2014 County Improvement Project. V.G. Young Institute Fellowship Award. Final Report

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1 2014 County Improvement Project V.G. Young Institute Fellowship Award Final Report Project Title: Texas Fire Exchange An Approach to Integrated Fire Education Project Leader: Morgan L. Russell, Assistant Professor Texas A&M University, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and Extension Range Specialist, San Angelo I. Summary Texas Fire Exchange assisted (and continues to assist) land managers and the fire community to make sound decisions based on the best possible information provided by the stakeholders. This innovative information sharing process, strengthened collaboration among those impacted by 2015 wildfires and planning and implementation of prescribed burns, and provided information and insight for policy makers at county and state levels. Improved communication and collaboration made a significant impact on several ecosystem concerns such as: woody plant encroachment, smoke management, prescribed fire techniques, fuel and fire patterns, wildland urban interface, and private land ownership. The 2014 County Improvement Project supported those who needed fire information by connecting them to the science and management. This project also facilitated an exchange of information and insight to the vast amount of experience that exists among involved stakeholders (County Commissioners, County Judges, Fire Chiefs, Volunteer Fire Departments, Prescribed Burn Associations, County Extension Agents, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas Forest Service, Prescribed Burn Alliance of Texas, and ). Numerous meetings with stakeholders to identify needs were held to lay the groundwork for the five regional workshops. However, during the summer of 2015 over 150,000 acres ( were burned due to wildfires (mostly in the West-Central region). Due to such extreme fire activity, it was extremely difficult to plan meetings with stakeholders that were directly involved with initial attack and Incident Command on wildfires. Therefore, meetings in Amarillo, Dallas, Temple, and Uvalde have been rescheduled for winter 2015 and early spring 2016 when fire activity is minimal. On the other hand, numerous needs assessment meetings were held following major wildfires to identify what information needs to be made available for those responding to wildfires. Meetings were also held throughout 2015 with Prescribed Burn Associations to identify challenges in conducting and implementing prescribed burns. II. Session and Contact Numbers Date Event Participants Contacts March 27, 2015 District 3 Prescribed Burn and Wildfire Training County Officials, TFS, 45 April 18, 2015 Oasis Pipeline Wildfire Workshop TFS, CEAs, TPW, NRCS, County Officials 120 1

2 April 21, 2015 Wildfire Response County Officials, TFS, May Rancher Roundtable: PBAs, County Officials, Prescribed Burning TFS, CPBM, CEA May 27, 2015 Concho Prescribed Burn PBA members and August 19, 2015 Association Wildfire Response and Prescribed Burning County Officials, TFS, August 21, 2015 Edwards Plateau Prescribed Burning PBA members and September 23, 2015 Southern Rolling Plains PBA members and Prescribed Burning Association November 4, 2015 Wildfire Response County Officials, TFS, December 5, 2015 Wildfire Response County Officials, TFS, III. Prescribed Burning Results Weather County Burn Bans Lack of Support Other Figure 1. Survey results from Texas Prescribed Burn Associations showing perceived limitations to implementing prescribed burns. 2

3 Education Communication Experience All the above Figure 2. Response from Prescribed Burn Associations, Commercial Prescribed Burn Managers,, and NRCS regarding future efforts for prescribed burning training for County Officials Judge Commssioners Both Figure 3. Response showing County Officials contacted prior to a prescribed burn Spot Fire Escaped Fire Figure 4. Response of compromised prescribed burns that were reported outside of the unit. 3

4 IV. Wildfire Results A consistent response across all meetings (prescribed burning and wildfire) was that the Incident Command System (ICS) and Unified Command System (UCS) is very misunderstood and poorly implemented among Texas Forest Service,, VFD s, and County Officials. Many counties emphasized that confusion during wildfire response always stems from the question, Who is in Charge? Therefore, during the San Angelo workshop 13 wildfire county contact lists were developed that include contact information for all stakeholders within a specific county (County Commissioners, County Judges, Fire Chiefs, Volunteer Fire Departments, Prescribed Burn Associations, County Extension Agents, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas Forest Service, Prescribed Burn Alliance of Texas, and ). This contact list serves as a small-scale approach to better informing stakeholders of wildfire starts, location, and responders. This is a continuous effort to improve communication and information flow among stakeholders during an extreme wildfire season. Thirteen county (Sterling, Tom Green, Menard, McCulloch, Coke, Irion, Reagan, Crockett, Schleicher, Sutton, Kimble, Concho, and Mason) contact lists have been developed thus far. Examples of these contact lists will be provided at future meetings in Amarillo, Dallas, Temple, and Uvalde and will be evaluated on the effectiveness for counties within those Districts. An example of a developed county contact list from Menard County is provided below. Menard County Wildfire Management Contact List Name Title Phone Number Richard Cordes Judge/Vet Delane Barnes Emergency Mgmt Coordinator Deputy Boyd Murchison Commissioner Precinct Ranch Foreman/Landowner Ed Keith Commissioner- Precinct Mechanic Larry Burch Commissioner Precinct Landowner Tyler Wagner Menard VFD- Owner B&R Tire/Mechanic Mike Schuler Menard VFD- Chief Jim Wright Menard VFD Landowner Lou St. Germain Landowner-Prescribed Burn Assn President(Southern Menard) Dandy Kothmann NRCS District Conservationist Landowner (Eastern Menard) George Sultemeier Landowner (Western Menard) Loyd Whitehead Landowner (Northern & Western Menard) Brian Treadwell Prescribed Burn Manager

5 Ron Dickson Ft. McKavett VFD - Chief Joe Fortenberry Hext VFD Chief An additional request from, VFD s, Emergency Management Coordinators, and County Officials was a summarized AgriLife Fact Sheet outlining the role of ICS and UCS. Therefore, Understanding Wildland Fire Response was drafted and is currently in review to be published. 5

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9 V. Conclusion This was an incredibly enlightening project improving overall understanding of wildfire and prescribed burning in Texas. That said there is much more work to still be completed. A framework has been develop in the Concho Valley Region near San Angelo and was very successful. I would like to continue to take this framework onto other regions in Amarillo, Dallas, Temple, and Uvalde and show stakeholder s examples of what results were put forth in San Angelo. This framework does not solve all wildfire and prescribed burn challenges. But, it is a start. And, more importantly, stakeholders are communication and exchanging information, management, and scientific strategies and ideas. Numerous agencies were able to participate in the planning stages and needs assessment to develop deliverables. This project has opened the door for an exchange of information on decision making process, planning, and coordination of wildfire response and prescribed burn implementation. Topics of future discussion will consist of wildfire plans, prescribed burn plans, fire operations, benefits of prescribed burning, role of Texas Forest Service and Volunteer Fire Departments, current fire related regulations, future of prescribed burning in Texas, Prescribed Burn Associations and their role in wildfire, learning from previous wildfires, what to do after a wildfire, burn bans, burn schools and integration of Texas Forest Service education materials (National Wildfire Coordination Group). 9