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Hello again! After a hefty mid-winter break, Life with Fire is back with our first episode of 2023. This episode was recorded from the road last fall, with guest Christopher Adlam.



Chris is the regional fire specialist for the&nbsp;<a href="https://extension.oregonstate.edu/forests/fire">Southwest Oregon region of Oregon State’s Fire Extension</a>, and had some great insights on community and individual fire resilience, OSU’s fire extension programming and, finally, how we can better communicate with communities about both prescribed and managed fire. We chatted next to an old burn unit above Ashland, Oregon, in a popular recreation area—this being the case, the audio in this episode has a little more character than normal, thanks to wind, birds and mountain bikers. We also had a short visit from a local hiker, who shared some of his own thoughts on fire use in the area, smoke impacts of prescribed fire units and his perceptions of wildfire risk in Ashland. It was a fun side conversation and a great example of how engaged community members are in what’s happening on the land in their backyards.

Prescribed Fire, Managed Fire, and Community Engagement in Oregon, with Christopher Adlam

In our third and final episode from the International Association of Wildland Fire conference in Edmonton, Alberta, we spoke with <a href="https://firesmartbc.ca/">FireSmart</a> program manager Magda Zachara about Firesmart’s objective to build scalable wildfire prevention and mitigation programming across Canada. Magda spoke about Firesmart’s programming and the ways they’ve build more engagement with communities that want to improve fire resilience and home hardening.

Community Resilience with Firesmart Canada Program Manager Magda Zachara

You’ve probably heard of the&nbsp;<a href="https://landback.org/">Land Back movement</a>, but an essential ingredient of Land Back initiatives will also be Fire Back—that is, returning land stewardship and burning authority to First Nations and Indigenous communities across North America and the world. We’ve spoken to a few guests who have highlighted the importance of Indigenous authority in land management in the past, but today we’ve got a whole episode on how that authority can actually be achieved at the community level and how these practices are informed by traditional Indigenous values and land management objectives.



While at the IAWF conference in Alberta last week, we had the opportunity to speak with Francis Johnson, who is the Forest Manager for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.armltd.org/">Alkali Resource Management LLC</a>—a First-Nations-owned land management company that manages a community forest in Alkali Lake, British Columbia. Francis, who is a member of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) First Nations Community, gave us some wonderful insights into how the oral histories of his band continue to inform land management activities on the community forest. We also spoke about the band’s collaborations with agencies like the BC Wildfire Service, and the reconciliations that needed to happen to make those relationships both possible and productive.



To learn more about the work that Francis and Alkali Resource Management do, check out the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.armltd.org/">company’s website</a>.



To learn more about the oral histories and land management objectives of the Secwepemc Nation, check out&nbsp;<a href="https://bccfa.ca/cfa-wildfire-workshop-2019-presentation-francis-johnson/">Francis’s presentation that was featured by the BC Community Forest Association</a>.

Utilizing Traditional First Nations Values in Land Management, with Francis Johnson Jr.

We’re in Canada at the International Association of Wildland Fire Conference this week, and will be pulling some folks aside for some quick conversations about the conference themes and the research being presented and discussed. Our first “rapid fire” episode guest is Sarah Henderson, who works for the BC Centre for Disease Control as the scientific director of Environmental Health Services. Sarah has some fascinating insights into our perceptions of wildfire smoke, some common paradoxes that come up in the ways we talk and think about smoke, as well as some legitimate, scalable solutions for reducing the impacts of wildfire smoke, especially on susceptible populations like those experiencing homelessness, those who don’t have the financial means of improving indoor air quality and those with preexisting health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to smoke’s impacts. Thanks to Sarah for taking a moment to chat with us, and hopefully this conversation provides some useful context for those who felt the effects of smoke this summer and fall.

Paradoxes and Solutions in Wildfire Smoke Exposure, with Sarah Henderson

In our final episode sponsored by Protect Our Winters, we explored the economics of wildfire (both it&#8217;s suppression and it&#8217;s community and recreational impacts) with Jude Bayham, an environmental and resource economist at Colorado State University.



Jude told us about some of his upcoming research, which he&#8217;s hoping will utilize Strava data to determine where people continue to recreate in the aftermath of wildfires, in addition to lots of other cool stuff he has in the works. We also explored the proliferation of Lyme disease as a result of fire exclusion, a problem that is most pronounced in the Northeast, and how that&#8217;s inordinately impacting the outdoor community in certain regions. &nbsp;



Learn more about Jude&#8217;s breadth of wildfire and economics research&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/judebayham/home">here</a>.&nbsp;



You can learn more our sponsor, Protect our Winters, and their Stoke the Vote campaign—which encourages the outdoor community to do their research, register to vote and make their voices heard ahead of this fall&#8217;s midterms. Learn more about the campaign and POW&#8217;s other work&nbsp;<a href="https://protectourwinters.org/campaign/stoke-the-vote/">here</a>.&nbsp;



To support Life with Fire, follow us on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/lifewithfirepod/?hl=en">Instagram</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/lifewithfirepod/?hl=en">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://twitter.com/lwf_pod">Twitter;&nbsp;</a>you can also support us/help pay the bills (and our host&#8217;s burgeoning addiction to iced lattes) by donating to our&nbsp;<a href="https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Patreon</a>.&nbsp;



Song featured in POW ad: The Times They Are A Changin&#8217; by Goth Babe

Tracking The Economic Impacts of Wildfire, with Environmental Economist Jude Bayham

Life with Fire Podcast

Life with Fire Podcast

Episodes

Ep. 45—Prescribed Fire, Managed Fire, and Community Engagement in Oregon, with Christopher Adlam

Ep. 44—Community Resilience with Firesmart Canada Program Manager Magda Zachara

Ep. 43—Utilizing Traditional First Nations Values in Land Management, with Francis Johnson Jr.

Ep. 42—Paradoxes and Solutions in Wildfire Smoke Exposure, with Sarah Henderson

Ep. 41—Tracking The Economic Impacts of Wildfire, with Environmental Economist Jude Bayham

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