Innovation, Connection, and Resource Development: Member Highlights from FAC Net’s 2025 Opportunity Fund Awards
Editor’s note: This week’s blog features stories from Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network (FAC Net) members that were awarded grants, known as “Opportunity Fund” awards, to implement high-impact projects in their local communities. FAC Net Director Emily Troisi put together this post, along with contributions from FAC Net members who used FAC Net Opportunity Funds…
My Fire Journey: An Interview with Prescribed Fire Operations Specialist Kylie England
Editor’s note: This interview with Kylie England is the second in our “My Fire Journey” interview series, in which we feature conversations with fire practitioners from a variety of backgrounds. These conversations are meant to offer a window into how practitioners approach their work, draw inspiration, and keep going in the face of challenges and…
My Fire Journey: An Interview with Cultural Fire Practitioner Chanel Keller
Editor’s note: This interview with Chanel Keller marks the beginning of our “My Fire Journey” interview series, in which we feature conversations with fire practitioners from a variety of backgrounds. These conversations are meant to offer a window into how practitioners approach their work, draw inspiration, and keep going in the face of challenges and…
Bridging Partnerships for a Thriving Multi-Use Forest
Editor’s note: The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has a commitment to ensuring Montana’s land and water resources provide benefits for present and future generations. The DNRC is an important partner in the Blackfoot Valley FLN, although this project is not connected to that effort. This story was originally published by the DNRC in May 2025…
Mapping a Movement: Community-Based Beneficial Fire Data Project – 2024
Editor’s note: The Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC), based in Hayfork, CA, is a non-profit organization working to create meaningful partnerships for land stewardship and empower the local community. It is also the parent organization for FAC Net. WRTC’s Fire Management Program hosts hands-on trainings and cooperative prescribed burns across the state of California…
Wildfire Awareness Month 2025: Resources for Community Preparedness
May is Wildfire Awareness Month – as fire practitioners, it’s an opportunity to reflect about our work and share our efforts to increase community wildfire preparedness. Across the country, Wildfire Awareness Month activities keep homes and communities safe by spreading knowledge and encouraging steps to prepare for wildfires. Recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)…
Perspectives: Fire Practitioners on Neighborhood Resilience, Community Empowerment, and Building Bridges
Fire Networks staff have been spending quality time this spring talking with fire practitioners across a variety of backgrounds. We’re excited to launch an upcoming interview series sharing some of these conversations and insights from people working hard on the ground. In anticipation of that series, we’re sharing some past interviews with fire practitioners that…
Stress Injury: A Framework for Well-Being in the Fire Workplace
Editor’s note: Laurel Kays is the Manager of the Fire Learning Network (FLN). In this blog, Laurel reflects upon a recent training series hosted through FLN and the Fire Networks to address the stress and fatigue experienced by many in the fire profession. There is a song from a 1970s animated Christmas movie about how…
Snapshots from Recent Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges: Blackfoot TREX and Plumas Cal-TREX
Editor’s note: Last week, two Fire Networks staff members (Laurel Kays and Annie Leverich) were at prescribed fire training events (also known as TREX) serving as Public Information Officers, or PIOs. Laurel was at the Blackfoot TREX in Montana, and Annie was at the Plumas Cal-TREX in California. Part of the role of the PIO…
Igniting Change Over 10 Years of the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network
Editor’s note: This year, the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network (IPBN) is celebrating its ten year anniversary. While this decade of existence only marks a small slice of time in comparison to the eons that Indigenous peoples have tended to land through fire stewardship, we are nevertheless excited to celebrate this occasion. To commemorate the last…
