Sometimes, you just need to sink into a good story. Whether it’s a reread of “The Lord of the Rings,” or settling in with your favorite book about fire (one of our recent picks is “Ignition” by M. R. O’Connor), stories come in many shapes and sizes – and present us with meaningful characters, experiences, and lessons. This week, we’re sharing some of the longform StoryMaps that have recently been featured in the Fire Networks blog. Put on the kettle, find a nook, and take a deep dive with us into some fire adaptation stories – ranging from fire in the wilderness, to fire in the WUI, to fire as a foundation for longlasting partnerships.
Untrammeling the Wilderness
This StoryMap is a companion piece to the recently published paper in Fire Ecology: “Untrammeling the wilderness: Restoring natural conditions through the return of human-ignited fire.” The StoryMap takes us through the history of fire in wilderness landscapes, and how “human-ignited fire could be considered an untrammeling of wilderness.”
Special note: The paper’s lead author Clare Boerigter will be joining us for a conversation on Fire and Wilderness on December 4th from 10 – 11 am Pacific Time. Register here to join the webinar!
Parmer Lane Fire Case Study, Cedar Park, Texas
In August 2023, a wildfire broke out near some neighborhoods in Cedar Park, Texas. What happened next was “an accidental success story” – damage to the built environment was less than expected, in large part due to the construction of the buildings themselves.
Kari Hines, Firewise Coordinator and Public Information Officer for Texas A&M Forest Service, wrote an accompanying blog about the Parmer Lane Fire earlier this year. In it, she writes of the StoryMap: “Our hope is for this to be another tool showing the importance of preparing residents and local officials for wildfire, especially in occluded wildland urban interface where the full extent of wildfire risks is often unknown.”
The Fire Learning Network and the Watershed Research and Training Center: A Commitment to Fire Adaptation
The Fire Learning Network (FLN) and the Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC) have been partners for close to 20 years. FLN is one of the Fire Networks, and WRTC is the umbrella organization for FAC Net. WRTC recently developed an interactive StoryMap to highlight the FLN’s many influences on their fire management programs, including a timeline of events between 2006 and 2023.
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