WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 020613

A troubling new report, the National Climate Assessment from the US Department of Agriculture which was released yesterday, forecasts that climate change will lead to a doubling of wildfires over the next 25 years across the nation (1). An article from the Southern California mountain community of Idyllwild takes a closer look at the impact of the Goldspotted oak borer on timber which can lead to an increased wildfire danger locally (2); while a new report out from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute chronicles the effect of wildfires on forests in that state (3). Target shooters have been blamed for Washington state's Goat Fire, which scorched over 7,000 acres last summer (4). US Forest Service fire crews will be conducting controlled burns on 2 acres of forest on Lake Tahoe, Nevada's, east shore tomorrow (5); Heli Expo sending along a reminder that there are only four weeks left until their convention kicks off in Las Vegas (6). A volunteer firefighter has been arrested for starting a wildfire in Elbert County, Colorado, in 2012 which burned hundreds of acres and forced evacuations (7); and two people have been convicted of burglary during last year's Waldo Canyon Fire (8); while an official from Summit County has been tapped to serve on the governor's Wildland and Prescribed Fire Advisory Committee (9). Two target shooters convicted of starting a wildfire that cost over $2 million to suppress in Utah County, Utah, are getting off easy (10); but wildfire-ravaged Bastrop County will be getting some replacement loblolly pines courtesy of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (11). US Forest Service continues to lobby for controlled burns in Montana's Lewis and Clark National Forest that some deem unnecessary and harmful to wildlife habitat (12); and as the Nebraska Forest Service prepares for a new wildfire season, the next article takes a look at how the Wildlife Control Act of 2013 and other provisions could help (13). North Carolina State University has found an innovative way to reduce wildfire costs: sell the forest! (14) An AT-802 air-tanker strutted its stuff at Florida's Leesburg International Airport (15); while the Florida Forest Service had a 50-acre blaze in Pinellas County 90% contained (16); and also battled an arson wildfire burning in Pasco County (17). The next article provides a snapshot of the South American nation of Chile's aerial firefighting fleet (18); while the International Association of Wildland Fire sent along a reminder that the deadline for submitting abstracts for their upcoming St. Petersburg, Russia, conference is fast approaching (19). Heading to Australia, Country Fire Authority firefighters continued to rope in bushfires in Victoria's Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain regions (20); but vandals damaged some CFA equipment with a high-powered rifle in Haddon yesterday (21). New South Wales' Orange City Council will donate $10,000 to assist Warrumbungle Shire with post-bushfire cleanup (22); while Australian Composite Technology is donating $90,000 worth of fence posts to help with recovery efforts in Coonabarabran (23). Country Fire Service fire crews are looking for help from the heavens in extinguishing a smoldering bushfire in South Australia's Bundaleer Forest (24); and arson investigators from Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services are checking out a series of suspicious fires in Northam (25). Australia's Governor-General visited areas ravaged by bushfires in Tasmania (26); even as a new 300-hectare bushfire was threatening homes in the Derwent Valley (27). And finally, a hobby farmer on Tasmania's Tasman Peninsula has come up with a unique way of helping bushfire survivors cope with their losses: collecting retro items!

(1) Report: Warming bringing big changes to forests

(2) Fire & Forest: The threat to our oaks...

(3) Forest industry not quite recovered after recession

(4) Target shooters blamed for last year’s 7,378-acre Goat Fire

(5) Prescribed Burns Start Today Near Logan Shoals

(6) Heli-Expo 2013

(7) Volunteer Firefighter Arrested In 2012 Summer Wildfire Arson Case

(8) 2 Convicted In Burglaries During Waldo Canyon Fire

(9) Governor's wildfire advisors to include Summit County's Dan Gibbs

(10) Plea Spares Utah Target Shooters Jail for Wildfire

(11) Central Texas Wildfire Recovery Helped by Wildflower Center Raising 700,000 Pine Trees in Two Years

(12) Benchmark burn proposed: Plan would thin stands near cabins to limit wildfire damage

(13) Forest service hopes to avoid repeat of wildfires

(14) N.C. State wants to sell its largest forest and invest the proceeds in Wall Street

(15) Plane demos firefighting skills

(16) Smoke From Pasco Wildfire Visible in East Lake

(17) Florida Forest Service warns drivers of brush fire smoke near SR 52

(18) INAER Helicopter Chile reinforces firefighting fleet

(19) Deadline Approaching: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS for the St. Petersburg, Russia Conference

(20) Residents on alert for Alpine Park bushfire

(21) Haddon CFA equipment damaged by bullet fired into shed

(22) Bushfire donation a helpful gesture

(23) Coonabarabran bushfire recovery

(24) Forest fire still burns

(25) Arson squad heads to Northam after deliberately lit bushfires

(26) Cars, outbuildings destroyed by Tas bushfire

(27) New fire threat as G-G visits Tasmania

(28) On the search for retro items for bushfire victims