Changing Our Relationship With Fire

 

Climate change is having a massive impact on how fires are burning, adding an urgent need for better wildfire policy that will change how we use, prepare for, and fight fire. But what are politicians doing about this? Is anyone addressing the policy changes that are needed to protect communities - the policy changes that we desperately need to build a different, more sustainable relationship with fire?


In this episode of One Foot in the Black, we look at the policies being presented to address the wildfire crisis impacting the West. We talk to policy makers and fire professionals about what it’s going to take to change our relationship to fire on the landscape. We discuss several wildfire bills that have been introduced, both on the state and federal levels, and we talk to wildland firefighters about ways to address issues on the frontlines of this growing problem.

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Links & Resources

2021 Federal Infrastructure Bill - Federal Lands Provisions

Show Credits

Featured guests:

Tim Ingalsbee, Executive Director, Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE)

Pam Marsh, Oregon State Representative, District 5

Susan Jane Brown, Senior Attorney, Wildlands and Wildlife Director, Western Environmental Law Center (WELC)

Belinda Brown, Tribal Partnership Director, Lomakatsi Restoration Project

Jim Whittington, wildland firefighter and fire communications officer

Hosts: Joseph Vaile and Alexi Lovechio

Producer: Jessica Klinke

Episode Transcript (Coming Soon)

Episode Guests:

Presenters & Collaborators
Jim Whittington
Jim Whittington

A PIO for more than 20 years, Jim Whittington has responded to over 90 large and complex wildfires. He has been the spokesperson for incidents of national and international interest, including the Cerro Grande, Rodeo-Chedeski, Wallow, and Yarnell Hill fires. He also worked with media as part of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots Memorial Service team and led the PIO function for the Iron 44 Memorial Service.

Susan Jane Brown
Susan Jane Brown

Susan Jane Brown is a Senior Attorney and the Wildlands Director for Western Environmental law Center (WELC). She joined WELC after serving as Natural Resources Counsel for Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in Washington, D.C. She also worked as a staff attorney with the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, Lewis and Clark Law School’s environmental law clinic. A nationally recognized expert on forest law, she has been appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to co-chair the Federal Advisory Committee on the National Forest Management Act. Susan Jane is a recipient of the Wilburforce Foundation’s Conservation Leadership Award, honoring her years of hard work protecting wildlife and wildlands in the western United States and recognizing her outstanding leadership in the conservation movement. She also served as executive director of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force from 2000-2003. Susan Jane graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned her law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School.

Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee
Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee

Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D. is co-founder and executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE) and is a faculty research associate at the University of Oregon. Timothy began his career as a wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. In 1993 Timothy received the Oregon Conservationist of the Year Award by the Oregon Natural Resources Council. Timothy co-founded and directed the Cascadia Fire Ecology Education Project from 1994-2004, and created and directed the Western Fire Ecology Center from 1997-2004. Timothy is a senior wildland fire ecologist certified by the Association for Fire Ecology.

Belinda Brown
Belinda Brown

Belinda Brown is an enrolled Kosealekte Band member of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (Pit River Tribe). She is honored to bring the collective voice of tribal communities to the leadership of Lomakatsi and the Rogue Basin as the Tribal Partnerships Director of Lomakatsi. She works to include and maintain a tribal presence as the first, best stewards of the land, incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into current best practices in ecosystem and ecocultural restoration. Her work has spanned 30 years of intergovernmental affairs coordination in Indian Country as a tribal leader.

Pam Marsh
Pam Marsh

Pam Marsh is an American Democratic politician currently serving in the Oregon House of Representatives. She represents the 5th district, which covers southern Jackson County, including the city of Ashland.

PodcastGuest UserTEK, FUSEE, Wildland Urban Interface, Firewise, Defensible Space, Home Hardening, Rebuild, After the Fire, Episode 5, Climate, Climate Change, Policy