The Biswell symposium: fire issues and solutions in urban interface and wildland ecosystems; February 15-17, 1994; Walnut Creek, California

Abstract

These proceedings summarize the results of a symposium designed to address current issues about wildfire and prescribed fire in both the wildland-urban interface and in wildlands. Thirty-eight invited oral papers and 23 poster papers describing the issues and state-of-the-art solutions to technical, biological, and social challenges currently facing land and fire managers were presented at The Biswell Symposium held February 15-17, 1994, in Walnut Creek, California.

Titles contained within The Biswell symposium: fire issues and solutions in urban interface and wildland ecosystems; February 15-17, 1994; Walnut Creek, California

• The Oakland-Berkeley Hills fire of 1991
• Dr. Biswell's influence on the development of prescribed burning in California
• "What do we do now, Ollie?"
• Fire history of the local wildland-urban interface
• Local, state, and national perspectives
• Institutionalizing fire safety in making land use and development decisions
• A synopsis of large or disastrous wildland fires
• Cooperative Efforts in Fuels Management
• Organizational barriers
• Legal barriers
• Federal disaster assistance programs
• Fire in Wildland ecosystems—opening comments
• Interagency wilderness fire management
• FARSITE: a fire area simulator for fire managers
• Funding fuels management in the national park service: costs and benefits
• Ecosystem management issues
• Panel discussion: prescribed burning in the 21st century
• Use of class a foams on structures and wildlands
• Structure ignition assessment model (SIAM)\t
• Strategies for and barriers to public adoption of fire safe behavior
• Neighborhood organization activities: evacuation drills, clusters, and fire safety awareness
• Conflicts between natural resources and structural protection
• Moderator’s comments
• The East Bay Vegetation Management Consortium:\ta subregional approach to resource management and planning
• East bay fire chiefs' consortium
• The bay area wildfire forum
• Social and environmental issues in developing vegetation and fire management plans
• Working to make the Clean Air Act and prescribed burning compatible
• Comprehensive fire prevention legislation enacted by the California legislature in 1992 after the East Bay firestorm
• Florida’s solution to liability issues
• The role of fire in ecosystem management
• Structural wildland intermix
• A balanced approach: Dr. Biswell's solution to fire issues in urban interface and wildland ecosystems
• Poster Session
• Characteristics of coastal sage scrub in relation to fire history and use by California gnatcatchers

Citation

Weise, David R.; Martin, Robert E., technical coordinators. 1995. The Biswell symposium: fire issues and solutions in urban interface and wildland ecosystems; February 15-17, 1994; Walnut Creek, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-158. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 199 p