WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 121011

A useful website for evaluating wildfire danger to property in nine western states is provided by ISO's LOCATION Wildfire Services, which utilize ISO's FireLine data sets to create a comprehensive look at the wildfire danger to homes in the WUI (1). Airport expansion plans at Medford, Oregon, could improve a base used by air-tankers during wildfires (2); while Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dean Lueck, Co-Director of the Program on Economics, Law, and the Environment at the University of Arizona, sent along an announcement about a new book he co-authored which brings together leading scholars to consider several legal questions related to wildfire policy (3). As the holidays approach, Wichita Falls Area Disaster Recovery Committee is helping Texas families who lost their homes in April wildfires to cope (4); and Motorola Solutions is helping the Heart of Pines Volunteer Fire Department with a donation of radios (5); even as Extreme Makeover rebuilds a home destroyed in the Texas wildfires (6). The importance of forest fires for Connecticut's pitch pine trees is explored by the next article (7). Debris piled up by four major storms that rolled through Central Massachusetts in 2011 could bode ill for the wildfire season in 2012 (8); even as the Massachusetts Wood Producers Association suggested that thousands of acres of state forests damaged by two of those storms be put up for salvage bids (9). A new danger for wildland firefighters has been revealed by a University of Georgia study published in the journal Inhalation Toxicology: smoke from prescribed burns reduces lung capacity (10). An article from Brazil shows how a government crackdown virtually eliminated man-made forest fires that were destroying the Amazonian rainforest (11); something which complements a program by climate scientists called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (12). In Siberia, the Russian autonomous district of Yamal-Nenets has decided to invest a sizeable amount of money in their forests, including measures to more effectively deal with wildfires (13). And finally, after more than 60 successful years informing the public on their obligations preventing forest fires, Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl may find themselves on the endangered species list due to federal budget cuts!

(1) Wildfire Services

(2) Airport plans expansion as projections see growth

(3) Wildfire Policy: Law and Economics Perspectives

(4) Wildfire Victims Continue to Adjust into the Holiday Season

(5) Motorola Solutions Assists with Wildfire Relief Efforts in Bastrop County (TX) with Communications Solution Donation

(6) Extreme Makeover to rebuild Texas wildfire home: Honors local firefighters

(7) Forest management efforts in Connecticut paying off as American chestnut tree makes a comeback

(8) Plans shape up to deal with post-storms fire threat

(9) Group wants bids on wood cleanup

(10) Study: Lung capacity declines at prescribed burns

(11) Saving the Amazon, from forest floor up

(12) Climate Strategists: To Cut Emissions, Focus On Forests

(13) In 2012, the forestry Yamal allocated more than 300 million rubles

(14) Could Budget Cuts Endanger Smokey and Woodsy?