Fire professionals and trainees from across Washington will come together Sept. 30-Oct. 11. to conduct a prescribed fire training exchange (TREX) in the Selkirk Mountains in northeast Washington.

 

Selkirk TREX is part of a collaborative training program designed to increase the use of prescribed fire as a tool for land management and community resilience through peer-to-peer learning and hands-on experience.

 

During the training period, prescribed burns will be conducted on private and public lands with the cooperation of The USDA Forest Service, The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Kalispel Tribe of Indians, The Nature Conservancy, and Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council.

 

“Since becoming Commissioner of Public Lands, one of my main goals has been to expand the use of prescribed fire in Washington State,” said Hilary Franz, who is concluding her second term at the helm of the Department of Natural Resources. “Programs like TREX are vital not only for enhancing our staff’s expertise and fostering existing partnerships, but also for educating more people about the significant benefits of prescribed fire in creating a healthy and resilient landscape.”

 

TREX offers fire practitioners an opportunity to advance their professional fire qualifications across various roles. The training helps establish long-term, local prescribed fire capacity, and engages communities to help residents build an understanding of the need for increased prescribed fire. It enables communities to meet local objectives of reducing wildfire risk, enhancing wildlife habitat, and increasing overall forest resilience and health.

 

Many forests and grasslands in eastern Washington were historically fire-adapted and benefited from low-intensity fires every 10-15 years. Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have used fire to steward lands. Past management practices and aggressive fire suppression have left people and lands more susceptible to catastrophic wildfire. Prescribed burns are a forest management tool that reintroduces low-intensity fire to the land to reduce vegetation and recycle nutrients into the soil, which helps forests become more resilient to wildfires and reduce risks to nearby communities.

 

“We are in a wildfire crisis on landscapes that have departed from how fire has historically interacted with them, increasing the risk to our communities and natural resources,” said Josh White, Forest Supervisor of the Colville National Forest. “Training and knowledge exchanges, like Selkirk TREX, are vital to the ‘all hands, all lands’ approach necessary to address this crisis.”

 

TREX offers fire practitioners an opportunity to advance their professional fire qualifications and maintain the qualifications they have already earned that allow them to perform various roles on a prescribed fire implementation team.

 

“TREX provided me with a great opportunity to work on my Burn Boss task book. Getting to work with qualified professionals from the US and Canada I was able to put fire on the ground for two straight weeks which was an invaluable experience.” said Joel Adams, Fuels Management Specialist for the Kalispel Tribe. “This networking and experience have allowed me to help the Kalispel Tribe put more fire on the ground in their aboriginal lands.”

 

The training not only helps establish long-term, local prescribed fire capacity; it engages communities to build an understanding of the need for increased prescribed fire. It enables communities to meet local objectives of reducing wildfire risk, enhancing wildlife habitat and increasing the resilience and health of forests.

 

“TREX brings together an array of state and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, non-profit, and local partners to provide comprehensive prescribed burn training to individuals and organizations,” said Mark Charlton, Incident Commander for Selkirk TREX and prescribed fire specialist with The Nature Conservancy. “These collaborative trainings are essential for teaching wildland firefighters and individual practitioners about the use of good fire, growing the available workforce and accelerating the use of prescribed fire in Washington for the protection and resilience of our landscapes and communities.”

 

Similar TREX events take place nationwide. In Washington, they are becoming more routine as state agencies and partners seek to restore the natural wildfire resilience of our forests and reduce wildfire risk for local communities. A second TREX in the Columbia Gorge is scheduled for later this fall.

 

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Communications Manager

360-902-1000

 

Jake Todd

Public Affairs Officer

USFS, Colville National Forest

 

Emily Heber

Media Relations Manager

The Nature Conservancy

206-971-4376

 

Staci Lehman

Communications Manager

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

 

Mike Lithgow

Information and Outreach Coordinator

Kalispel Tribe of Indians

 

Kara Karboski

Program Manager, Community-led Prescribed Fire

Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council

360-560-0168

 

Adam Gebauer

Public Lands Program Director

The Lands Council