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Wildlife and Fire in the Southwest Webinar Series

In January, the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, USDA Forest Service, Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, and many other partners hosted a two-day workshop on the intersection of wildlife and fire. Based on the needs identified in the workshop, this collaborative group is hosting a yearlong series of workshops, webinars, and reports to improve wildlife outcomes in the face of fire and climate change. This series is intended to help researchers and practitioners across fire and wildlife disciplines exchange ideas, tools, and lessons to address the rapid pace and scale of fire management.

Wildlife and Fire Perspectives and Effects

In the first webinar of this series, a panel of experts discuss and share their experiences with fire effects on wildlife, managing for habitat in controlled burning, and different mindsets in the fire and wildlife discussion, setting the stage for webinars later in the series.

Panelists

  • Jamie Sanderlin, Quantitative Vertebrate Ecologist (Research Wildlife Biologist), Rocky Mountain Research Station
  • Morgan Tingley, Associate Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Jonathan Grassmick, Director of Ranch Properties, Bobcat Ranch/Rainbow Village, Pueblo of Sandia

Wildlife and Fire: From Borders to Biota, Monitoring at Multiple Scales

In the second webinar of this series, a panel of experts discuss monitoring and collaboration at multiple scales at the intersection of fire and wildlife. Topics include the study of how fire and thinning may impact several important soil organisms that support forested wildlife habitat, large-scale monitoring of border infrastructure impacts on wildlife, stories from habitat recovery within large wildfire footprints, collaborations to manage sage grouse and their habitat, and observations on intra-agency differences coordinating wildlife management and fire recovery. 

Panelists

  • Jamie Sanderlin, Quantitative Vertebrate Ecologist, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
  • Kara Gibson, Postdoc, Northern Arizona University 
  • Kevin Doherty, National Program Leader for Wildlife Biology & Habitat Restoration Research, USDA Forest Service
  • Eamon Harrity, Wildlife Projects Manager, Sky Island Alliance
  • Shaula Hedwall, Senior/Supervisory Fish And Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Wildlife and Fire: Improving Habitat Management Through Monitoring and Adaptation

In the third webinar of this series, a panel of experts discuss informing wildlife habitat management through monitoring and adaptation at the intersection of fire, climate change, and human encroachment. Topics include the how monitoring may be expanded to the big picture - habitat associations, animal distributions across space and time, and the associated changes therein - by harnessing "big data"; monitoring frameworks for addressing vulnerability of wildlife and their habitats to climate change using Mexican Spotted Owl as an example; using the study of animal movement in response to changing fire regimes to inform conservation and human-wildlife coexistence; and holistic management of wildlife habitat when addressing fuels reduction, especially in pinyon juniper ecosystems. 

Panelists

  • Andrew Stillman, Postdoctoral Fellow,  Cornell Lab of Ornithology Center for Avian Population Studies
  • Joshua Goldberg, Station Statistician, Pacific Northwest Research Station
  • Valerie Stein Foster, Wildlife Biologist and Interim Partners in Flight U.S. Coordinator, USDA Forest Service
  • Rachel Blakey, Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Pomona

Wildlife and Fire: Understanding Landscape-Scale Impacts and Conservation Through a Single-Species Lens

In the fourth webinar in this series, panelists present various viewpoints and examples of how landscape-scale management can be understood through investigation of a single species. Watch the recording for research reviews, case studies, and stories about tribal forestry, jaguars' adaptability to changing conditions across borders, pollinator survival, bat conservation, and more to advance our understanding of fire and improve wildlife outcomes.

Panelists

  • Dr. Serra Hoagland (Pueblo of Laguna), National Program Lead for Tribal Research for the USDA Forest Service
  • Juan Carlos Bravo, Associate Director and Conservation Programs Director of Wildlands Network
  • Dr. Olivia Messinger Carril, teacher at Santa Fe Girls School, researcher, and author
  • Daniel Taylor, Senior Restoration Specialist with Bat Conservation International

Wildlife and Fire: Communication to Improve Wildlife Outcomes

In the fifth and final webinar of this series, a panel of experts with experience in biology, incident command, prescribed fire, communications, and more discuss multiple aspects of communication to highlight its importance in improving outcomes for both wildlife and fire impacts. 

Panelists

  • Jack Williams, Endangered Species Biologist, USDA Forest Service
  • Dr. Joel Iverson, Professor, University of Montana
  • Julia Camp, District Wildlife Biologist, USDA Forest Service
  • Dennis Carril, Fire Management Specialist, USDA Forest Service
Last updated October 9, 2024
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