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FIRE SUMMIT:

THE FUTURE OF FIRE

IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA

JANUARY 16-18, 2008

PROCEEDINGS MARCH 1, 2008

TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH STATION AND LAND CONSERVANCY

E.V. KOMAREK SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER 13093 HENRY BEADEL DRIVE

TALLAHASSEE, FL 32312

TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH STATION MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION NO. 15

ISSN 0496-764X

http://www.firewise.org/newsroom/images/artwork/orangeleaves.zip�

SPONSORS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

F O R E W O R D 1

T H E P R O C E S S 3

R E S U L T S 3

C U R R E N T S I T U A T I O N A N D T R E N D S : A B S T R A C T S 4

K E Y P O I N T S F O R D E S I R E D F U T U R E C O N D I T I O N 9

B A R R I E R S T O D E S I R E D F U T U R E C O N D I T I O N 10

R E C O M M E N D E D S T R A T E G I E S F O R E A C H B A R R I E R 11

V O L U N T E E R S T O W O R K O N I M P L E M E N T A T I O N 15

F O L L O W - U P A C T I O N P L A N 15

A P P E N D I X 16

PARTICIPANTS AND AFFILIATIONS 17

AGENDA 19

BIO-SKETCHES AND FULL ABSTRACTS 21

FACILITATORS 32

EDITORS

Joe Michaels, Meetings by Michaels Gail Michaels, Meetings by Michaels Ron Masters, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

SUMMIT COORDINATOR

Ron Masters, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

STEERING COMMITTEE

Mike Long, Florida Division of Forestry Alan Dozier, Georgia Forestry Commission Lane Green, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy Jim Karels, Florida Division of Forestry Neal Edmondson, Georgia Forestry Commission John Saddler, Florida Division of Forestry Greg Findley, Georgia Forestry Commission Kevin Robertson, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

FACILITATORS

Joe Michaels, Lead Facilitator, Meetings by Michaels Tom Gilpin, Florida Division of Forestry Pat Garner, Florida Division of Forestry

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Kaye Gainey, Sr. Administrative Assistant, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy Lisa Baggett, Administrative Assistant, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy

FOREWORD Prescribed fire faces an uncertain future. EPA regulations and other issues are challenging our ability to use the safest and best tool that we have to apply a natural and essential process to the land.

Fire has shaped ecosystems for millennia, first through lightening-set fires, and later, by anthropogenic ignitions. Historically, fires were a natural and regular occurrence on the southern landscape, responsible for creating the association of plants and animals we see today. Southern ecosystems, and many others that have evolved in the presence of fire, depend upon frequent fires to perpetuate native plant and animal communities. For healthy ecosystems, interaction between fire and the landscape is

imperative. Otherwise, we stand to lose the full complement of species essential to ecosystem function. Fire is essential for nutrient cycling in the soil. It renews and restores wildlife habitat for many species. It perpetuates a biologically diverse and healthy forest. No substitute exists for this essential process. Fire by prescription, applied by trained professionals who use science-based knowledge, can mimic natural fires successfully and safely return fire to the landscape. Some 48 million acres of various habitats in Florida and Georgia are considered fire-dependent. Research suggests that the optimum range of fire frequency varies between one and five years, depending upon the particular plants and associated wildlife communities. Currently, about 3 million acres are permitted for burning each year in both states. If that number approximates what is actually being burned, then the two states combined are achieving only about a 16-year fire return interval on average for fire-dependant ecosystems that require fire on a much more frequent basis. That portends serious consequences for fire-dependant species, communities, and ecosystems: ecosystem dysfunction at a staggering level. Prescribed fire reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire, insuring a safer environment and protecting human lives and property. In many places around the region, prescribed fire has aided immeasurably in controlling or preventing wildfire. Prescribed fire reduces the build-up of dangerous fuel loads from rapidly growing brush and forest litter accumulation. It also reduces the intensity of wildfires when they do occur. The use of prescribed fire is perhaps most critical—and also the most controversial—at the wildland urban interface, where people live in close proximity to rural forests. This interface continues to expand at an increasing rate in both Florida and Georgia. As we

Proceedings: The Future of Fire In Florida and Georgia. January 2008. 1

have seen in both states, and indeed on many western landscapes, the incidence of catastrophic wildfire is increasing. Humans are increasingly at risk, while the cost of suppressing wildfires and the dollar value of properties lost continue to spiral upward. Human health concerns cannot be easily dismissed. Smoke can cause direct impacts on those with breathing problems. However, many scientists believe the quantity and nature of smoke from destructive wildfires is quite different from well conducted prescribed fires. Prescribed fires must be set under specific conditions to allow for adequate combustion and smoke dispersal, reducing particulate matter in the air. In the long run, a well managed prescribed fire program will produce less smoke, while allowing human health concerns to be better managed. Because of fire’s importance to a healthy environment, and ultimately for human well-being, the Florida Division of Forestry, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, and the Georgia Forestry Commission organized this important Fire Summit: The Future of Fire in Florida and Georgia. The purpose and desired outcome of this Summit was to develop a vision for the future of prescribed fire in Florida and Georgia and to develop the components for strategic plans to guide us to that future. The goals that precipitated this Summit were to:

Discuss the future of fire, given the current situation

Determine where the future of fire should be

Discuss media messages

Define data and information needs

Identify all issues related to the continued use of prescribed fire

Determine the questions we should be asking and answering

Develop an acceptable future

Each of the Summit’s 40 participants was identified as having knowledge about prescribed fire and awareness of the increasing complexity of application, representing more than 500 years of combined experience. We sought broad involvement from both policy makers and practitioners in helping to develop this vision and a long term strategy for where prescribed fire needs to be in 2020. These proceedings are the culmination of that initial effort: not the final word. This Summit will be followed in short order by a series of meetings to develop a strategic plan, an implementation plan, and specific tasks that will keep us focused on ensuring a future where the use of prescribed fire is a welcomed certainty. Ron Masters, Summit Coordinator Director of Research Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy


THE PROCESS

TO ATTAIN THE DESIRED OUTCOME:

The process for attaining the desired outcome consisted of:

1. An ASSESSMENT of the history of prescribed fire, the current situation, and some ongoing trends.

2. An interactive, facilitated process to define the key points of the DESIRED FUTURE

CONDITION (DFC)

3. An interactive, facilitated process to identify the most important BARRIERS to achieving the desired future condition

4. An interactive, facilitated process to identify the appropriate STRATEGIES for mitigating these barriers

THE RESULTS The process produced the following:

1. An ASSESSMENT of the current situation and trends

2. A list of key points for describing a DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION for prescribed fire, in order of priority

3. The most significant BARRIERS to the desired future condition, ranked by priority

4. STRATEGIES for mitigating barriers, ranked by priority

5. A tentative list of VOLUNTEERS by barrier willing to help with implementation of one or more strategies


CURRENT SITUATION AND TRENDS: ABSTRACTS OF PRESENTATIONS

The group completed an Assessment of the history of prescribed fire, the current situation, and some ongoing trends through a series of presentations from experienced, credible sources about prescribed fire. Each speaker’s key points are summarized below. Biographical sketches and full abstracts are located in Appendix C.

THE FUTURE OF FIRE IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA

Michael Long, Director, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee, FL

Increasing scrutiny of prescribed fire from expanded development

Newcomers don’t understand the relationship between fire and the environment where they have chosen to live

Less tolerance for smoke

Lack of distinction between wildfire and prescribed fire

Anticipate tighter regulations by EPA and state regulatory agencies

PRESCRIBED FIRE ROOTS AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE SOUTH

Ronald E. Masters, Director of Research, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL

Frequent wildfires are natural to Florida’s fire-adapted ecosystems

Aboriginal cultures used fire, creating southern pine and oak woodlands, savannahs, and open prairies. It remains part of southern culture.

European settlers found a landscape shaped by natural and human-caused fire

European-influenced foresters opposed burning, but fires were caused by indiscriminate logging and slash fires, and used to manage grazing in the open woodlands and cut-over sites

Tall Timbers encouraged scientific research into fire ecology beginning in 1958, now a prominent science


FEDERAL AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND POLICIES IMPACTING WILDLAND AND PRESCRIBED FIRE IN FLORIDA

James D. Brenner, Fire Management Administrator, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee, FL

Lack of air quality monitoring in rural areas to document true effects

Particulate standards based on 24 hour averages. Short duration of smoke likely causes discomfort and could affect health, but may not violate National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Air quality impacts of wildfires and prescribed fires may be treated differently under Clean Air Act by EPA through the exceptional events rule and the “Interim Policy on Wildland Fire.”

Violations of NAAQS from wildfire do not lead to non-attainment if wildfire can be documented as cause

Statewide data lacking to ascertain contribution of prescribed fire to violations, buappear to be no clear relation to number

t

of acres burned

AIR QUALITY IN GEORGIA-CURRENT ISSUES AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS Alan Dozier, Forest Protection Chief, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, GA

Metro Atlanta is epicenter of Georgia’s air quality issues, but urbanization in Piedmont Region is contributing to issues in Columbus, Macon, and Augusta

Particulates/ozone are main concerns; prescribed fire contribution varies

Georgia Forestry Commission has worked with Georgia Environmental Protection for nearly 20 years. Example: ozone forecasting by fire weather shop. Need similar working relationship at Federal level


Must maintain capacity to burn. Inform public of need/reasons

Need to document, quantify, analyze, model, and manage fire with air quality in mind

CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND CARBON CREDITS: THE FUTURE WITH REGARD TO FIRE

Kevin M. Robertson, Fire Ecologist, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL

The Southeast’s fire-adapted ecosystems

rapidly sequester carbon through above-ground re-growth at a rate that equals or exceeds carbon released during burning

Little known about the effects of prescribed fire on soil carbon sequestration, but indications are that 2-4 yr burn intervals have neutral or positive effect in S. Pine

Carbon credit trading will raise questions about effects from prescribed burning

Most relevant effects will be on stand structure, timber management, and soil carbon accumulation

Need to communicate that prescribed fire prevents or mitigates wildfire, which generally releases a greater amount of carbon into the atmosphere

FIRE MESSAGE AND PUBLIC RELATIONS – ISSUES, MESSAGES, CONSISTENCY AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE Lane Green, Executive Director, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL

Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina developed a joint Fire Message and Communication Plan in the summer of 2007

Prescribed fire is a safe way to apply a natural process to ensure ecosystem health and reduce the risk of wildfire

Tall Timbers took the lead to find and hire facilitators and consultants

National Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils and the Southeast Fire Ecology Partnership were included among 20 participants

Group exercises included social marketing, target audience identification and priority-setting, desired behavioral change determination, and “message mapping.”


MANAGING PRESCRIBED FIRE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Lane Green, Executive Director, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL

Importance of rules and regulations with respect to fire

Standards of conduct and ethics using prescribed fire

Issues and impediments that may face managers in the future

Wade and Mobley, Managing Smoke at the Wildland-Urban Interface (SRS-103): “The public is unlikely to continue to tolerate the use of prescribed fire, regardless of the benefits, if burn managers cannot keep smoke out of smoke-sensitive areas.”

Be proactive, not reactive

THE WILDLAND/URBAN INTERFACE IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA – PRESENT AND FUTURE John G. Greis, Forest Resource and Environmental Issues Specialist, USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, Tallahassee, FL

Forests of the southern United States are undergoing rapid and profound change, nowhere more so than in Florida and Georgia

Change accelerated in the 90s, driven by factors such as land markets, timber markets, social institutions, biological factors, and physical factors, including fire

Management in the urban-rural interface must account for natural and social systems.

Presentation highlighted areas in Florida and Georgia where changes are expected to be concentrated over the next 10 to 20 years

HOW MUCH IS BEING BURNED IN GEORGIA, AND HOW MUCH WILL NEED TO BE BURNED IN 2020 Neal Edmondson, Prescribed Fire Program Manager, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, GA


Georgia’s two main challenges in prescribed fire are air quality and urban sprawl

More difficult to obtain burn authorizations and compete burns

Moving forward in fuel mapping and regional smoke management

V-smoke system tracks smoke and estimates emissions. If funds available, plan to manage smoke regionally with programs such as BlueSky RAINS or CONSUME

Would like to double prescribed fires by 2020, concentrating on WUI

HOW MUCH IS BEING BURNED IN FLORIDA, AND HOW MUCH WILL NEED TO BE BURNED IN 2020 Ralph Crawford, Assistant Chief of Forest Protection Bureau, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee

Of Florida’s 36 million acres, about 21.7 million are fire-dependant.

Burns authorized on about 2 million acres per year, a ten year rotation; however, most areas should be on three to five year rotation

How to meet ecological needs without impacting residents

Covered historical trends and potential impacts for the future

A REMINDER: PRESCRIBED FIRE –– THE ECOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE Frank T. Cole, Consultant, For Land’s Sake!; Thomasville, GA

There is an “Ecological Imperative” for burning- no other treatment can replace fire

Too often, only limited objectives of a prescribed burn are acknowledged. Landowners, managers, conservationists, scientists, and species biologists are interested in fire for slightly different reasons

Fire performs more than a dozen unique functions on the land

Must assure continued use of prescribed fire


KEY POINTS FOR DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION (YEAR 2020) Highest Priority Key Points 1 1. The public is demanding more ( prescribed) fire

2. State, Federal, and local statutes are in place to protect prescribed burners right to burn

3. Prescribed burning is recognized to enhance public health and safety

4. The occurrence of prescribed fire matches the natural return intervals, or the objectives of land stewards, and reduces the risk to property (similar to 6 below)

5. Future generations share an educated perspective on prescribed fire

Other Key Points

6. Major fire adapted ecosystems are managed for maintenance rather than restoration….with

the appropriate fire regime on every acre (Similar to 4)

7. Prescribed fire is elevated to a high level of agency priority

8. The highest level of professionalism is maintained among practitioners

9. Prescribed fire is operated in a way that maintains public support-like license which incorporates BMPs planning and implementation.

10. Prescribed fire is used to maintain healthy forests and help meet social and economic needs.

11. Fire management partnerships become seamless.

12. Use of fire has active support from public for effective management of wildland fuels and to meet land manager objectives.

13. EPA, Air policy favors prescribed fire.

14. Growth and transportation incorporated appropriately into urban and road design.

15. Know how many acres are burned.

16. Prescribed fire includes financial incentive for private landowners.

17. Private landowners have access to agency and industry support required to sustain their use of fire as a land management tool.

18. There is an effective system for planning and prioritizing of prescribed fire.

19. Prescribed burning is a year round activity.

20. Prescribed fire advocates are abundant.

21. There are unbiased estimates for particulate emissions.

22. For profit private contractors are meeting demands for private landowners.

23. State prescribed fire crews do it at cost.

24. There are fewer prescribed fire accidents per burns.

25. Land managers have required plan and tools to effectively manage fire smoke.

1 Defined as the top 3– 5 vote-getters



26. Drivers, motorists react appropriately while driving through smoke.

27. Public agencies have requisite resources to manage fuels effectively and meet landowner objectives.

BARRIERS TO DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION IN PRIORITY ORDER 2

B1. Smoke management issues (Air quality, traffic, etc.)

B2. Lack of effective communication and education for garnering informed public support, status, and recognition to drive motivated action

B3. Resources are insufficient to promote and implement operations ($, service, equipment, and qualified personnel)

B4. Increasing urbanization

B5. Low organizational priority for established Desired Future Condition to promote and implement operations ($, service, equipment, and qualified personnel)

B6. Lack of credibility from public and professional partners on our professionalism

B7. Lack of seamless partnerships at the implementation level

B8. Lack of land managers incentives and financial assistance

B9. Too much time required to develop, field test, and implement new technology

2 Note: Barriers 1, 2, and 3 received more total votes than the rest of the Barriers combined.

RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES FOR EACH BARRIER

Barrier 1: Smoke Management Issues 3

High Priority Strategies

S1. Keep EPA educated on prescribed fire versus wildfire emissions.

S2. Utilize the newest technology to model and track smoke plumes and monitor visibility in smoke sensitive areas

S3. Educate drivers during licensing process on what to do when encountering smoke.

S4. Establish or improve procedure and training for law enforcement personnel concerning smoke on the highways; officers on site for the complete job, and incorporate smoke/fog safety into licensing education for motorists

Other Strategies

S5. Create a centralized and coordinated authorization system

S6. Counties include smoke corridor concept in comprehensive planning process

S7. Better utilization and communication with state and local law enforcement and air quality personnel.

S8. Central location that captures accurate data on acres burned and fuel types.

S9. Implement smoke management that incorporates increased signage, contingency plans, etc

Barrier 2: Lack of Effective Communication High Priority Strategies

S1. Make prescribed burning important to everyone by identifying key messages that show what’s in it for them.

S2. Develop a “brand” for our program like “Smokey”.

S3. Establish fire education in school curriculums involving private and government employees.

S4. Hire P.R. firm to do “Disney"-style promo.

S5. Develop and implement standard communication plan.

Other Strategies

S6. Conduct legislative and local government tours of prescribed fire projects.

S7. Convince public safety community that prescribed fire is good.

S8. Promote success stories of prescribed fire burns.

S9. Set goals, quantify needs and timeframe.

3 Top 3- 5 vote getters


S10. Develop education program for kids outside school system.

S11. Give media training to certified burners and first responders.

S12. Train legislative leadership in prescribed fire priorities and look for opportunities to involve elected officials on prescribed burns.

S13. Train agency leaders.

S14. Use prescribed fire to help train wildfire personnel.

Barrier 3: Insufficient Resources


S1. Lobby for additional grants to implement fire on private land and increase budgets for State fire forestry agencies.

S2. Maximize use of current resources for burning.

S3. Develop needs assessment.

S4. Secure dedicated fire funding source.

Other Strategies

S5. Streamline MOU process through public and private agreements.

S6. Build on prescribed fire role with carbon credits

S7. Develop business plans for insurance companies to provide policies.

Barrier 4: Increasing Urbanization


S1. Address issues of local government intervention into authorization process. Keep authorization process under state forestry agency.

S2. Engage local growth management process to preserve the ability to burn in urban areas.

S3. Adapt prescribed fire message with Firewise message.

Other Strategies

S4. Smoke disclosure language in deed transfers and homeowner association agreements with county planning.

S5. Develop smoke easement.


Barrier 5: Low Organizational Priority


S1. Hire positions focused on prescribed fire; provide training; provide for continued funding.

S2. Standardize fire qualifications for cooperators.

S3. Tie priority to manager’s performance standards.

Other Strategies

S4. Increase location and availability of state certification program training.

S5. Develop compensation and retention system for organizations staff.

Barrier 6: Lack of Credibility


S1. Develop and implement a standard code of ethics.

S2. Develop and implement standard prescribed fire planning and execution process.

Barrier 7: Lack of Seamless Partnerships


S1. Develop statewide agreements for prescribed fire with qualifications and standards.

S2. Form interagency prescribed fire teams.

Other Strategies

S3. Demonstrate the benefits of these partnerships between all partners to increase sharing of resources.

S4. Develop local contract crews.

Barrier 8: Lack of Land Managers Incentives


S1. Increase the proportion of state fire funds directed to prescribed fire.

S2. When considering new and existing programs, elevate the priority of prescribed fire in ranking of projects.

Other Strategies

S3. Improve coordinated mobility of resources.

S4. Fuel reduction = insurance savings to landowners.



Barrier 9: Takes too much time to develop, field test, and Implement New Technology


S1. Develop a technology transfer program.

Other Strategies

S2. Consider sharing positions and requiring high technical knowledge and sharing responsibility in product testing and evaluation.

S3. Conduct literature review to see if there is new technology ready to go.

VOLUNTEERS TO WORK ON IMPLEMENTATION (BY BARRIER)

Barrier Participants

Smoke Management Greg Findley, Mike Harris, Mark Melvin*, Michael Dooner, Kevin Robertson, Zachary Prusak, Dave Brownlie, Dale Wade, Frank Cole

Lack of Effective Communication

Lane Green*, Mark Melvin, Parks Small, Michael Dooner, Nick Wiley, Steve Miller, Frank Cole, Zachary Prusak

Resources are Insufficient Matt Snider, Mike Harris, Steve Miller, Neal Edmondson, Zachary Prusak

Increasing Urbanization J. Barrett, Mark Melvin, Bruce Davenport, Kevin Robertson, Dale Wade, Zachary Prusak

Low Organizational Priority Kevin Robertson, Steve Miller, Zachary Prusak

Lack of Credibility Dave Brownlie, Michael Dooner, Ron Masters

Lack of Seamless Partnerships Parks Small, Caroline Noble, Steve Miller, Nick Wiley, Zachary Prusak

Lack of Land Managers Incentives

Mike Harris, Charlie King

Takes too Much Time/New Technology

Caroline Noble

General Assistance Ron Masters, Dale Wade

FOLLOW-UP ACTION PLAN Task Who When

1. Produce minutes of Summit results and email to Ron Masters Joe Michaels 01/25/08

2. Distribute minutes to attendees for review and edit. Ron to designate who to email input with due date

Ron Masters 01/28/08

3. Attendees to forward any edits to Ron Masters ([email protected])

Attendees 02/05/08

4. Decision as to whether to hold a VIP meeting1 with other stakeholders. Objectives would be to:

a. Brief stakeholders on summit results b. Get feedback on results c. Solicit help in implementation of strategies

Mike Long and Alan Dozier

02/25/08

1. More than 90% of attendees favored this meeting.



APPENDIX A. Participants and Affiliations

B. Agenda C. Bio-sketches and Abstracts D. Facilitators

Appendix A

Fire Summit: The Future of Fire in Florida and Georgia E.V. Komarek Science Education Center, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

Tallahassee, FL

Attendees

Name/Affiliation Name/Affiliation

Jim Barrett GOALS-The Langdale Company Jim Brenner Florida Division of Forestry Dave Brownlie U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Frank Cole For Land's Sake Ralph Crawford Florida Division of Forestry Bruce Davenport USFS-Southern Region Alan Dozier Georgia Forestry Commission Neal Edmondson Georgia Forestry Commission Greg Finley Georgia Forestry Commission Manley Fuller Florida Wildlife Federation Patricia Garner Florida Division of Forestry Tom Gilpin Florida Division of Forestry Lane Green Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

Mack Glass Florida Cattleman's Association John Greis U.S. Forest Service Mike Harris Georgia Department of Natural Resources Ira Jolly Florida Division of Forestry Jim Karels Florida Division of Forestry Charles King Association of Consulting Foresters Doc Kokol Kokol & Associates, LLC Tim Lowrimore Georgia Forestry Association Leda Kobziar University of Florida Mike Long Florida Division of Forestry Ron Masters Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy Mark Melvin GA Prescribed Fire Council Joseph W. Jones Research Center Joe Michaels Meetings by Michaels

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Name/Affiliation Name/Affiliation Steve Miller St. John's River WMD Carey Minteer University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dr. David Moorhead University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources Caroline Noble U.S. National Park Service David Printiss The Nature Conservancy North Florida Prescribed Fire Council Zachary Prusak The Nature Conservancy Kevin Robertson Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy

Preston Robertson Florida Wildlife Federation Rose Rodriguez Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy Parks Small Florida Parks Service Matt Snider The Nature Conservancy Michael Dooner Florida Forestry Association Dale Wade Retired, U.S. Forest Service Nick Wiley Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

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Appendix B

FIRE SUMMIT: The Future of Fire in Florida and Georgia

January 16 – 18, 2008 E.V. Komarek Science Education Center

Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL (Lunch Provided on the 17th)

Agenda Facilitator: Joe Michaels Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Afternoon Session –– What We Need to Build a Plan 1:00 pm Welcome — Lane Green, TTRS

1:10 pm Fire Summit: The Future of Fire in Florida and Georgia — Mike Long, FDOF

1:40 pm Prescribed Fire Roots and State of the Art in the South –– Ron Masters, TTRS

2:00 pm Federal Air Quality Regulations and Policies Impacting Wildland and Prescribed Fire in Florida –– Jim Brenner, FDOF

2:30 pm Air Quality in Georgia–Current Issues and Future Projections –– Alan Dozier, GFC

3:00 pm BREAK –– Refreshments provided

3:30 pm Carbon Sequestration and Carbon Credits: The Future with Regard to Fire –– Kevin Robertson, TTRS

4:00 pm Fire Message and Public Relations–Issues, Messages, Consistency and Behavior Change –– Lane Green, TTRS and Doc Kokol, Kokol and Associates

4:30 pm Managing Prescribed Fire in the 21st Century –– Lane Green, TTRS

5:00 pm RECEPTION

Thursday, January 17, 2008 Morning Session –– What We Need to Build a Plan 8:30 am The Wildland/Urban Interface in Florida and Georgia–Present and Future –– John

Greis, USFS

9:00 am How Much is Being Burned in Georgia, and How Much Will Need to be Burned in 2020? — Neal Edmondson, GFC

9:30 am How Much is Being Burned in Florida, and How Much Will Need to be Burned in 2020? — Ralph Crawford, FDOF

10:00 am A Reminder: Prescribed Fire–The Ecological Imperative to Burn –– Frank Cole, Consultant, Retired USFWS

10:30 am BREAK –– refreshments provided

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20

Mid-Morning to Lunch –– Facilitated Sessions 11:00 am Determining the Future and Building the Plan - Joe Michaels, Meetings by

Michaels

A facilitated session (both plenary and breakout groups) that will define that desired future condition and identify the significant barriers to attaining it.

Trigger question 1: What do we want the fire program in Florida and Georgia to look like in the year 2020?

Trigger Question 2: What are the significant barriers to attaining that desired future condition?

Note: This will be accomplished beginning with a general plenary session, at least 3 break-out groups, and a plenary session that melds these outputs into a consensus.

12:30 pm LUNCH –Provided by Interactive Training Media, Inc. Afternoon –– Facilitated Sessions, –Building a Strategic Plan for Fire 1:15 - 5:00 pm

Complete desired future condition and significant barriers to it

Brainstorm strategies for mitigating each barrier by breakout groups

Combine breakout group work into a consensus set of strategies

Friday, January 18, 2008 Developing an Action Plan- Where do we go from here? 8:30 - 11:45 am

Summarize day 2 work (A hard copy of the DFC, barriers, and strategies for each barrier will be handed out. This will be done between the end of day 2 and the beginning of day 3.)

Setting priorities for each strategy and making assignments for implementation

Deciding “What’s next?”….an action plan for getting started

11:45 am Final Summary and Comments — Lane Green, TTRS 12:00 Noon Adjourn or stay for media briefing 12:15 pm Media Briefing

Appendix C

Abstracts with Bio-Sketch FIRE SUMMIT: THE FUTURE OF FIRE IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA Michael Long, Director, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Mike is currently the Director of the Florida Division of Forestry. He served as Chief of the Bureau of Forest Protection for 18 years during which time he worked to both promote and regulate open burning in a manner that would keep burning a viable tool for the future. He worked with the National Weather Service to ensure they provided weather information for prescribed burning. He has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure that prescribed burning would be given fair treatment with air quality regulations.

ABSTRACT: As both Florida and Georgia continue to have development expand across their respective landscapes the ability to use prescribed fire will come under increased scrutiny. Many of the new residents of both states are not from the South and do not understand the relationship between fire and the environment in which they have chosen to live. They are therefore not as willing to tolerate smoke and don’t understand the crucial difference between wildfire and prescribed fire. In addition to this pressure, there is an ever increasing refinement of the research on what air quality issues impact human health and at the same time we are refining what can be found in smoke from prescribed burning and wildfires. There are instances where this will lead to tighter regulations by EPA and state regulatory agencies. There is a need to come together and develop a proactive plan that addresses prescribed burning in a positive manner and charts a pathway for continued use of burning as a resource management tool.

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PRESCRIBED FIRE ROOTS AND STATE OF THE ART IN THE SOUTH Ronald E. Masters, Director of Research, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Ron is currently the Director of Research at Tall Timbers. He was formerly Associate Professor of Forestry and Wildlife Ecology at Oklahoma State University (OSU) for over 11 years, where he taught a graduate course in Wildland Fire among others. He has adjunct appointments at OSU and Auburn University. He is a Certified and Registered Forester, a Certified Wildlife Biologist and holds a Certification in Prescribed Burning.

ABSTRACT: The use of prescribed fire in the South has a long and storied history. From earliest times fire has had a place on the southern landscape defining and redefining plant community and thus wildlife community boundaries. Before human settlement, lightning fires forged the landscape and brought to prominent expression various genetic characters in a host of plant species that we now call fire adaptations. Early aboriginal peoples arriving on the continent concomitant with the last ice age began using fire extensively as a tool. The lightning fire regime was modified and extended in a variety of ways over several thousand years through extensive aboriginal use of fire. The result was the extensive southern pine woodlands and savannas, oak savannas in places, and expanses of prairie in others. The various landscapes early European settlers found across the continent and especially in the South were a result of anthropogenic and other forms of disturbance. Early European settlers adapted aboriginal burning patterns and often brought their own burning culture. Initial opposition to the use of fire in the South for vegetation management came from European influenced foresters in response to a number of large landscape level fires, in part related to wide scale indiscriminate logging and the associated slash. Even prominent plant ecologists such as Weaver and Clements overlooked the influence of fire in defining plant community succession pathways and trajectories. However fire was imbedded in the culture of many parts of the South. Woods burning persisted as a behavioral aspect of a subculture in the face of population growth, development and ensuing land use change despite aggressive government sponsored campaigns to the contrary. The hunting plantation culture of the South also had a marked influence on keeping prescribed fire on the landscape. Tall Timbers Research Station (established 1958) was instrumental in providing a forum, through its Fire Ecology Conferences, that encouraged scientific research about fire. These conferences began in 1962 and as they continued the science of fire ecology became a reality. Today science has informed us of the value and indeed the essential role of fire in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem health. Fire Ecology has emerged as a prominent science and the literature on fire and the quest for information about fire is at an all time high. The science available has grown at an exponential rate in the last 2 decades. Public understanding however has lagged significantly behind.

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FEDERAL AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND POLICIES IMPACTING WILDLAND AND PRESCRIBED FIRE IN FLORIDA James D. Brenner, Fire Management Administrator, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Graduate of the Pennsylvania State University in 1974, post-graduate work done at the University of Warsaw and Leningrad between 1976 and 1981. Started work with the Division of Forestry in 1981 as a ranger in the Bunnell District. Promoted in 1982 to the Palm Beach County Forester position. Promoted in 1984 to the Division of Forestry Planner position located in Tallahassee. Promoted in 1985 to the Law Enforcement and Fire Prevention Coordinator in the Forest Protection Bureau. Reassigned to the Fire Management Administrator Position in 1988 where I have served to this date. Major accomplishments include development of; The Florida Prescribed Fire Act FS 590.125(3), the fire season severity forecast based on the El Nino Southern Oscillation, The Inter-Agency Basic Prescribed Fire Course and assisting in the development of the GIS based Fire Management Information System for the state of Florida and the Florida Risk Assessment Analysis. Finally, surviving four hurricanes in one year.

ABSTRACT: Characterization of the true extent of the effects of smoke from prescribed fires and wildland fires on ambient air quality is incomplete due to the deficiency of air quality monitoring sites in rural areas. Also, particulate standards are based on 24-hour and annual averages, whereas smoke plumes may significantly degrade air quality in a community for just a few hours before moving or dispersing. These short-term, acute impacts likely cause discomfort at the least, and possibly even affect health, but may not result in a violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Air quality impacts associated with wildland fires are distinguished from those resulting from prescribed burning because emissions from these two sources have in the past been treated differently under the Clean Air Act and by State and local air quality regulations. Exceedances of 24-hour PM10 and PM2.5 standards have been attributed to wildfires e.g., 1998 in Volusia County, but, as the Exceptional Events Rule explains, violations of NAAQS caused by wildfire do not result in nonattainment if a State can document that the cause of the violation was truly wildfire. In general, little information is available on a statewide level to identify the contribution of prescribed burning to PM10 or PM2.5 (EPA 1992). It appears, however, that there is no clear relation between total acres burned (or particulate emissions) and the non-attainment status of nearby air sheds, possibly because of successful smoke management programs. In areas where air quality standards are being or may be violated, however, land managers are being directed to reduce air quality impacts through smoke management programs. This is because any source that contributes even a few micrograms per cubic meter of particulate matter toward violation of the NAAQS may be required to reduce emissions to assure that air quality standards are attained.

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AIR QUALITY IN GEORGIA-CURRENT ISSUES AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS Alan Dozier, Forest Protection Chief, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, GA BIOSKETCH: Alan Dozier is the Chief of Forest Protection for the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC). He is responsible for policy and implementation of Georgia’s wildland fire management programs. A 1977 graduate of Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Alan holds a bachelors degree in forest management and a minor in soils. Alan worked 2 years in consulting forestry in the Florida panhandle, southwest Georgia, southeast Alabama area prior to employment with the GFC in 1980. Alan is currently chairman of the NWCG Wildland Urban Interface working team and serves on steering committee for the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council. Alan is a registered forester in Georgia and current member of Society of American Foresters.

ABSTRACT: Air quality concerns are on the increase for a growing population of 9 million Georgians. Metropolitan Atlanta is the epicenter of Georgia’s air issues but urbanization along the fall line of the Georgia Piedmont region is affecting air quality for metropolitan statistical areas such as Columbus, Macon and Augusta. Air quality issues of Chattanooga, Tennessee are affecting implementation plans in northwest Georgia. Particulate matter issues in the rural counties of Washington and Wilkinson are concern for economic development and causing self-imposed early action for air quality in these counties. Particulate matter and ozone pollution are the main causes of concern for air quality in Georgia. Prescribed burning contributes widely varying percentages to the total pollution inventory but is a viable source for regulation pursuant to meaningful reductions in both ozone and particulate matter. In many areas of the state; monitoring reveals that pollution is very near the federal standard suggesting than even small improvements, such as those that may be gained by better managing outdoor burning, would be worthwhile. The Georgia Forestry Commission has worked effectively with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for nearly 20 years. The GFC leads prescribed burn stakeholders toward air quality solutions. Our ability to work with EPD to lessen restrictions on silvicultural burning is an example of success in communication and working together. Ozone episode forecasting produced by the GFC fire weather shop is a good example of success in working together. Recent history, the past 30 years or so, has taken us on a journey from denial of smoke management, to opposition against the air quality bureaucrats, to honest participation with implementation of air quality solutions. There is a reasonable comfort working with state level air regulators that we have yet to attain at the federal level. Comfort in working with the federal level is one of our goals. Information and the ability to communicate and use air quality information is the key to the future of prescribed fire. We must gain capability to document, quantify, analyze, model, and manage our fire in a close professional relationship with air quality. Much research is needed in this field. One prerequisite is to get the public on our side and be forever present with our message about the need for fire. This is not on the subject of Air Quality in Georgia but a prerequisite. We must be allowed by the public to burn in order to have an opportunity to address air quality.

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CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND CARBON CREDITS: THE FUTURE WITH REGARD TO FIRE Kevin M. Robertson, Fire Ecologist, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Kevin has been the Fire Ecologist at Tall Timbers for 5 years. Prior to that, he gained experience in southeastern U.S. fire ecology through various research positions and as a burn crew member. He has adjunct faculty appointments with Louisiana State University, University of Florida, and Auburn University. He is Certified Prescribed Burner in Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this presentation is to assess how concerns about global warming and goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may influence the future of prescribed burning in southern U.S. forests. The fact that combustion of fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere brings into question the contribution of prescribed burning to greenhouse gases emission. It is generally accepted that fire-adapted communities of the southeast rapidly sequester approximately the same amount of above-ground biomass as that released during burning through regrowth, and that a frequent fire cycle is sustainable in terms of forest productivity. However, very little is known about the effects of prescribed fire on soil carbon sequestration. Evidence collected by the author and colleagues suggests that frequent (2 – 4 year interval) burning in southern pinelands has a neutral or positive effect on soil carbon sequestration. So far, federal and state government initiatives to decrease carbon emissions have not targeted prescribed fire in forests. This is presumably because the net benefit of carbon sequestration by U.S. forests has outweighed losses due to forest fire (wildfire and prescribed fire) during recent decades. The anticipated emergence of carbon credit trading will probably raise questions about the effects of prescribed burning on carbon sequestration in southern forests, depending on the specific (yet undecided) requirements for claiming credits. Based on the preliminary evidence presented, the most relevant effects of fire on carbon sequestration (and thus carbon credit value) will be its effect on forest stand structure, in conjunction with timber management, and soil carbon accumulation. Another topic addressed in the presentation is the increasingly recognized role of prescribed fire in preventing or mitigating wildfire, which in turn may have a net benefit toward carbon sequestration. Finally, public perception that prescribed fire is a contributor to greenhouse gases presents a real challenge to the use of prescribed fire. Public education on the benefits, or at least neutral effects, of prescribed burning on global warming should be an important component for planning for the future of prescribed fire in the southern U.S.

FIRE MESSAGE AND PUBLIC RELATIONS – ISSUES, MESSAGES, CONSISTENCY AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE Lane Green, Executive Director, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL Doc Kokol, Principal, Kokol & Associates, LLC, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Lane Green has been Executive Director of Tall Timbers since 1991. He actively and aggressively promotes public awareness of the benefits of Prescribed Fire through helping form Fire Councils in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina and is a founding member of the Scoping Group for the National Coalition of Fire Councils. He has directed and participated in two successful statewide public awareness campaigns in Florida in 1999 and 2004. He has appeared in public service announcement videos in Florida and Southwest Georgia. Lane also serves as Governor Appointee to the Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council that recommends conservation land purchases to the Governor and Cabinet. BIOSKETCH: Doc Kokol is a Principal of Kokol & Associates, LLC; a communications consulting firm providing services to a wide range of public and private clients. Kokol’s background includes serving as executive producer for Tall Timbers media campaigns as well as managing national and regional marketing and outreach campaigns for Winn Dixie Stores, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Ford Motor Company, Proctor and Gamble and the State of Florida.

ABSTRACT: This session will explore the process and procedures a 3-state group undertook in the summer of 2007 to develop a Fire Message and Communication Plan whose project goal is to develop “one-common message” about prescribed fire that will be spoken by many voices; a powerful tool for prescribed fire that is lacking in today’s tool box for use by prescribed fire practitioners and prescribed fire regulators. Three states, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina funded and participated in a series of workshops in summer of 2007 at Tall Timbers designed to develop “one message”. Tall Timbers took the lead to find and hire facilitators and consultants to guide this process, Bob McDonald, and Kokol and Associates of Tallahassee. Each state forestry agency was allotted three participation slots including the chair of the state fire council. The National Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils and the Southeast Fire Ecology Partnership was also included in the mix of approximately 20 participants. Two workshop sessions were held at Tall Timbers on July 24 and August 22. The group went through a series of exercises including social marketing, target audience identification and priority setting, desired behavioral change determinations, and finally message mapping which will be discussed in this session.

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MANAGING PRESCRIBED FIRE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Lane Green, Executive Director, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: Lane Green has been Executive Director of Tall Timbers since 1991. He actively and aggressively promotes public awareness of the benefits of Prescribed Fire through helping form Fire Councils in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina and is a founding member of the Scoping Group for the National Coalition of Fire Councils. He has directed and participated in two successful statewide public awareness campaigns in Florida in 1999 and 2004. He has appeared in public service announcement videos in Florida and Southwest Georgia. Lane also serves as Governor Appointee to the Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council that recommends conservation land purchases to the Governor and Cabinet.

ABSTRACT: This session will include information on prescribed fire managers and public relations; the importance of rules and regulations governing the use of fire and why we need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem; standards of conduct and ethics related to the use of prescribed fire; and issues and impediments managers may face in the future. To quote from Dale Wade and Hugh Mobley’s recent publication “Managing Smoke at the Wildland-Urban Interface (June 2007, Southern Research Stations, General Technical Report, SRS-103) “The public is unlikely to continue to tolerate the use of prescribed fire, regardless of the benefits, if burn managers cannot keep smoke out of smoke-sensitive areas”. This quote speaks directly to us and we must be proactive rather than reactive or the universal “right to burn” could become the “privilege of a few to burn.”

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THE WILDLAND/URBAN INTERFACE IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA – PRESENT AND FUTURE John G. Greis, Forest Resource and Environmental Issues Specialist, USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, Tallahassee, FL BIOSKETCH: John Greis is currently the Forest Resource and Environmental Issues Specialist with the US Forest Service, Southern Region, State and Private Forestry Branch, and also serves in that capacity to support the Southern Group of State Foresters. He began his career with the Florida Division of Forestry and has held a variety positions with the Forest Service over the past 28 years. John co-led (with Dr. David Wear of the Forest Service Southern Research Station) the Southern Forest Resource Assessment, a comprehensive study of the South’s forests published in 2002. John and Dave are now initiating a new 2-year regional analysis that will focus on the future of southern forests – called the Southern Forest Futures Project.

ABSTRACT: In the world of forest resources, change is constant. There is ever-mounting evidence, though, that the forests of the southern United States are undergoing unusually rapid and profound change. From the early 20th century, when the region’s forests were heavily cut-over, to mid-century when aggressive tree planting and landowner assistance programs were initiated, to the 1980s and 90s when the South became the nation’s wood basket, the unique forests in the South have continued to play a vital role in the quality of life in the region. Change accelerated during the 1990s, driven by numerous forces. These were broadly categorized in the Southern Forest Resource Assessment (SFRA) as follows: Land Markets, Timber Markets, Social Institutions, Biological Factors, and Physical Factors (including fire). While all of the forces of change have influenced forests, their effects have often been focused in particular or limited areas. The wildland-urban interface in the South, that area of transition between rural and urban areas, is unique in that it is expanding rapidly and is particularly complex in its implications for forest resources and their management. Management of forests within the interface must account for natural and social systems and consequences. Nowhere in the South are the pressures of the interface greater than in parts of Florida and Georgia. This presentation will briefly review several attributes of southern forests, forest owners, and mega-trends that are underway. It will also highlight those areas in the South, particularly Florida and Georgia, where pressures of the wildland-urban interface are expected to be concentrated over the next 10 to 20 years.

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HOW MUCH IS BEING BURNED IN GEORGIA, AND HOW MUCH WILL NEED TO BE BURNED IN 2020 Neal Edmondson, Prescribed Fire Program Manager, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, GA BIOSKETCH: Neal started his career with Georgia Forestry Commission in 1984 as a Forest Ranger and later was promoted to Prescribed Fire Program Manager in the Macon Headquarters. Neal has attended numerous classes on fire behavior, fuel inventory/modeling, and smoke management. Over the years, he has been deployed to several wildfire assignments in other states, which have provided vast experience in fire behavior and management.

ABSTRACT: Of Georgia’s 37 million acres, 24.8 million acres are forestland. On an average, 1.2 million acres are prescribed burned each year. Georgia faces two main challenges with their prescribed fire program, air quality and urban sprawl. These two will make it more difficult to obtain burn authorizations and conduct prescribed burns. One way Georgia Forestry Commission is facing these challenges is by moving forward more in fuel mapping and regional smoke management. V-smoke is the system used presently to try and track smoke and measure emissions from smoke. Future plans, pending on available funding, is to manage smoke on a regional basis using programs like BlueSky RAINS or CONSUME. We would like to see the number of prescribed fire acres doubled by 2020 in Georgia, with a huge concentration in the Wildland Urban Interface as a method of fire protection for Georgia’s homeowners. To accomplish this, burners will need to stay active in managing their smoke and educating the public about prescribed fire and it uses.

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HOW MUCH IS BEING BURNED IN FLORIDA, AND HOW MUCH WILL NEED TO BE BURNED IN 2020 Ralph Crawford, Assistant Chief of Forest Protection Bureau, Florida Division of Forestry, Tallahassee BIOSKETCH: Ralph graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Forest Science in 1983. Accepted a position with the Florida Division of Forestry in August of 1984 as a Forest Ranger in the Everglades District. Primary duties included fire suppression and fire prevention. Promoted to an Urban Forester position assigned to the City of Hollywood, Florida. In 1987 promoted to a Forest Area Supervisor position in 1987. Primary duties included supervision of fire suppression personnel and forest management personnel in Broward and north Dade Counties. Promoted to District Manager in 1997 overseeing all of the Division of Forestry activities in a four county region of north Florida. In 2002 became the Prescribed Fire Manager for the Division of Forestry helping to promote and enhance prescribed fire in the state. In 2004 he was promoted to the Assistant Chief of Forest Protection Bureau.

ABSTRACT: Florida encompasses 36 million acres, of which 21.7 million are considered burnable acres. Florida authorizes burns on about 2 million acres a year, which places most of the acres in Florida on a ten year burn rotation. However, most areas require a three to five year rotation. We must address the question; How can we meet the needs of our natural environment and not impact our residents? This presentation will look at the historical trends of prescribed burning in Florida and what potential impacts there may be for the future use of this valuable management tool which is vital to the continued health of the forests and wildlands within the Florida.

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A REMINDER: PRESCRIBED FIRE –– THE ECOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE Frank T. Cole, Consultant, For Land’s Sake!, Thomasville, GA BIOSKETCH: Frank Teal Cole is the president of the consulting firm, For Land’s Sake!, helping land stewards worldwide to manage to enjoy natural resources forever. Previously, he retired from a career in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His contributions to the wildland fire community are significant and diverse; having served locally as a Fire Management Officer, regionally as the Fire Ecologist and nationally as the FWS Director of Fire Management.

ABSTRACT: For centuries the American landscape has been shaped and maintained by man’s use of fire. Modern fire practioners are committed to the use of fire as a management tool to achieve specific results. Good land stewards, armed with science, education and observation, are reinforced by the positive results rendered by burning. Unfortunately, we too often acknowledge only the singular objective(s) of our burn plan. Land owners, managers, conservationists, scientists, and species biologists each has their own value set to justify the need and role of fire. The truth is, there are many simultaneous thermal chemical and physical actions in a burn which together causes many secondary and tertiary outcomes. The composite view is expressed as “The Ecological Imperative”. There is no ecological alternative to prescribed fire on the land. No other land management treatment, mechanical, chemical, or combination is an analog for fire. In our fire evolved and maintained natural environment, at both, the species and landscape level, the land literally cries out for the rejuvenation of periodic application of fire. This is “The Ecological Imperative” of prescribed fire heard by astute land stewards. In this presentation, we will discuss more than a dozen critical functions that fire uniquely performs in the wildlands. The general public as well as the land steward should be fully cognizant of the necessity of prescribed fire by recognizing its’ beneficial role to species, ecosystems, the atmosphere and aesthetics. Based on this “Ecological Imperative” you should continue in your dedicated commitment to assure the future use of prescribed fire into the year 2020 and beyond.

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Appendix D

Facilitators BIOSKETCH: Joe Michaels, Lead Facilitator, is owner of Meetings by Michaels. Throughout my 35 year career, I've seen thousands of good ideas die on the vine. Disagreements, controversy, lack of planning or consensus building skills, poor follow-through, unfocused meetings, interpersonal issues— all can quickly derail even the best ideas— and discourage the most dedicated staff. I've combined formal training in meeting management, conflict resolution, mediation, and public involvement with lots of hands-on, practical experience, having planned and facilitated more than 600 meetings at the international, regional, and local levels. BIOSKETCH: Patricia S. Garner, is currently Senior Management Analyst with the Florida Division of Forestry, serving since 1996. She has a BS in Agriculture- Horticulture from University of Georgia, Masters of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida. BIOSKETCH: Tom Gilpin is currently Wetland Restoration Specialist with the Florida Division of Forestry. Tom graduated with a forest management degree from the University of Georgia in 1974. He spent three years with the Peace Corps in South America; then worked as a forest tree nursery manager for three forest paper companies in Florida and Georgia for 13 years before coming on with the Florida Division of Forestry as Supervisor of their Munson Nursery/Seed Orchard at Blackwater in 1989. Tom has worked in Tallahassee since 1992 as a BMP Specialist (8 yrs), Cooperative Forestry Assistance Program Coordinator (3 yrs), Urban Forestry Coordinator (1 yr), and Wetland Restoration Specialist (current position).

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j 16-18, 2008 - tall timbers research station · in the long run, a ... the florida division of...

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