VISIONING OUR FUTURE FOREST: Prescribed Fire and Smoke
Prescribed Burning
Led by FOREST⇌FIRE Co-Creator Michael Llewellyn, we explore the role of fire and the challenges of smoke in forest restoration.
Given the devastating, catastrophic fires our region is experiencing, why do forest managers want to introduce fire to the forest? What are the differences between wildfire, prescribed fire, controlled burning and cultural burning? What is the intended outcome of purposely burning the forest? What about smoke? Isn’t setting fires in the forest bad for air quality? Does smoke hurt the trees too? Won’t smoke make the atmosphere hotter?
Helping us to learn and talk about fire and smoke are two U.S. Forest Service experts actively involved in restoration projects that include fire in the Tahoe National Forest.
Linda Ferguson, Fuels Specialist (and Burn Boss), USDA Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, Truckee Ranger District
I started fighting fires in 1991 on a hand crew in Quincy, CA during summer breaks from college. I fell in love with being outside and doing physical work. I have 30 years of fire experience with the USFS. I was on hand crews and hotshots crews in the 1990’s for 10 years. I spent one season in Alaska working on a helicopter. I spent several years working on engines as the driver/operator and eventually became an engine captain. I worked in fire prevention for four years. I’ve been in my current job for 13 years where I’m in charge of fuel reduction and prescribed fire on the Truckee Ranger District.
Leland Tarney, PhD, Physical Ecologist, Air Resource Advisor/Tech Transfer Specialist (detail), Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program, USDA Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, Truckee Ranger District
Dr. Leland (Lee) Tarnay received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, Davis (1995), and his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno (2001). He spent 10 years as Yosemite National Park’s air resource specialist before joining the Forest Service. While he is most interested in interactions between land and the atmosphere, and the implications of those interactions for land managers, his current core expertise is in smoke monitoring, emissions estimating, dispersion modeling and mapping forest fuels and structure.