Wildland Fire Education and Outreach Stories

Everglades National Park fire and resource management staff attended the 2nd International Congress for Coastal Protected Areas with Tree Island Ecosystems in Campeche, Mexico, in September 2014. The conference, held at Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve, focused on fire-prone, wetland ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. This international collaboration reflects NPS interest in maintaining and restoring resilient landscapes.

The “Fire!” program links students from Eagle Rock School with Alpine Interagency Hotshot Crew members and ecologists from Rocky Mountain National Park and the NPS Continental Divide Research Learning Center. The course is based on experiential learning through a hands-on approach, including physical training standards. Students learn about succession and fire’s effects on ecosystems and work out scenarios to apply what they learned about fire suppression.

In August, 2013, thirty people gathered at Park Ridge Lookout in Kings Canyon National Park to honor the recent addition of the lookout to the National Historic Lookout Register. The lookout was established in 1916 as an open-air platform with lean-to. In 1934 a two-story wooden lookout was built, but it was replaced in 1964 by a steel tower, which remains in place. This lookout is a valuable fire detection, educational, and historic resource for the park.

Have an adventure AND contribute to community science at the same time? Learn how you can earn a limited-edition patch while helping to monitor the regrowth of various ecosystems in the wake of the 2020 Woodward Fire in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Learn what makes the conditions right for burning in Yukon-Charley National Preserve and when a fire is likely to start.

Public information officers are responsible for the formulation and release of information about the incident to the news media, local communities, incident personnel, and other agencies and stakeholders. Being a public information officer requires a diverse skill set that includes both technical skills and people skills. At first glance, the requirements may seem challenging, but the skills developed will serve you well on a daily basis.

Anyone can participate in citizen science. You can go to a national park lookout point and take panoramic lookout photos and upload them to a national database. Links are provided to Gigapan tutorials and a citizen science weed project in Glacier National Park. Information about how to set up a photo point in your backyard is also shared.

National Park Service ecologists join forces to survey data within the 2018 Andrew Creek Fire in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. YUCH provided an ideal location to investigate the short and long-term impacts of fire and climate change.

Meet the recipients of the 2017 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. These award recipients are recognized for their exceptional dedication and service to parks and programs.

Grand Canyon fire managers saw success in managing lightning-caused wildfires in summer 2014 to achieve resource benefits and burn a fire-adapted ecosystem.