Fire Adapted Communities Pinelands Learning Exchanges 

These Fire Adapted Communities Learning Exchanges will advance community and forest wildfire resilience in the mid-Atlantic through shared learning between wildland fire professionals working in the New Jersey Pinelands and Long Island, New York.

Register Now! 

The Forest Stewards Guild is facilitating a Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) learning exchange centered on pine barrens in Long Island, New York and southern New Jersey. These areas face similar challenges, including WUI, effective CWPP implementation, and southern pine beetle mitigation. There are also differences in the availability of resources, frequency of prescribed fire, and public understanding and engagement. This learning exchange will bring together FAC and fire professionals to create a space for the participants to share experiences, learn from one another’s successes and failures, and outline next steps each community can take to improve wildfire preparedness.

Download the flyer here.

New Jersey - Wednesday-Thursday May 30-31, 2018

The New Jersey-hosted exchange agenda will include:
 Day 1 (1:00-4:30 PM)
 - New Jersey Fire Safety Council meeting
 - Country Walk community evacuation route and prescribed burn
 - Roosevelt City prescribed burn and mitigation work
 Day 2 (8:00 AM-12:00 PM)
 - Double Trouble State Park forest management activities in a fire-dependent ecosystem
 - New Jersey's Ready-Set-Go Initiative

Lodging: It is suggested that those seeking overnight lodging make a reservation at the Clarion Hotel in Toms River. A block of rooms is reserved under "Fire Adapted Communities" for $109/night at the government rate; call (732)341-2400. The deadline has passed, but rooms may still be available.

Download the New Jersey agenda here.

Long Island - Wednesday-Thursday June 13-14, 2018

The Long Island-hosted exchange agenda will include:
Day 1 (1:00-4:30 PM)
 - Burn units at Brookhaven National Laboratory
 - Crescent Bow fire
 - Ridge community CWPP and home hazard assessments
Day 2 (8:00-12:00 PM)
 - Rocky Point demonstration area
 - Fire-dependent grasslands
 - Dwarf pine plains
 - 1995 Sunrise Fire vista

A detailed agenda and logistical details will follow.

Lodging: Limited overnight lodging is available at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Go to this site: https://www.bnl.gov/staffservices/onsitehousing.php. On the right side of the screen is a button that says “Guest Registration.” Click that button and register with the Lab.  Once all that gets approved, you can call and make a reservation for a dorm room ($50/night).  They also have apartments and guest houses for $90/night if you want a slight upgrade (basically your own bathroom). This should be done ASAP before more interns reserve lodging for the summer. 

For more information, contact:

Amanda Mahaffey 
Forest Stewards Guild 
207-432-3701 
amanda@forestguild.org 

The Forest Stewards Guild is a member of the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network (FAC Net). FAC Net is a national network of people working to build wildfire resilience capacity in wildfire-prone communities. It is supported through a partnership among The Nature Conservancy, the Watershed Research and Training Center and the USDA Forest Service. FAC Net’s purpose is to connect and support people and communities who are striving to live more safely with wildfire. A fire adapted community is a knowledgeable, engaged community that is taking actions that will enable them to safely accept fire as part of the surrounding landscape. For more information about FAC Net, visit www.fireadaptednetwork.org.

This project is supported by Promoting Ecosystem Resilience and Fire Adapted Communities Together, a cooperative agreement between The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service and agencies of the Department of the Interior — Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife through a subaward to the Watershed Research and Training Center. For more information, contact Michelle Medley-Daniel at michelle@thewatershedcenter.com or (530) 628-4206.

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.