The '88 Fires: Yellowstone and Beyond

Program for "The '88 Fires: Yellowstone and Beyond" conference:

DRAFT PROGRAM SCHEDULE as of April 2, 2008

Click HERE to download a .pdf of this draft program (119 KB).

This is an early outline of the program. There will be many changes before the conference begins, but we hope that this will give you a sense of what to expect.

Scroll down to see photos and bios of some of the featured speakers.

Monday, September 22, 2008

2:00 p.m. Exhibitors set up

5:00-7:00 p.m. Registration opens

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

7:00-8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

7:00-3:00 p.m. Registration Desk Open

8:00 a.m. Welcome and Opening (Exhibits and Silent Auction open)

8:30 a.m. PLENARY SESSION:“I Was There”

Presenters: Bob Barbee (Retired, NPS) and Orville Daniels (Retired, USFS)

10:30 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire Behavior, Weather and Fuels
Park Planning and Fire
Wildland Fire, the Media and Public Perception
Special Session- To be determined
Special Session- To be determined

12:20 p.m. Lunch (Optional – Superintendents’ Lunch)

Presenter: Alfredo Nolasco-Morales ( Mexico Fire Program Director, The Nature Conservancy)

2:00 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire and Aquatic Systems
Fire Behavior, Weather and Fuels (continued)
Park Planning and Fire (continued)
Wildland Fire, the Media and Public Perception (continued)
Fire Ecology: Plant responses

3:20 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS - continued

5:30 p.m. Poster Session and Reception

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

7:00-8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

7:00-12:00 p.m. Registration Desk Open

8:00 a.m. PLENARY SESSION:

“Science for Fire Management”

Presenter: John Varley (Big Sky Institute, Montana State University)

“ Why (Fire) History Matters”

Presenter:Cathy Whitlock ( Montana State University)

“Ecological”

Presenter:Monica Turner (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

10:00 a.m. Break

10:40 a.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire Response and Management
Fire Ecology & Landscape Ecology I
Interagency Collaboration
Special Session: To be determined
Special Session: To be determined

12:20 p.m. Lunch (Optional – Assoc. of Fire Ecology Student & Mentor Luncheon, sponsored by Canon Foundation)

“ Integrating Fires and Wildlife Conservation in National Parks: Challenges for

Generation X ”

Presenter: Mark Hebblewhite ( University of Montana)

2:00 p.m. PLENARY SESSION: The Challenges of Managing Large Fires

“Climate”

Presenter: Tony Westerling ( University of California, Merced)

“Changing Fire Regimes in the Face of Global Change: A Canadian Perspective”

Presenter: Mike Flannigan ( Canadian Forest Service)

“ Management of Multiple Fires across Boundaries”

Presenter : Steve Frye (Montana Department of Natural Resources)

3:00 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire Response and Management (continued)
Fire Ecology & Landscape Ecology II
Lessons Learned from the Yellowstone Fires of 1988
Special Session: To be determined
Special Session: To be determined
Special Session: To be determined

4:00 p.m. Break

4:20 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS - continued

5:00 p.m. Conference adjourns

5:30 p.m. IAWF Annual Membership Meeting

Thursday, September 25, 2008

7:00-8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

7:00-12:00 p.m. Registration Desk Open

8:00 a.m. PLENARY SESSION:

“The Human Footprint: Exurban Development, Roads, Recreation”

Presenter: Andy Hansen ( Montana State University.)

“ Fire smart landscapes”

Presenter: Ge orge Weldon (USFS)

9:30 a.m. Break

10:00 a.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire Response and Management
Fire Behavior, Weather and Fuels
National & International Interagency Planning for Fire
Wildlife and Fire
Wildland Fire and Cultural Resources

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Contributed Papers, Invited Speakers and Student Papers)

Fire Response and Management (continued)
Fire Behavior, Weather and Fuels (continued)
National & International Interagency Planning for Fire (continued)
Wildlife and Fire (continued)
Shaping Perceptions: Wildland Fire Education & Outreach

3:30 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. PLENARY SESSION:

“Wildland Fire Management Policy Development - Learning from the Past and

Present and Responding to Dynamic Challenges of the Future.” Presenter: Tom Zimmerman (USFS)

“Climate Change and Megafires: Are More 1988 Yellowstone Fires to Come?” Presenter: Tom Swetnam (University of Arizona)

4:45 p.m. Closing Remarks

5:30 p.m. Social Hour

6:30 p.m. Banquet with IAWF, AFE Awards – Guest Speaker: Norm Christensen ( Duke University)

Friday and Saturday, September 25-26, 2008

Workshops and Field Trips (1/2 day, 1 day and 2 days)

Fire Tested Effectiveness of Mechanical Fuel Reduction Methods in Northwestern Wyoming Mixed Conifer Forests – 19 Years of Fuel Treatment Success in the Teton Interagency Fire Area, a 1-day field trip
The Green Knoll Fire: Successful Strategies in the Wildland-Urban Interface, a ½-day field trip.
Reciprocal Interactions between Bark Beetle Outbreaks and Wildfire in Subalpine Lodgepole Pine Forests, a 1-day field trip.
Paths of Recovery: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences of Spatial Variability in Early Forest Succession after the 1988 Yellowstone Fires (2-day (overnight) with option for 1-day for those wanting to return to Jackson).
Wildlife dynamics after the fires of 1988, a 2-day (overnight) field trip.
Workshops and other field trips will be announced soon

Featured Speakers

	Dr. Mike Flannigan is a senior research scientist with Canadian Forest Service (CFS) at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste Marie. He received his BSc (Physics) from the University of Manitoba, his MS (Atmospheric Science) from Colorado State University and his PhD (Plant Sciences) from Cambridge University. Dr. Flannigan’s primary research interests include fire and weather/climate interactions including the potential impact of climatic change, lightning-ignited forest fires, landscape fire modelling and interactions between vegetation (peat in particular), fire and weather. Mike is the former Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Wildland Fire.
	Dr. Mark Hebblewhite is Assistant Professor in Ungulate Habitat Ecology in the Wildlife Biology Program in the University of Montana. He has conducted research on wolves, their prey and habitats since 1994, as well as a variety of terrestrial vertebrates across Canada, Europe, and Asia. Mark obtained his Bsc in 1995 from the University of Guelph, his Masters in Wildlife Biology in 2000 at the University of Montana and his PhD in Ecology in 2006 in the Department of Biological Science at the University of Alberta. Mark was awarded the Canon-National Parks Science Scholarship for the Americas in 2003, and was an NSERC post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of British Columbia. He is presently engaged in research on the effects of fire on wildlife dynamics for moose, elk, sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, wolves and caribou in and adjacent to National Parks. Mark is an avid backcountry skier, hiker, and neophyte triathlete.
	Dr. Tom Swetnam is a forest ecologist and tree-ring scientist. He studies the long-term history of forest fires, insect outbreaks, and the effects of climate change on forest and woodland ecosystems. He has studied forests throughout the western United States, and he has carried out collaborative research in northern Mexico, Alaska, Argentina, and Siberia. He received his B.S. degree from the University of New Mexico in 1977 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arizona in 1983 and 1987 respectively. Dr. Swetnam’s research was recognized by the Ecological Society of America’s W.S. Cooper Award (2001), and the American Association of Geographer’s Henry Cowles Award (2002). He was appointed by President Clinton to the Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (2000-2004) and by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to her Climate Change Advisory Group (2005-2006), and Forest Health Advisory Council (2003-2006). As Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Dr. Swetnam works with interdisciplinary faculty, staff, and students to maintain the excellence of this premier and largest laboratory in the world dedicated to the use of tree rings in the study of environmental and cultural change.
	Dr. Cathy Whitlock has been a Professor of Earth Sciences at Montana State University since 2004 and before that she was at the University of Oregon. Her research, described in over 100 scientific papers, focuses on the ecological consequences of past climate change, and the long-term linkages between fire, vegetation, and climate. The Yellowstone fires of 1988 inspired her group to look closely at the layers of charcoal in lake sediments and consider their potential use as a record of past fire. Yellowstone findings of the last 20 years have led to the development of new analytical approaches and refinement of fire history interpretations around the world. Whitlock’s current research in fire history extends from the western U.S. to Patagonia and New Zealand. She has helped build a global network of paleofire researchers and is a member of the advisory board for NOAA’s International Multiproxy Paleofire Database.
	Dr. Tom Zimmerman. Tom’s work experience includes Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S.Forest Service. During these assignments, Tom served at all administrative levels (field, state, regional, and national offices). Tom moved to his current position with the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in 2007. Program responsibilities here include management and advancement of a Research, Development, and Application program focusing on science delivery at the national interagency level. He is involved in national training cadres in Advanced Incident Management, Area Command, and Advanced Fire Use Applications and has served on Type 2 and Type 1 Incident Management Teams, Interagency Fire Use Management Teams, and is currently an Area Commander on a National Interagency Area Command Team. Tom received a B.S. degree in Forestry from the University of Montana, a M.S. degree in Fire Ecology from the University of Idaho, and a Ph.D. in Fire Science from Colorado State University.