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We covered such a broad range of subjects with guest Phil Higuera in this episode that it was hard to nail down a title. Nonetheless, Phil&#8217;s expansive research background lended well to a conversation that covered paleoecology, how lake sediment is used to determine events that happened 13,000 years ago, how forests are changing with a warming climate and how we humans can choose to respond to those changes. Our main objective with the conversation was to discuss Phil&#8217;s research in Western Washington&#8217;s San Juan Islands (host Amanda&#8217;s backyard) while getting his Master&#8217;s degree at the University of Washington; the work he did there is part of a limited pool of research on fire history in Western Washington, and we wanted to see if Phil might have some perspective on the risk of a large, high-severity conflagration in this area, particularly with the 2020 Labor Day Fires as a pertinent reminder of what can happen in these ecosystems.



As always, we appreciate you listening and sharing and engaging with Life with Fire. If you&#8217;d like to support us financially you can do so in a variety of ways on our website&#8217;s &#8220;Donate&#8221; page: www.lifewithfirepod.com/donate.

Climate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil Higuera

This episode&#8217;s guest, Sue Husari, went from pounding dirt as the first woman to work for the Lassen Hotshots in 1976 to an eventual role as the Fire Management Officer for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, from which she retired in 2012. In between, she saw fundamental changes not only in how fires burn but in how we fight them. She provides some truly invaluable perspective in this episode, which is guest hosted by our friend Zeke Lunder from The Lookout, an online project that aims to contextualize wildfire information through storytelling and digital media.  For more information about (or donate to) Zeke&#8217;s project at the Lookout, check out their <a href="https://the-lookout.org">website</a>.



To read a little bit about Sue&#8217;s time on the Lassen Hotshots, check out this <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/first-women-hotshots-wildland-firefighters/">story by Life with Fire host Amanda Monthei from summer 2020</a>. 



To support Life with Fire, check out our Patreon:&nbsp;<a href="https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod</a>

Four Decades of Fire, with Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)

How will the infrastructure bill impact wildland firefighting and our overall fire resilience? We spoke with Riva Duncan—who is the executive secretary of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Coalition—about the bill and its implications for the wildland fire workforce. In addition to providing some greater understanding of the bill and its provisions, Riva also answers a few of the most common questions she&#8217;s been getting about the legislation.&nbsp;



More information about the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Coalition as well as how to help can be found on their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/get-involved">website</a>.



If you&#8217;re digging these conversations, you can donate to Life with Fire through our &nbsp;<a href="https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Patreon</a>.

What The Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters with Riva Duncan

Our first guest-hosted (an in-person) episode is live! In this episode, Zeke Lunder of &#8220;The Lookout&#8221; cameos as host of Life with Fire, and sits down with fire researchers Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp at his office in Chico, CA. They spoke about Valochovic and Knapp&#8217;s research on the Camp Fire, which deeply impacted the town of Paradise, CA three years ago this week. Their research explores how homes are arranged and built, and how these factors can impact their susceptibility to ignition during wildfires. This is an essential conversation on home resilience, defensible space and what factors contribute to home ignitions in wildfires. Call it &#8220;Building in The WUI 101,&#8221; if you will, but you won&#8217;t want to miss the invaluable insight, tips and lessons learned from Knapp and Valochovic&#8217;s extensive research and work in the aftermath of the Camp Fire.&nbsp;



To hear more from Zeke, check out Life with Fire Episode 14. More of his work with The Lookout can be found here: https://the-lookout.org/



The paper authored by Valochovic and Knapp and referenced throughout this episode can be found <a href="https://fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s42408-021-00117-0">here</a>.



Knapp and Valochovic are both members of the California Fire Science Consortium. More information on this organization can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cafiresci.org/">here</a>.&nbsp;



To support Life with Fire podcast, consider donating to our Patreon, which can be found here:&nbsp;<a href="https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod</a>

Homes as Fuel with Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Episode Summary</h3>



In this episode, we explore one of the topics that is most requested by Life with Fire listeners—cultural burning. We spoke with Karuk tribal member Bill Tripp about his early experiences of cultural burning, and how those experiences reflect in his current work as Director of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy for the Karuk Tribe. We spoke at length about California&#8217;s Senate Bill 332 (which was signed into law by Gavin Newsom just after Bill and I spoke back in September) and how it would benefit cultural burning practices, as well as how the Karuk Tribe is engaging its youth to return to traditional tribal practices like burning. Information about California Senate Bill 332 and what it means for cultural burners can be found <a href="https://www.siskiyoudaily.com/story/news/2021/09/16/these-two-new-california-bills-help-tribes-complete-prescribed-burn-projects/8363483002/">here</a>. For those interested in donating to the podcast, the Life with Fire Patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod

All Things Cultural Burning with Karuk Tribal Member Bill Tripp

Life with Fire Podcast

Life with Fire Podcast

Episodes

Ep. 24—Climate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil Higuera

Ep. 23—Four Decades of Fire, with Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)

Ep. 22—What The Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters with Riva Duncan

Ep. 21—Homes as Fuel with Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp

Ep. 20—All Things Cultural Burning with Karuk Tribal Member Bill Tripp

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