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Cutting through the Smoke: Training Opportunities for Land Managers

By Elisa Livengood, SNRE M.S. Student

Fire is an ecological necessity in Florida. Many Southern forest ecosystems are dependent upon fire to regenerate trees and vegetation. However, as continued urban sprawl stretches outside of city limits, wildfire can increasingly affect communities as homes and natural fuels intermingle. Since June of this year, more than 511,000 acres have burned in areas of Florida and Georgia. At one point Florida had over 2,473 wildfires burning at once, damaging more than 30 homes and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. Now that the smoke has cleared, it is time to take stock of what the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) and UF are doing to manage this sometimes disastrous, yet necessary natural process.

The Natural Areas Training Academy (NATA) is a collaborative partnership between the Nature Conservancy (TNC), The School of Natural Resources and Environment, and IFAS Extension that provides natural resource managers with training and instruction in management strategies which positively affects the conservation of natural landscapes. To achieve their mission, NATA maintains a core course in fire training as a requisite for the certificate in Natural Areas management (CNAM).

Five of the scheduled workshops are required to receive a Certificate in Natural Areas Management (CNAM). These workshops tend to be field oriented and provided land managers with practical skills and solutions to real situational problems. Workshop topics include: Conservation site assessment and planning , Managing diversity, Working across boundaries for ecosystems protection, Managing visitors and volunteers, and Interagency prescribed fire training.

NATA provides several educational opportunities that focus on fire ecology and the practicality of managing fire in Florida's diverse landscapes. The Interagency Prescribed Fire Training is the required workshop on fire for (CNAM) certification and is hosted by the Division of Forestry. To complete this special program, participants attend a series of training sessions on specific topics such as prescription fire, firing techniques, fire weather, fire behavior, smoke management, in addition to the legal and public relations components of management. The program is designed to help land managers with potential to be "burn bosses" or agency managers.

NATA offers additional workshops (not required for the Certificate) that deal with the effects of fire on managed areas. The course, "Introduction to Fire Effects", conducted by the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (NIPFTC), prepares possible fire practitioners to implement successful fuels program, enhance prescribed fire skills, and create successful burn plans.

The importance of such training has become apparent with this year's fire season activity. "Fire is an integral component of land management in Florida and TNC wants to encourage the use of interagency fire strike teams," explains Linda Demetropoulos, the NATA program manager.

NATA workshops also help foster the opportunity for increased communication and connection among land management agencies. "Often as a land manager you may not have the staff to carry out a prescribed burn, however, through these workshops interagency cooperation is established and different agencies can work together to provide support for these activities like fire management," notes Demetropoulos.

"Working Across Boundaries for Ecosystem Protection", is another NATA workshop that focuses on issues requiring cooperation across agencies. This workshop provides students with real life management scenarios that require participation across agency and ownership boundaries. Students also discuss strategies for increased communication with privately managed lands and local communities. Part of fostering this management cooperation is establishing the essential contacts with other land managers.

In addition to training courses, NATA maintains an interactive, web-based forum Conservation Management Notes*. This electronic forum provides land managers with a venue where they can share information about field observations, current work, and special management issues. Forum users can make an online post asking their colleagues to share their insights into a particular management issue they may be experiencing.

Land managers must deal with the two faces of fire, whether it is the disastrous consequences of wildfire, or the natural force of prescribed fire essential to ecosystem functions. NATA's fire training provides them with skills necessary to conduct prescribed fire burns to ensure Florida stays healthy. But in dry years, when the likelihood for wildfires is high, land managers must also prepare communities for the dangers associated with fire and help them recover when fire.

Fire is just one of the many facets of ecosystem management that easily grabs headlines and often has timely consequences. Through these workshops, participants can continue to connect, solve problems, and provide support while managing Florida's environment.

* Conservation Management Notes the Forum for Florida Land Managers is sponsored by EarthBalance, The Florida Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, and University of Florida School of Natural Resources and Environment.

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