Prescribed Fire and Cultural Burning Resources:
California Wildfire Rebuilding Guide: A guide to rebuilding stronger, safer, and more resilient structures, U.S. Green Building Council California, April 2025
What Are Prescribed Fires and How Are They Helpful?
What Are Prescribed Fires and How Are They Helpful?
Programs:
Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (Trex) Programs-
Liability:
- In 2021, SB332 changed the liability standard for fire suppression costs related to prescribed fire.
- In 2023, the state of CA announced a $20 million Prescribed Fire Claims Fund, which will act like a state-backed insurance pool for prescribed/cultural burners and provide coverage where it has been lacking. To learn more, visit here.
- Prescribed and Cultural Fire Practitioners Certification Program: The California State-Certified Burn Boss (CARX) Program, provides special benefits and protections for those who are certified. See this PDF for more information.
Articles:
Fire Retardant in Waterways:
California fire officials are dropping more retardant as environmental advocates fume. Ryan Fonseco. LA Times. July 5, 2023
Judge says fire retardant drops are polluting streams but allows them to continue. Matthew Brown. Associated Press. May 26, 2023.
California's fire season has begun as debate over wildfire retardant heats up. Morning Edition, NPR. July 4, 2023.
Environmental group files lawsuit against US Forest Service over use of fire retardant. Bill Gabbert. Wildfire Today. October 12, 2022.
Additional Reading:
Of Fire and Myth: Will Harling, Bigfoot, and the Power of Place. Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Essay, Landscape Treatments. Aug 27, 2020
Can a $20-million liability fund encourage more ‘good fire’ in California?. Alex Wigglesworth. LA Times. June 24, 2023
Wildfire Smoke Cools Summer River and Stream Water Temperatures. Water Resources Research. David, A.T., J.E. Asarian, and F.K. Lake. 2018.
*Abstract only. No freely accessible online full-text version.
Aligning smoke management with ecological and public health goals. Journal of Forestry, J. W. Long, L. W. Tarnay, and M.P North 2018.
Factors influencing fire severity under moderate burning conditions in the Klamath Mountains, Northern California, USA. Ecosphere, 8(5), B.L Estes, E.E Knapp, C.N Skinner, J.D. Miller, and H.K. Preisler. 2017.
Managed Wildfire Effects on Forest Resilience and Water in the Sierra Nevada. Ecosystems. Boisramé, G., S. Thompson, B. Collins, and S. Stephens. 2016.
Wildfire may increase habitat quality for spring Chinook salmon in the Wenatchee River subbasin, WA, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, R. L. Flitcroft, J. A. Falke, G. H. Reeves, P.F. Hessburg, K. M. McNyset, and L. E Benda. 2016.
Fire effects on aquatic ecosystems: an assessment of the current state of the science. Freshwater Science R. J. Bixby, S. D. Cooper, R. E. Gresswell, L. E. Brown, C. N. Dahm, and K. A. Dwire. 2015
Wildfire and the effects of shifting stream temperature on salmonids. Ecosphere. M. P. Beakes, J. W. Moore, S. A. Hayes, and S. M. Sogard. 2014.
Fire and fish: A synthesis of observation and experience. USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station-GTR-290. B.E Rieman, R. E. Gresswell, and J. N. Rinne. 2012.
Long-term perspective on wildfires in the western USA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, J.R Marlon, P. J. Bartlein, D. G. Gavin, C. J. Long, R. S. Anderson, C. E. Briles. 2012.
People’s Perception of Fire in a Place called Humboldt County, California. University Gent. K. Verdurmen. 2011
The fire pulse: wildfire stimulates flux of aquatic prey to terrestrial habitats driving increases in riparian consumers. Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences. R. L. Malison, and C. V. Baxter. 2010
Influences of Wildfire and Channel Reorganization on Spatial and Temporal Variation in Stream Temperature and the Distribution of Fish and Amphibians. Ecosystems. J.B. Dunham, A.E. Rosenberger, C.H. Luce, and B.E. Rieman. 2007.
Prehistoric fire area and emissions from California’s forests, woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands, S.L. Stephens, R.E. Martin, and N.E. Clinton, 2007.
Fire in the Riparian Zone: Characteristics and Ecological Consequences. Ecosystems. N. E. Pettit, and R. J. Naiman. 2007.
Wildfire burn patterns and riparian vegetation response along two northern Sierra Nevada streams. Forest Ecology and Management. L. N. Kobziar, and J. R. McBride. 2006
Fish and stream habitat risks from uncharacteristic wildfire: Observations from 17 years of fire-related disturbances on the Boise National Forest, Idaho. Forest Ecology and Management. T. Burton. 2005
The Fire/Fish Risk Management Problem. Western Forester. J. O'Laughlin. 2005
Fire and aquatic ecosystems of the western USA: current knowledge and key questions. Forest Ecology and Management. P. A. Bisson, B. E. Rieman, C. Luce, P. F. Hessburg, D. C. Lee, J. L. Kershner, G. H. Reeves, R. E. Gresswell. 2003
Fire and riparian ecosystems in landscapes of the western USA. Forest Ecology and Management. K. A. Dwire, J. B. Kauffman. 2003
An Approach to Restoring Salmonid Habitat-forming Processes in Pacific Northwest Watersheds. Fisheries Habitat. T. Beechie, and S. Bolton. 1999
Fire and Aquatic Ecosystems in Forested Biomes of North America. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. R. E. Gresswell. 1999.
Changes in a Reach of a Northern California Stream Following Wildfire. Environmental Management. K.B. Roby, and D. L. Azuma. 1995.
Presentations:
Fish & Fire 2025: Where There Are Fish, There is Fire: Workshop at the 42nd Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Santa Cruz, CA (April 29, 2025).
Forwarding the Fish & Fire Conversation: Where Do We Go From Here?: Videos from the workshop at the 41st Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Fortuna, CA (March 26, 2024)
- Morning Session: Welcome (video 1/4)
- Morning Session: Managing the Post-fire Landscape (video 2/4)
- Afternoon Session: Examples of Integrated Management and Restoration (video 3/4)
- Afternoon Session: Prescribed Fire 101 (video 4/4)
From the 40th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Fortuna, CA (April 25, 2023)
- Fire and Water by Margo Robbins, Audio Recording
- Fire and Landscape Change in California by Carl Skinner, Video Recording with slides
