Hi FACNM Members,
With the drought, warmer spring weather, and wind we are already beginning to see Red Flag days across the state. Fire season comes early in the Southwest, so be prepared. While taking precautions to protect your home from flames and embers, be sure to prevent the start of a wildfire through debris burning, sparks from gas-powered equipment, or anything else.
This Wildfire Wednesdays features:
Smoke Preparedness Webinar hosted by FACNM
New Tool for Fire Restrictions Information
The West is Burning: A Documentary about Increasing Wildfire
Best,
Gabe
Smoke Preparedness Webinar Tuesday, April 13th at 6pm
Click to zoom
Please join us on Tuesday, April 13th at 6pm mst for a Smoke Preparedness Webinar with guest speaker Ali Lerch. Through this interview-style, 1-hour webinar we will open up a conversation with our speaker about the health effects of smoke, differences between prescribed fire and wildfire smoke, and some resources to prepare you and your family for wildfire smoke during the 2021 wildfire season. The webinar will take place on Facebook live and will be streaming from the FACNM Facebook as well as partner Facebook pages.
Click to zoom
Our guest speaker, Ali Lerch, has over 14 years of experience working with local, state, and tribal natural resource agencies in community wildfire facilitation, public speaking, planning, grant writing, coalition building, and risk assessments in high risk areas throughout the United States with a focus in North Carolina, Utah, Oregon, and Colorado. Ali provides expertise and support to organizations on wildfire smoke adaptation through the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network’s (FAC Net) Smoke Learning Group.
This webinar is part of an interagency campaign to promote wildfire preparedness in 2021, centering around the theme “Wildfire Preparedness is Year-Round," Fire Adapted New Mexico and will be hosting a monthly webinar series for March, April, and May.
New Tool for Fire Restrictions Information
Interagency public land management partners from Arizona and New Mexico have worked to develop a map-based tool to inform the public about fire restrictions on public lands. Partner agencies, under the Southwest Coordinating Group, have worked to develop a new informational web tool that went live Monday, April 5, 2021. The new web tool is designed to provide the public with fire restrictions information for public lands that is easy to find and understand, as well as linking the users to the agencies managing those public lands for more detailed information for trip planning.
Fire restrictions can be found by visiting the following locations: · In Arizona, the fire restriction information web-tool can be found by visiting: Wildlandfire.az.gov
In New Mexico, the fire restriction information web-tool can be found by visiting: NMFireInfo.com and selecting the Restrictions tab on top menu.
Fire restrictions are implemented in an effort to help decrease human-caused fires during periods of high fire potential by restricting activities which are the most common causes of wildfires. By providing a resource with accurate and timely information, the goal is to educate and increase compliance, therefore reducing preventable human-caused fires.
To read the full release, click here.
The West is Burning
THE WEST IS BURNING raises awareness about the conditions of forests in the western U.S. Told through a full-feature documentary, we examine the history of forest management and litigation that led to the current conditions which are causing catastrophic fire nearly year-round. The film explores the urgent need to act now, and the potential to generate positive change in our forests, watersheds, and communities, both rural and urban.
The documentary airs on PBS in New Mexico at 2pm tomorrow for the first time. To see the full list of showings on PBS in New Mexico, click here.
An app accompanies the documentary as a way for you to create short films with a narrow focus. Discover these short films on our story map.
Find community hosted screenings followed by engaging dialogue. Or host your own screening! We’ll provide a guide to help you facilitate it.
You have an important role in this conversation and we want you to be informed and involved.
For more information about the documentary on their website, click here.