Prescribed Fire for Forest Management Webinar Series

Fire and Game Species

Dr. Jones and Dr. Lashley​ will discuss ways prescribed burning for forest management can impact game species, such as deer, wild ​turkey,​​ ruffed grouse, and woodcock.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

Benjamin C. Jones, Ph.D., President and CEO, Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society

Ben is CEO of the Ruffed Grouse Society, an organization engaged in forest and wildlife management for over 60 years. Prior to coming to RGS in 2018, Ben was Chief of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Habitat Division, where he also served as the agency’s Fire Program Manager. He has been an advocate for fire use in habitat management for two decades. His primary interests are impacts of land management practices on wildlife, and the use of forest management to improve wildlife habitat. Ben holds a Ph.D. in Forestry & Wildlife Science from the University of Tennessee, an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State, and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries with a Forest Science minor from Penn State.

Marcus Lashley​, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UF D.E.E.R. Lab, Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida

Dr. Marcus Lashley is an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Extension Wildlife Specialist in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. Dr. Lashley is co-hosts and produces the Wild Turkey Science, Fire University, and Natural Resources University podcasts. He also develops content for numerous social media platforms and a free comprehensive online prescribed fire training program. In this presentation, Dr. Lashley will cover fire effects on white-tailed deer and wild turkey habitat requirements, fire effects on animal behavior as it relates to forest regeneration, and barriers to implementing prescribed fire to achieve wildlife and forest management objectives.

Moderator

Tommy Gunn, Great Lakes Oak Ecosystem Forester, American Bird Conservancy

Tommy graduated from Southern Illinois University studying Forestry and has worked as a Forester for The Nature Conservancy in Indiana, for the Colorado State Forest Service, and has also worked as a consulting forester. In Tommy’s role with ABC, he works in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as a forester for the Oak Ecosystem Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). He provides technical knowledge and assistance to private landowners, foresters, and partners, improving oak ecosystems to benefit focal bird species. He brings his background as firefighter on wildfires and controlled burns throughout the Midwest and western US to the conservation work he does today.​​

Prescribed Fire in Urban Landscapes

Join John McCabe, Steve Miller, and Brian Schaffler as they discuss how urban landscapes can benefit from the use of prescribed fire.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

John McCabe, Director of Resource Management, Forest Preserves of Cook County and President, Illinois Prescribed Fire Council

John is Director of the Department of Resource Management at the Forest Preserves of Cook County, one of the nation’s oldest and largest urban conservation districts, which manages 70,000 acres of public open space within the Chicagoland area. John has a degree in Forestry from Michigan Technological University and has been with the Forest Preserves since 1994. He also currently serves as the President of the Illinois Prescribed Fire Council, which advocates for the safe and continued use of prescribed fire across the state. John is the lead instructor at the Morton Arboretum for the Chicago Wilderness Midwest Ecological Prescription Burn Crew Member training program and has coordinated countless immersive “Alternative Spring Break” experiences for students from colleges across the Great Lakes region to learn how to apply fire in an urban environment. In 2024, the Forest Preserves celebrated its 10^th year hosting the UWSP Fire Crew. John enjoys the challenge of implementing prescribed fire in the second-most populated county in the United States, and working with the fantastic team that has made Cook County’s fire program a nationally recognized leader in urban fire.

Steven R. Miller, Regional Director, Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region, Vice President, International Association of Wildland Fire

Steve graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point with a degree in Forest Administration in 1985, and Masters in Ecological Restoration from the University of Florida in 2016. He has since ​worked for a private forestry consultant, the USDA Forest Service, Texas Forest Service, and Florida Division of Forestry and recently retired as the Chief of the Bureau of Land Resources for the St. Johns River Water Management District.  Steve was responsible for directing a multiple use land management program on over 600,000 acres. Most of the lands SJRWMD manages require fire on a 3-5 year interval to sustain them ecologically, so prescribed fire is a major part of his duties.   Steve is active in the North Florida Prescribed Fire Council, serving on the steering committee since 1992. Steve’s newest position is with the USDA Forest Service as the Regional Director of Fire and Aviation in Region 9. He served on the 1998 Governors Task Force on Wildland Fire, Florida Forestry Blue Ribbon Commission, the Florida Georgia Fire Summits (I &II) and is a current member of the Florida Forest Council. He has feet firmly planted in both fire camps (suppression and prescribed fire) and is qualified as and ICT2, OSC2 and an RXB1. He is committed to preparing the next generation of land/fire managers, he regularly travels to teach NWCG classes, and is currently serving as an Adjunct Instructor for the University of Florida. Steve and his wife are parents of two adults; one of whom is a second-generation forester and fire manager.

Brian Schaffler, Regional Fuels Program Manager, U.S. Forest Service Eastern Region

Brian currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving as the Regional Fuels Program Manager for the United States Forest Service, Eastern Region. Prior to his move to the Regional Office, he served as the Forest Fire Management Officer of the Francis Marion & Sumter National Forests in South Carolina, overseeing one of the largest prescribed fire programs in the country. He has over 30 years of fire experience working in a variety of positions for the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Volunteer Fire/Rescue Departments throughout the United States. His passion lies in building prescribed fire programs with a focus on developing strong partnerships.

Moderator

Michael Tiller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Forest and Fire Management, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Michael grew up in Northern California where he enjoyed an active outdoor lifestyle hunting, fishing, camping, and skiing in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains and coastal redwoods. He enjoyed a 10-year career with Cal Fire serving as a Firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer. In 2006, he moved to College Station, Texas where he attended Texas A&M University and earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. After completing his B.S. degree, he attended Stephen F. Austin State University where he earned an M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Ph. D. in Forestry, both with a research focus on understory fuel flammability in forest and rangeland ecosystems. Michael also served as a Wildland Urban Interface Specialist for the Texas A&M Forest Service for 2-years where he was actively engaged with fuels management and prescribed burning. He recently accepted an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology position at UW-Stevens Point where he leads the fire science program and serves as an adviser for the UWSP Fire Crew.

Fire and Climate Change

During this webinar, Courtney Peterson will discuss how fire will impact and be impacted by climate change.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

Courtney Peterson, Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) Network; Climate Adaptation Specialist, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science; Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Department, Colorado State University

Courtney Peterson is a Climate Adaptation Specialist with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) and the USDA Southwest Climate Hub, based out of the Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Department at Colorado State University. One of Courtney’s major roles is to serve as the Adaptive Silviculture​ for Climate Change (ASCC) Program Manager, where she focused on disseminating ASCC project findings and translating them into outreach and training opportunities with land managers and scientists working to manage forests for climate change adaptation. She also provides climate science communication and adaptation planning resources nad training to natural resource professionals interested in increasing their skills in applying science-based decisions within an adaptive management context.

Lenya N. Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network Director, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and Program Director, Women-in-Fire Training Exchanges (WTREX)

Bio coming soon.

Moderator

Greg Edge, Forest Ecologist/Silviculturist, Division of Forestry – Bureau of Forest Management, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Co-Host of SilviCast​

Greg is a forest ecologist and silviculturist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources – Division of Forestry, working on statewide silviculture and forest management issues. He has worked for the WDNR for 26 years in a variety of roles; first, as a field forester working on public and private lands, then as the forest geneticist and nursery specialist, and more recently as the area forestry leader supervising the forestry program in the Mississippi River area of western Wisconsin. Greg graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1988 with a B.S. in forestry administration and received an M.S. in forest genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Greg also is the co-host of the popular forestry podcast, SilviCast​​, alongside Brad Hutnik. ​

Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Red Pine

Dr. Meunier will explore how frequent low to moderate intensity fires shaped mixed conifer forests in ways we never realized. Discover ways to design silvicultural treatments that can increase forest resilience by examining these historic fire-dependent ecosystems. ​

Kyle Gill will present on the collaborative ecocultural fire restoration and relationship building work on Nagaajiwanaang and the U of MN Cloquet Forestry Center. Fire history research, led by Dr. Evan Larson in 2016 and informed by indigenous knowledge holders and 200+ year-old red pine storykeepers, made it clear that the pre-settlement surface fire regime was abundant, human led, and required cross-cultural collaboration for restoration. Our restoration planning took shape in 2019 and commenced on-the-ground in 2022 across 75 acres. General objectives include putting land acknowledgement into action, relationship building between human communities and humans and the Land, and restoring fire as a community member in fire-dependent ecological communities with red pine canopies. Specific objectives vary from unit to unit depending on the age of the red pine and the structure and composition of the community. He approaches land stewardship from training in forestry and disturbance ecology and has been the CFC forest manager since 2015.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

Jed Meunier, Ph.D., Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources – Division of Forestry

Jed Meunier is an ecologist and research scientist within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry. His work relates to the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. Jed has expertise in disturbance ecology which translates well into management issues whether that is the harvest of wildlife or timber, understanding natural disturbance like fire, or the use of fire to meet particular management objectives. His dissertation research was on fire ecology in northern Mexico investigating spatial and temporal aspects of fire in relation to climate and land-use over several centuries. Jed received his M.S. in the wildlife ecology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying the effects of hunting on declining American woodcock populations. Jed considers himself lucky to spend his time asking questions and through applied research to assist in the management of Wisconsin’s many treasures.

Kyle Gill, Forest Manager & Research Coordinator, Cloquet Forest Center & Hubachek Wilderness Research Center, University of Minnesota

Kyle has been the Forest Manager and Research Coordinator for the UMN Experimental Forests properties since 2015. In this role, he seeks to build an active forest management and research program that focuses on forests as complex adaptive systems. His forest stewardship philosophies include (1) Trusting that the only thing that endures is change, (2) The Landscape Triad conceptual framework for balancing multiple objectives, (3) Employing forest treatment techniques that mimic evolutionary-scale forest development patterns to promote the capacity for resilience and adaptation to changes in climate and other forms of abiotic, biotic and human-caused uncertainty, and (4) Recognizing that humans are one part of nature and forest ecosystem communities so need to approach land management with humility and respect to our other community members. He earned his M.S. (2014) in Natural Resources Science and Management and B.S. (2007) in Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Minnesota. For his M.S. thesis, he investigated forest development, dynamics, and relationship to climate of jack pine-dominated forests (FDc12, FDc23, and FDc24) in Minnesota’s central floristic region. In his free time, he enjoys many outdoor recreational activities, including cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and wilderness exploration, and philosophizing about life’s great and simple questions.​

Moderator

Eli Anoszko, Ph.D., Vallier Treehaven Ecologist, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Case Studies: Prescribed Fire and Interfering Vegetation

Join Jack McGowan-Stinski and Jim Elleson to explore ways that prescribed burning can help forest managers deal with interfering vegetation.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

Jack McGowan-Stinski, Program Manager, Lake States Fire Science Consortium, Ohio State University

Jack is the Program Manager for the Lake States Fire Science Consortium, funded by the Joint Fire Science Program, and administered through the Ohio State University.  His main duties include managing the activities of LSFSC, and liaising with researchers, land and fire managers, and policymakers across the Lake States Region. Jack received a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and a M.S. in Conservation Biology from Central Michigan University.  Jack’s professional experiences include – Fire Manager and Land Steward for The Nature Conservancy, a Consultant/Contractor and Burn Boss, multiple seasonal positions with USFS and State DNRs. Jack is one of the founders of the Michigan Prescribed Fire Council, actively participates on steering committees/boards for the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, the NE MW Regional Prescribed Fire Council, and MI and MN Councils, and supported the start-up of other State RX Councils in IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, PA, and WI. When not sharing fire and natural resource management stories, Jack will disappear for as long as possible into the wilds of MN and WI to explore, hunt, fish, kayak, snowshoe, and immerse in a wide variety of arts and crafts projects.

Jim Elleson, Founder, Quercus Land Stewardship Services

Moderator

TBA

Workforce Development

Where have all the burners gone? Lee Jensen and Curtis Wayka will discuss strategies to build up the workforce necessary for forest and fire management.

This session generously sponsored by:

Presenters

Ron Waukau, Forest Manager, Menominee Tribal Enterprises

Ron Waukau has had a long career at Menominee Tribal Enterprises, starting in 1988. Ron has served multiple appointments across Menominee forest operations prior to becoming Forest Manager.

Lee Jensen, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest Fire Management Officer, U.S. Forest Service

Curtis Wayka, Prescribed Fire/Fuels Specialist, Menominee Tribal Enterprises

Moderator

Paul Priestley, Wildland Fuels Specialist, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Paul is an alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, graduating in 2017 with a B.S. degree in Wildland Forest Science and Forest Ecosystem Restoration. He spent two years as the Fire Effects Officer with the UWSP Fire Crew. Since his time at University, Paul has worked for the U.S. Forest Service on the Great Lakes Wildland Fire Module, for the Nature Conservancy as a Prescribed Fire Coordinator, and currently works for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa as the Wildland Fuels Specialist.