SANTA FE, NM – Fire season is a challenging time let alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local governments, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations that have a passion for fire prevention will host a virtual NM Wildland Urban Fire Summit (WUFS) on Thursday, October 22 and Friday October 23, 2020. The event provides a continuous effort among community leaders, fire responders, and government personnel to share the latest techniques, cohesive strategies, and resources for wildfire adaption and economic resiliency, wildfire preparedness, and planning.

Registration begins September 17, 2020 until the day of the summit at no charge. Registration is available at https://www.nmcounties.org/calendar/.

We invite press to RSVP to awebb@nmcounties.org.

WUFS Virtual Sessions Include:

  • Thursday, October 22, 2020 Community & Collaboration
  • 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Ruidoso’s Long-Term Fuels Management (Dick Cooke, Director of Forestry, Village of Ruidoso)
  • 10:30 a.m.-11:25 a.m. Fire Department Collaboration with your NM State Forestry District (Rob Barr, Wildland Captain Valencia County Fire Dept.)
  • Breakout Session 1
  • 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Community Mitigation Assistance Team (Jonathan Bruno, Chief Operations Officer/CMAT Lead) OR Breakout Session 2
  • 11:30 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Wildfire Response in a COVID Environment (Robert Brown, Program Coordinator Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources, Forestry Division)
  • Friday, October 23, 2020 Fuels Management
  • 9 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Post Fire Resources (Mary Stuever, Forester Chama District 1)
  • 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Forest Action Plan (includes HM42) (Laura McCarthy, State Forester, Emily Hohman, Director Fire Learning Network The Nature Conservancy, Eytan Krasilovsky, Deputy Director Forest Stewards Guild, and Doug Cram, Associate Professor and Fire and Forestry Extension Specialist NMSU)
  • 10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Fire Has a Role (Ansgar Mitchell & Makenzie Mabery, U.S. Forest Service Prescott National Forest, AZ)
  • Peer Learning Session 1
  • 11:30a.m.-12:30p.m. CrossBoundaryWildfirePlanning(TheColorado Forest Restoration Institute: Mike Caggiano, Wildland Fire Spatial Decision Support Program Manager and Ben Gannon, Kyle Sahd, Fire Management Officer BLM Taos Field Office, Rich Sack, Fire Planner USFS Carson National Forest) OR Peer Learning Session 2
  • 11:30a.m.-12:30p.m. ConnectingPrescribedFiretoCommunityValues (Emily Hohman, Director Fire Learning Network The Nature Conservancy, Jacob Davidson, Habitat Manager NM Department of Game and Fish, Gwen Kolb, State Coordinator Partners for Fish and Wildlife, and Eytan Krasilovsky, Deputy Director Forest Stewards Guild.

The summit is a collaborative effort of New Mexico Counties, NM Municipal League, Forest Stewards Guild, NM Prescribed Fire Council, Southwest Fire Science Consortium, NM State Forestry, NM State Land Office, U.S. Forest Service Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs.