and Flathead Fire Safe Council field tour on connecting fuels treatments in the Salish Mountains and Whitefish Range. Credit: Flathead Fire Safe Council. Bottom: Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire by Eddie Moore Albuquerque Journal, AP.
ALL HANDS, ALL LANDS
In addition to everything the Coordinator pursued in 2023 to meet our mission, our members and partners also contributed greatly to helping western interest-holders increase their understanding and implementation of the Cohesive Strategy. These are the agencies and orga nizations that maintain continued representation and participation in the Western Region:
The Western Region of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council is comprised of 17 western states and the Pacific Islands.
Federal agencies
Bureau of Land Management - AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT-Dakotas, NV, NM, OR-WA, UT, WY
FEMA Region VI, IX, X
U.S. Forest Service - Regions 1,2,3,4,5,6 &10 and RD&A
U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
U.S. Fire Administration
Tribal organizations
Intertribal Timber Council
Karuk Tribe, Department of Natural Resources
Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
State agencies
Alaska Division of Forestry
Arizona Department of Forestry & Fire Management
Cal Fire
Colorado State Forest Service
Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife
Idaho Department of State Lands
Kansas Forest Service
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
Nebraska Forest Service
Nevada Division of Forestry
New Mexico State Forestry
North Dakota Forest Service
Oregon Department of Forestry
South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry
Utah Department of Natural Resources
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Wyoming Forestry Division
Local agencies & organizations
Blue Mountain Cohesive Strategy
Deschutes County
Flagstaff Fire Department
Missoula County
Modoc County
Monterey County
Oregon Living with Fire
Sonoma County
Private Industry
Arizona Public Service
ForEverGreen Forestry
Golden State Natural Resources
Harbour Fire
National Wildfire Suppression Association
Perimeter Solutions
San Diego Gas & Electric
Pacific Gas & Electric
Wildfire Water Solutions
Non Governmental Organizations
Arizona Fire Adapted Communities
Butte County Fire Safe Council
California Fire Safe Councils
Climate Wildfire Institute
Coalitions and Collaboratives
Council of Western State Foresters
Fire Adapted Big Sur
Fire Adapted Colorado
Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network
Fire Adapted Montana Learning Network
Forest Stewards Guild
Great Plains Fire Compact
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
International Association of Fire Chiefs
International Association of Wildland Fire
National Association of Counties - Western
Interstate Region
National Association of Forest Service Retirees
National Fire Protection Association
Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities
Public Lands Foundation
The Nature Conservancy
Utah State University Extension
Washington Fire Adapted Communities
Learning Network
Western Fire Chiefs Association
Western Forestry Leadership Coalition
Joint Fire Science Program
California Fire Science Consortium
Great Basin Fire Science Exchange
Great Plains Fire Science Exchange
Northern Rockies Fire Science Network
Northwest Fire Science Consortium
Southwest Fire Science Consortium
“With the Texas fires of 2024 and the fires in almost every Province in Canada in 2023, almost every record has been broken for acres burned, loss of human life and structures, suppression costs, and long-term recovery needs. If there was ever a time to radically double-down on Cohesive Strategy implementation, it’s now.
Oregon Living with Fire
Joe Stutler
Photo: Superior Colorado in 2021 by Milehightraveler.