After careful consideration we have made the decision to transition the 4th National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Workshop to a fully virtual event. The safety of our guests is our number one priority, and with the rising number of cases of the COVID-19 delta variant we feel it is the best decision.

While we lose the advantages associated with face-to-face events, this shift to a virtual conference will present a number of other advantages, including:  increased safety and reduction of risk of exposure; lessening of travel limitations for many agency personnel and presenters; increased opportunities for overall attendance and participation; presentation of a very flexible schedule; and delivery through an easy to use platform providing networking and interactive opportunities.

4th National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Workshop
Virtual Event
October 4-7, 2021

Hard Truths of Risk Inherent in Cross-boundary, Large Landscape, and Community-wide Implementation.
Register Today
4th CS Virtual Workshop Program Schedule -FINAL

The 4th National Cohesive Strategy Workshop will center on this theme and focus sharply on understanding, co-managing, transferring, and accepting risk at federal, state, Tribal and local stakeholder levels to prioritize and invest in decisions, projects and other efforts that result in widespread reduction in risk across landscapes, and communities, the public and firefighters collectively.

Since the inception of The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, we have learned that there are multiple “hard truths” of living with fire that must be accepted in order to make meaningful progress towards the three national goals of Resilient Landscapes, Fire Adapted Communities and a Safe, Effective, Risk-Based Wildfire Response.

The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy was finalized in 2014 to provide a strategic framework for comprehensively addressing wildland fire issues and management utilizing an “All Hands, All Lands” approach across all landscapes and communities at risk in the United States. The Cohesive Strategy is by far, the most comprehensive, science based, timely, and applicable strategy ever developed to address these issues. The national goals stated above reflect the major issues we are facing now and in the foreseeable future and cannot be left unaddressed.

The Cohesive Strategy identifies broad, strategic, and national-level direction as a foundation for implementing actions and activities nationwide, providing an all-inclusive and relevant vision for the next century:

To safely and effectively extinguish fire, when needed; use fire where allowable; manage our natural resources; and as a Nation, live with wildland fire.

The previous three workshops (the first two in Reno, Nevada and the third in Plymouth, MA) focused on themes consistent with implementation and application of the Cohesive Strategy as well as showcasing relevant efforts across the country.

The 4th National Cohesive Strategy Workshop will highlight components of the following topics.

  • What is risk to you and your organization? How do we define risk? How can we share it across stakeholders through co-management? What are the greatest challenges?  What risk are we transferring to others or just to the future? How is the co-management, transfer and acceptance of risk influencing decision-making at federal, state, Tribal and local levels?
  • What is shared risk and shared responsibility and how can we move past the “blame game” to work better together for better wildland fire outcomes?
  • Understanding the Guiding Principles and Management Options of the Cohesive Strategy.  How are they implemented at scale?  Have recent fire years identified the need for other management options?
  • What are Hard Truths of living with wildland fire and how can we better communicate this understanding to our stakeholders?
  • What are we learning from our experiences, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, that are influencing how decisions are made?
  • How do we better prepare for the fire year in terms of landscape resiliency, fire adapted communities and wildfire response? How do we manager the altered fire regimes, and risk to those regimes?
  • How can we better coordinate, collaborate and prioritize actions across boundaries and jurisdictions to improve collective outcomes and resiliency at landscape scales?
  • How are you leveraging resources across jurisdictions to fund large landscape and community projects? What funding options are available to local governments and organizations? Do you have experience obtaining private funding?
  • How do we utilize and blend new and emerging technology and the best available science to support collaboration and prioritize actions?
  • How are you addressing some of these other considerations?
    • implementation of prescribed fire in consideration of air quality issues and smoke? How are you preparing your communities to receive smoke from wildfire and/or prescribed fire? Are you requiring cultural and prescribed fire in smoke plans?
    • post-fire impacts and recovery?
    • Home hardening?
    • Workforce capacity issues?
    • Climate change impacts on fire seasons, fire activity and vegetation management?
    • Successional planning, virtual training during COVID environment.

The 4th National Cohesive Strategy Workshop will step beyond previous workshop events to dive deeper into the conversations stimulated above and provide potential solutions to these questions that practitioners, managers and stakeholders can apply to their own organizations. The Workshop will deliver opportunities for participants to do more than just listen to presentations. All sessions will be interactive and involve audiences through a variety of facilitation techniques and exercises.

The Workshop will be a virtual event to allow for maximum participation and interaction. Sessions will be documented to provide a summary following the event.

The overall objective of the 4th National Cohesive Strategy Workshop is to facilitate an interactive forum for participants around the stated topics for shared learning and provide practical information they can utilize in their own organizations. Workshop leaders will collectively document session outcomes to provide a summary for local, regional, and national stakeholders.

Who should attend?

This Workshop is considered “mission critical” for anyone working on these issues in local, state, Tribal and federal agencies, and organizations as well as non-governmental organizations and private companies. There is no other forum in the nation that provides these opportunities.

  • State, Federal, and Tribal land managers, agency administrators and fire managers
  • Federal, State and Private natural resource planning specialists
  • Local planning officials
  • Emergency management and law enforcement personnel
  • Wildfire risk reduction and post fire recovery practitioners
  • County and city management
  • Utilities management
  • Insurance industry leaders

 The Annual Cohesive Strategy Workshops

In order to support and strengthen Cohesive Strategy activities, the National Workshops were conceived to clarify, support, and facilitate Strategy implementation.

The first workshop was held in Reno, Nevada in 2017 with the theme of “All Hands All Lands: Implementation Rooted in Science.  This was the first gathering focused entirely on the Cohesive Strategy, its early activities and progress. Presentations and discussions emphasized the role of science in supporting implementation and identified processes to ensure science integration in all planning. While it was very successful and a significant milestone, two important lessons emerged from it.  First, the wildland fire issues facing society then and into the future were not declining but escalating, and there was a timely need to continue and accelerate a comprehensive program of work. Second, because the planning and implementation required to meet challenges outlined in the Strategy had not been fully examined, there was a great deal to be learned from experiences to date and a clear need for continuing discussions that warranted the prominent stage of a national workshop.

In 2018, the second annual workshop, held in Reno, Nevada, Making a Difference; Building Capacity, Improving Preparedness, and Learning from Experience provided plenty of important learning in many additional areas, including:

  • a clearer understanding of the importance of all Cohesive Strategy planning and implementation across the entire country
  • opportunities to learn from past experiences for all attendees in implementing the Strategy to date and into the future
  • improving preparedness for wildland fire management challenges by promoting discussion about planning and implementation status, collaboration, scale, milestones, management options, and policy
  • nation-wide accomplishments and capacity building
  • development of recommendations for documenting continuing actions

A third workshop was held in October 2019 to build on the success and direction established during the first two. It was held in Plymouth, Massachusetts with the theme of Our Journey to the New Wildland Fire Paradigm”. The previous workshops were located at the opposite end of the country in Reno, Nevada, and although presentations and perspectives had been presented from the southeastern and northeastern regions, a “western theme” had begun to dominate. The northeast region was selected for the third workshop to facilitate participation from the eastern portion of the US, alongside western issues.

Keeping Up The Momentum

Now five years old, the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy has seen many examples of the themes to be addressed when we gather at next year’s workshop:

  • Hard Truths – What are they and where are the commonalities? What are the lessons learned about what’s happened with wildland fire events – and what must happen in the future to achieve change?
  • Fantastic Failures – where alignment of ideas and resources (both financial and people) did not produce the desired outcomes. What have we learned?
  • Large-Scale Landscape Implementation – We have the perception that there are many examples of large landscape resilience implementation. Are those areas large enough? How much is enough to create landscape resiliency? How will we validate that?
  • Shared Responsibility – how much is actually shared? How do we avoid the “blame game” when responsibilities are not redeemed as agreed?
  • Futuring – how do we plan for an unknown future and how do we act in it? What are we doing about it?

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • Call for Presentation Proposals – Deadline June 1, 2021
  • Registration Opens – July 15, 2021
  • Authors Notified –July 15, 2021
  • Program finalized – August 1, 2021
  • Virtual Workshop  – October 4-7, 2021

IAWF Principles of Conduct

Embracing Diversity and Inclusion: Being a diverse and inclusive organization will enable the International Association of Wildland Fire to learn from others, grow our understanding, and find new ways to address, understand and implement solutions to complex problems. The IAWF desires to maintain a positive, empowering, inclusive and innovative culture that enables all members of the fire community to feel safe and valued when contributing to the IAWF. We want to operate in a flexible and open manner to meet our membership’s needs and to help members achieve their fullest potential.

Read IAWF’s Full Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Principles of Conduct – Living Our Values – Leading by Example
In the conduct of personal and professional matters, IAWF places high importance on the values of integrity, responsibility and reputation. We are committed to maintaining high standards both within the organization and in our dealings with others in our daily lives. Our leadership has developed these Principles of Conduct to define our accepted and unacceptable ethical behaviors. We have established guidelines for all members at all times and non-members who may be participating at any IAWF conducted activities. It helps ensure that IAWF promotes, achieves, and maintains high standards of practice and it provides a benchmark for members and non-members participating in IAWF activities to use for self-evaluation.

All workshop attendees are required to read and agree to adhering to the Principles of Conduct.
Read IAWF’s Full Principles of Conduct

If You Witness or are Subjected to Unacceptable Behavior
If you are subjected to unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being subjected to unacceptable behavior, hear of any such incidents, or have any other concerns, please notify an IAWF representative immediately and report the incident. There will be several means to report any occurrences of inappropriate behavior. These include:

  • Face to face:
    • Any IAWF officer, Board Member, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee member, or any IAWF individual wearing a Planning Committee nametag, a session moderator, or anyone staffing the registration or IAWF tables are designated IAWF representatives and you can talk to them.
    • Someone will nearly always be at the at the Workshop registration desk and you can report to them and they will contact an IAWF designated representative.
  • Anonymous reporting:
    • Use the Spot application.
    • Connection links and scan codes are provided in mobile app and on posters around the facility.
    • The link to report for an IAWF event or IAWF involvement from your computer or phone is: TALK TO SPOT LINK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accessibility

We are committed to ensuring the needs of all our guests are met. If you have any special needs, please let us know in advance so we can accommodate you.

 

This interactive workshop will provide practitioners and decision-makers with tools and ideas that support positive fire outcomes and identify opportunities for accelerated Cohesive Strategy implementation.  Our program will focus on our theme of the hard truths of risk that are inherent in implementing cross-boundary, large landscape, and community-wide implementation. 

We are using PheedLoop to operate our virtual online workshop platform. Think of PheedLoop as a virtual platform that is meant to cover all aspects of an in-person event; workshop attendees will navigate PheedLoop like any type of webpage: there is a homepage, or “lobby”, navigation tools, sessions, exhibit hall, poster presentations, networking, and more.

The program schedule is shown in Mountain Daylight Time.  During the event, the program schedule will adjust to your time zone.
Program Schedule (PDF)

Schedule

This page contains in-depth information about the presenter experience for the 4th National Wildland Fire Management Cohesive Strategy virtual workshop. We are using PheedLoop to operate our virtual online event platform. PheedLoop is a virtual platform that is meant to cover all aspects of an in-person event, Workshop attendees will navigate PheedLoop like any type of webpage: there is a homepage, or “lobby”, navigation tools, sessions, exhibit hall, poster presentations, networking, and more.

Program Schedule

The recommended browser is Chrome.

Here is the recording from the Presenter Orientation

 

4th National Wildland Fire Management Cohesive Strategy Virtual Workshop Presenter Orientation from Int’l Assoc. of Wildland Fire on Vimeo.

Attendees and presenters make their own personal, customizable profiles. This provides greater opportunities for networking and connecting with other presenters, attendees, and exhibitors at the conference. Also, attendees and presenters can send direct message, participate in group chats, participate in group and private video meet ups, and more.

SPEAKER PORTAL

Speakers should have received an email from the IAWF/PheedLoop which will give you access to your Speaker Portal.  If you have not received an email, please contact us.

Once you enter the speaker portal, you should:

  1. Update your profile (don’t forget to save at the bottom of the screen)
  2. Review your session date and time.
  3. Review your session title for accuracy.
  4. Review and update your session description if needed – you may update for typos or grammar, please do not change the intent of your presentation. This abstract will be the information seen by the attendees so please remove any notes to the reviewers or other information not necessary for the audience.
  5. Add additional authors in the session description.
  6. Add Co-Speakers – this feature may be unavailable to you if you did not add the co-speaker earlier. Please contact us and we will help you add them.
  7. Add session files, please upload your power point presentation and/or video for your presentation, mark the box Private File. You can also add resources that you would like made available to the attendees, just do not mark the Private File box.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will not use the Speaker Portal to enter the Virtual Event Platform, on September 27th you will receive a separate log in for the conference.

PRE-RECORDING PRESENTATION

HOW TO PRE-RECORD

For any virtual presentation – live or pre-recorded, there are many considerations and tips for crafting a successful presentation before you get to the actual recording, including a plethora of ideas to engage attendees during a virtual experience. Here is a great resource Tips for a Successful Virtual Presentation.

Virtual Presentations TIPS

You can use any platform to pre-record your presentation, such as Zoom, WebEx, Go to Meeting, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. You can also use the recording feature in PowerPoint, there are hundreds of tutorial videos on YouTube for your convenience.

PheedLoop supports a single MP4 file up to 2 GB (duration of video depends on resolution, usually 30 – 90 minutes of HD quality), typically 16:9 aspect ratio. If your file is too large, we can host it on a platform such as Vimeo or YouTube. Please contact us if your file is too large to upload.

Pre-recorded videos must be uploaded to your Speaker Portal (Session Files) by:

  • Tools and Resources – September 20th
  • Ignite Talks – September 30th
  • Other pre-recorded talks – September 30th
  • Poster Presentations – October 1st

 

LIVE PRESENTATIONS

If you are delivering a live presentation, we will use PheedLoop’ s native streaming service, called Meet and Stream. You will share your screen and present your presentation, just as you would in Zoom or other similar platforms.

You will join the “backstage” at least 20 minutes prior to your scheduled session, giving us time to do a tech/audio check and ensure you are comfortable.  We will have tech support in each session.
Before you join please ensure your audio and video are working properly and have your presentation open and ready to go on your screen. 

As the presenter, it is up to you how you handle the Q&A. Attendees will not be able to turn on their microphone and camera, they will add their question via chat and Q&A.
You may also use the polling feature. To add polls, click on the back stage and find your session. Click on Polls and add your polling questions. You will be able to do this after the site opens on September 27th.

We will provide a moderator to help monitor the chat, questions and launch polls.

Pre-Roll Video

If you would like to send me a pre-roll video, please send by September 27th  This is the short 15 -30 second video that will play on a loop and will be visible until your session goes live, think of it as a advertisement for your session.  Here is a sample pre-roll video https://vimeo.com/549065817
Please upload your pre-roll video through your Speaker Portal (Session Files).

 

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Presenters will upload their e-posters to their Speaker Portal. Poster Presenters also have the option of uploading a short video explaining their poster. Posters and recordings will be available on-demand to conference attendees.

October 5th from 8:15-8:45 am you will join your poster presentation on the Toolls/Resources and Posters Tab. Find your presentation and join as an attendee.  Click on Join Live to open a live video room. Attendees will join you to ask questions or hear you talk about your poster. You can also chat with attendees in the chat section.

E-posters need to be uploaded in advance of the conference to be included in the program (deadline October 1).

  1. Posters can be in landscape or portrait orientation. Conference delegates will be viewing your poster on their computer screen, so please be mindful of the size of your images and fonts.
  2. E-poster size (in) – 24 x 36. Posters can be in landscape or portrait orientation. Conference delegates will be viewing your poster on their computer screen, so please be mindful of the size of your images and fonts
  3. File format: .pdf or .jpg

Uploading E-Posters and Presentation Recordings 

A short video describing your poster is optional – the maximum time for this recording is 3 minutes. Videos need to be uploaded in advance of the conference (deadline October 1) to be included in the program.

  1. The goal of the short video is to give the kinds of information/elevator pitch you would present to someone approaching your poster in person. This can be as short as you’d like but has a maximum length of 3 minutes.
  2. Accepted formats include: wmv, .mp4 or .mov      
    The following formats are NOT accepted: .ppsx, .pptx, .ppt, .pps

 

If you have any questions, contact:

Mikel Robinson
International Association of Wildland Fire
+01-406-625-7059
Email

Steering Committee

Helen Mohr (co-chair)
Forester, USFS Southern Research Station / Director of Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists

Tami Parkinson (co-chair)
Lead Fire Application Specialist, USFS, Wildland Fire Management RD&A

Joe Stutler (co-chair)
Senior Advisor, Deschutes County
Wildland Fire Cohesive Strategy, Western Region Co-Chair
IAFC, Wildland Fire Policy Committee

Gary Wood (co-chair)
Coordinator, Southeastern Region National Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy

Chuck Bushey
President, Montana Prescribed Fire Services
Past President, IAWF

Dave Celino
Massachusetts DCR
MA DCR Amherst Field Office

Karen Dante-Wood
Joint Fire Science Program
Technology Transfer Specialist

Trent W. Duncan
District Forester | District 1
N.C. Forest Service

Eric Earle
NE Compact
Chair of the Alliance of Forest Fire Compacts (AFFC)

Craig Goodell
Fire Ecologist, Bureau of Land Management
Northern Rockies Coordination Center

Darryl Jones
Fire Chief for SC Forestry Commission
Co-Chair for the SRSC

Katie Lighthall (Program Chair)
Coordinator, Western Region National Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy

Kelly Martin
(ret) Chief of Fire and Aviation, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service, Pacific West Region

Larry Mastic
Northeast Regional Strategy Committee Coordinator

Branda Nowell
NC State University

Mikel Robinson
Executive Director, International Association of Wildland Fire

Chris Sharpton
PSC role on the T3 IMT

Nick Skowronski (NAFSE)
US Forest Service

Kim Skufca
International Association of Wildland Fire

Tom Zimmerman
Past President, International Association of Wildland Fire

Mike Zupko
Executive Manager, Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC)

Program Committee

Katie Lighthall (Chair)
Coordinator, Western Region National Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy

Dave Celino
Massachusetts DCR
MA DCR Amherst Field Office

Jennifer Fawcett
Extension Associate & SERPPAS Prescribed Fire Work Group Coordinator
NC State Extension
College of Natural Resources

Kelly Martin
(ret) Chief of Fire and Aviation
Yosemite National Park, National Park Service
Pacific West Region

Branda Nowell
NC State University

Nick Skowronski (NAFSE)
US Forest Service

Tom Zimmerman
Past President, International Association of Wildland Fire

Mike Zupko
Executive Manager, Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC)

SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES (2021 CS Workshop Exhibit and Sponsorship Prospectus – Updated)

We will ensure your goals are met and you receive the most benefit from your support. Please review the opportunities below; we can also tailor a package to meet your needs. For further information or to secure your preferred sponsorship option please contact Mikel Robinson by email [email protected] or phone (406) 625-7059.

Platinum Sponsor    $15,000

 Benefits:

  • Acknowledgement as Platinum Sponsor on workshop website and in all printed materials.
  • Name printed on workshop banners/signs/screen savers.
  • 2 Pop-Up Banners placed in a prominent place at the workshop (sponsor to supply banner).
  • Complimentary exhibit table (includes one representative).
  • Complimentary registration for an additional 6 representatives.
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage.
  • Specific mention of sponsor at welcome and closing sessions.
  • Full page advertisement in Program Booklet.

Gold Sponsor           $10,000

 Benefits:

  • Acknowledgement as Gold Sponsor on workshop website and in all printed materials.
  • Name printed on workshop banners/signs/screen savers.
  • 1 Pop-Up Banner placed in a prominent place at the workshop (sponsor to supply banner).
  • Complimentary exhibit booth (includes one representative)
  • Complimentary registration for an additional 4 representatives.
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage.
  • Specific mention of sponsor at welcome and closing sessions.
  • Full page advertisement in Program Booklet.

Silver Sponsor              $5,000

 Benefits:

  • Acknowledgement as Silver Sponsor on workshop website and in all printed materials.
  • Company name printed on workshop banners/signs/screen savers.
  • Complimentary exhibit booth (includes one representative)
  • Complimentary registration for an additional 3 representatives.
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage.
  • Specific mention of sponsor at welcome and closing sessions.
  • Half page advertisement in Program Booklet.

Bronze Sponsor             $2,500

Benefits:

  • Acknowledgement as Bronze Sponsor on workshop website and in all printed materials.
  • Company name printed on workshop banners/signs/screen savers.
  • Complimentary exhibit booth (includes one representative)
  • Complimentary registration for an additional 1 representative.
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage
  • Specific mention of sponsor at welcome and closing sessions 
  • Quarter page advertisement in Program Booklet.

 Supporting Sponsor     $1,000

Benefits:

  • Acknowledgement as Supporting Sponsor on workshop website and in all printed materials.
  • Company name printed on workshop banners/signs/screen savers.
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage
  • Specific mention of sponsor at welcome and closing sessions 

 Individual Items

Coffee Break – $2,000 (5 available)

Exclusive Social Reception Sponsor – $5,000 (2 available)

Mobile Application Sponsor – $2,500 (1 available)

Lanyards/Nametags – $750 (1 available)

Sponsor a Student’s Registration – TBD

 Become a Sponsor Today

 

Become an Exhibitor (2021 CS Workshop Exhibit and Sponsorship Prospectus)

This Workshop will provide an innovative, shared-learning environment for exploration, discussion, understanding, brainstorming, connection and collaboration around the issues we now must face collectively to improve outcomes related to wildland fire. In addition to a robust program we will be hosting an exhibition for our sponsors and those interested in gaining excellent exposure to 200 + individuals who will come together to discuss the Cohesive Strategy.

Who will be there?

This Workshop is considered “mission critical” for anyone working on these issues in local, state, Tribal and federal agencies and organizations as well as non-governmental organizations and private companies. There is no other forum in the nation that provides these opportunities.

  • State, Federal and Tribal land managers, agency administrators and fire managers
  • Federal, State and Private natural resource planning specialists
  • Local planning officials
  • Emergency management and law enforcement personnel
  • Wildfire risk reduction and post fire recovery practitioners
  • County and city management
  • Utilities management

Exhibit Booth – $750 for a commercial booth; $500 for a non-profit booth

Includes:

  • One 8-foot skirted table
  • Two chairs
  • Wireless internet
  • Electricity upon request
  • Opportunity to address the attendees from the stage.
  • Full Registration for one representative.

Space is limited to register early. Exhibitors are invited and encouraged to attend all sessions and social activities.

REGISTER TODAY

Workshop Registration

Registration includes admission to all sessions and social networking opportunities. You will also have access to all recorded sessions post-workshop.

Register Today

 

Registration TypeIAWF Member RateNon-Member Rate
Virtual$150$175
Student$55$75