Firewise Train-the-Trainer Course @ the Clearwater Fire Academy - March 19th and 20th, 2016

Destructive wildfires affect virtually every part of the U.S. Last year Idaho saw devastating fires where many homes were lost.  There are simple and often inexpensive ways to make homes safer from wildfire. This Train-The-Trainer class will provide you with a good understanding of wildfire hazards and mitigation strategies that homeowners can effectively use to lower the wildfire risk and losses to their homes. After this class your department will be able to perform home ignition zone hazard assessments and teach communities on how to become a Firewise Community. This class is tailored towards fire department Chiefs, Captains, prevention personnel and community planners.

Gary Marshall began his Firefighter career during the summer of 1977 as a seasonal paid firefighter.  Marshall retired from his full time career position in 2012 for the City of Bend, Oregon as their Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Marshal ending his 35 year fire service career.

Marshall is very active in statewide fire prevention committees and organizations. Some of the positions he held during his career were: President of the Central Oregon Firefighters Association; President of the Oregon Fire Marshals Association; Chair of the Central Oregon Fire Prevention Cooperative; Executive Board Chair for Keep Oregon Green; Marshall was honored with two 3-year term appointments by two Oregon Governor’s on their Fire Service Policy Council and was Chair of the Council during his last term. 

Currently, Marshall is involved with these Oregon wildfire mitigation programs:

National Fire Protection Association Firewise Communities USA program, Deschutes County “FireFree” program, Oregon Senate Bill 360 Classification Committee and appointment to Deschutes County Project Wildfire member now a “Fire Adapted Community”.

Marshall is the recipient of the National “Bronze Smokey Bear” award for his efforts to protect communities from wildfire, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s prestigious “Golden Sparky” award for his local and state fire prevention programs.

Marshall recently finished his tenure as the Regional Firewise Advisor for Alaska, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. 

Currently Marshall is a fire safety consultant and employed as the Community Risk and Fire Safety Manager for the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.  When he is not in the office he is on the road as one of the four national instructors teaching NFPA’s “Assessing Residential Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone” classes to fire service professionals and other community leaders

Clearwater Fire Academy Registration

Idaho Falls District Welcomes Camas Creek RFPA!

 

Rangeland Fire Protection Association
Concludes Basic Training

On Thursday, February 11, the Camas Creek Rangeland Fire Protection Association (RFPA) concluded their initial fire training in Dubois, Idaho.  Forty local landowners - mostly ranchers - completed the four-day training conducted by employees of Idaho Falls District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Caribou-Targhee National Forest.  As fires continue to threaten the western landscape and the sagebrush-steppe habitat necessary for the survival of the greater regional sage-grouse, targeted action through coordinated fire suppression activities is increasingly important.  Working with local ranchers to engage in safe fire suppression efforts benefits the landowners and the federal agencies.  The RFPA is the first for the Idaho Falls District and will have protection responsibilities for all of Clark County plus the Birch Creek drainage of Lemhi County.

Jeremy Casterson, Upper Snake Field Office Manager, welcomed the group, “I believe our fire and aviation program is the best there is, and I see you as an extension of that.”   Casterson explained the policies that guide the BLM’s land management approach, including those that address rangeland fire in sage-grouse habitat.  He also thanked the group for their willingness to work with the BLM and cited their connections to the local community as one of the greatest benefits to the mutual success of the BLM and RFPA. 

Dan Zajanc displays a fire shelter to the group. 

Over the course of the four days, all attendees learned basic fire suppression techniques and communication skills.  They learned how to apply what they already know about local weather patterns to fire behavior.  Instructors shared their experiences in fireline leadership, command, and safety.  To receive a certificate for the training, each participant practiced deploying a fire shelter, a life-saving piece of mandatory fireline equipment. 

Idaho Falls District Fire Management Officer Joel Gosswiller was enthusiastic by the turnout.  He discussed the RFPA’s boundaries and authorities.  “This is a perfect area for an RFPA because Clark County is more removed from the population hubs in eastern Idaho.  Their presence bolsters our initial response capabilities when we do have wildfires in the area.”  

The Camas Creek RFPA is still in the process of attaining necessary equipment, from additional fire engines to radios.  Later this spring, the BLM and RFPA will conduct coordinated field training exercises together. 

Valentines Day-- Your Public Lands and Love

REGISTER NOW for the Great Basin Mitigation, Education and Prevention Conference!

Register now for the upcoming 2016 Great Basin Mitigation, Education and Prevention Conference at the Riverside Hotel in Boise, ID. 

            Registration link

http://idahofirewise.org/register-for-2016-great-basin-prevention-education-and-mitigation-conference/

Twin Falls Plants Over a Million Seedlings!

Story by Heather Tiel-Nelson, Public Affairs Specialist. Photos by Lynnette Pettingill, Rangeland Technician.

They did it! In 2015, Twin Falls District fuels crews and partners managed to plant well over a million sagebrush seedlings on 50,000 acres of sage-grouse habitat management areas within BLM Idaho's Burley, Jarbidge, and Shoshone Field Offices.

Sagebrush seedlings grown in a greenhouse and ready to be planted.

This tremendous landscape-level effort goes a long way to implementing tenets of the DOI Secretary's strategy to protect and restore sagebrush lands. It was through the use of Healthy Lands Initiative contracts that this work was accomplished. Additionally, the BLM's partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game managed to push the number of seedlings planted last fall at the end of the contracts from 974,450 to 1,006,410. At the height of the project work there were 50-100 contract personnel planting sagebrush seedlings, working on saw projects (lop and scatter juniper), or conducting juniper mastication at any given time.

Contract crews prepare for a day of planting sagebrush seedlings.

"This is a huge feat; it's hard to imagine a million seedlings being planted, and as we can attest - it is a lot!" said Brandon Brown, Twin Falls District Supervisory Fire Management Specialist. "There were 1,600 boxes of seedlings from Lucky Peak Nursery as well as 54 pallets of boxes full of seedlings from another contractor. We could not have done this without the help of several people - particularly our Fuels Use Specialists Lynnette Pettingill and Justin Miller who worked weeks of long days beginning at 4 a.m.!" said Brown.

Crews plant sagebrush in Idaho's Twin Falls District. In 2015, over a million seedlings were planted on 50,000 acres of sage-grouse habitat management areas within the Burley, Jarbidge and Shoshone Field Offices.

The excellent partnership work with the Mule Deer Foundation, Pheasants Forever and Idaho Department of Fish and Game will carry into 2016 to achieve the seedling planting goals. 

For more information, contact Brandon Brown at 208-732-7218.