The 2020 Winter Meeting of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact was held jointly with the Northeastern Forest Pest Council on the theme of Forest Pests and Fire. Bugs and fire? We have a lot more in common than you think. Here are resources for fire managers and forest scientists as we explore topics in prescribed fire and forest health, vector-borne disease, insect outbreaks and wildfire, and climate change and fire. We have shared agency and organizational updates and put our heads together to coordinate more closely between forest pest and fire personnel to create a safer, more resilient landscape.
NAFSE supported this meeting and is helping ensure a dynamic intersection between science and practice, fire, and forest health.
Wednesday, January 29 NFFPC Working Team Reports
State & Provincial Forest Health Updates
Forest Health Working Team Report: Scott Tingley, Forest Health Working Team Chair
Asian Longhorned Beetle Survey in Brooklyn and Queens, New York
Prescribed Fire & Forest Health
Southern Pine Beetle in New Jersey: Marie Cook, New Jersey Forest Fire Service
Re-Introducing Prescribed Fire in an Urban Landscape: Polly Weigand & Shaun Ziegler, Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning & Policy Commission
Evaluating the Demand for Prescribed Fire on Private Lands: Jesse Kreye, Ph.D., Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, and Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council
Vector-borne Disease
Ticks and Fire: Can Fire Management Reduce Ticks in the Northeast? Michael R. Gallagher, United States Forest Service & Jesse Kreye, Penn State University
TicStudyRI: Tick-Borne Illness and Clothing Study: Megan Dyer, University of Rhode Island
Vectorborne Diseases — Maine, 2019: Chuck Lubelczyk, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Thursday, January 30 Insect Outbreaks & Wildfire
Massachusetts Oak Decline and Mortality: Nicole Keleher, Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation
Gypsy Moth Outbreak Accelerates Regional Oak Loss: Audry Barker Plotkin, Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and University of Massachusetts
Early Intervention Strategy for Spruce Budworm: Sara Edwards, Forest Protection Limited & Healthy Forest Partnership
Climate Change & Fire
Climate and Fire (and Pests): Erin Lane, United States Forest Service
Wildfire and the Beetle Infestations: Dana Hicks, British Columbia Wildfire Service
Evaporative Demand Drought Index: Eric Evenson, National Weather Service