Partners from across the Pacific Northwest recently hosted the first joint Advanced Burn Boss Workshop and Fire Science Symposium. It was the first time that the Northwest Fire Science Consortium, the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange Network, the Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Fire, Fuels and Training programs from the Pacific Northwest Region had come together to bring the best available science to managers while simultaneously providing feedback on management’s needs from the research community.

Using the framework of the cohesive strategy, the three-day event was structured to build a community of practice around prescribed fire and hazardous fuels reduction work. That framework also created opportunities for new practitioners to see how the cohesive strategy could be incorporated as a regular part of daily work. One participant shared, “The most valuable part of the symposium to me was hearing from other units on their approaches to some challenging issues.”

State and tribal partners shared innovative management approaches, and representatives from area Fire Adapted Community Networks described strategies for preparing communities for wildfire. Members of the Wildland Fire Research, Development and Analysis group and Pacific Northwest Research Station’s Airfire team hosted sessions on the use of tools in the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System and the latest in smoke modeling. 

Wildfire smoke is a public health concern in the West, particularly for people with asthma and other health conditions. The research station is a nationally recognized leader in the science of smoke. Its BlueSky Smoke Modeling Framework enabled the first comprehensive nationwide smoke forecasts, and forms the basis for smoke prediction systems and tools across the country and internationally.