NC Community Wildfire Protection Plan Team 2012

By: Michael Marchetti

Hellllllllllllllllo Everybody!!!! Guess what?! The CWPP team is finally done compiling reports for District 12! Wahoo! After three grueling months during the dog days of summer, we have interviewed, drove, assessed, entered data, and made the dopest maps “at the same same time” that any North Carolina Forest Service rep. has ever seen. Our maps are so awesome even a fire wouldn’t dare burn them to ashes, because it's impossible! No liiiiiiiiiieeeeeee (Drake voice). Well that probably is a lie, but we’ve put so much work into this project it is ridiculous. Here on the CWPP team, we like to think of ourselves like Destiny’s Child, in that we cater to our district rangers instead of our significant others. Except instead of fixing their doo-rags, running their baths or fixing their cufflinks we provide them with maps, assessments, and perfect reports. We’re so good at what we do that the county district rangers are always asking if they can get a refill of our good work, positive attitudes and attention to details.

The completion of District 12 is pretty bittersweet. Bitter in the sense that we don’t get to hang out with a district ranger named Pink Floyd and his assistant Danny- who not only provided us with a television to watch movies on, but also provided us with his vast knowledge of fast food places you can only experience in the Carolinas. Never did we ever think one could purchase an entrée, a drink and, not one, but TWO corndogs and sides for $5.00. We knew when we saw Danny it was always BO’ Time. He was also one of the most helpful rangers by showing us around our new home of Statesville, NC and always offering us help whenever we needed it. We’ll also miss Eddie, the district ranger from Mecklenburg County, who could always get the interviews flowing with the fire departments with ease. We would ask questions calmly, and sometimes not get a response, but then bolstering Eddie would come in and say “IF YOU HAD A FIRE RIGHT HERE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!!” The response of the fire chiefs was amazing. Eddie is just one of those people you have to respond to because he’s just that awesome.

Leaving District 12 is sweet in the sense that we don’t have to sit through rush hour Charlotte traffic anymore and venture through modern suburbia. Fortunately for this team, we don’t get road rage, instead we ROAD RAGE! A.K.A. jam out to sweet tunes provided by Power 98, Charlotte’s number one for blazing hip-hop and R&B. It also just feels good to complete a district and know that we provided these fire districts with a little bit more information in case a major wildfire does strike in the area. It’s also good to know that these reports may provide much needed funding to some of these fire departments, who could use the extra equipment. It always feels good to work really hard on a project, complete it, and then get positive feedback.

Now we are off to the land of mountains, fresh air and thiiiiiick country accents in District 2. Sorry, District 12, we are cashing out. The CWPP team is geared up to take on the wilder side of North Carolina and boy, are we excited! Like many rappers we have heard on Power 98, Charlotte’s number one for blazing hip-hop and R&B, CHUUURRRRRCHHH!!! PREACH!

P.S.
Alex and Marchetti saw a dump truck of raw rotisserie chickens dumped in the middle of a major road in Monroe, NC. It was crazy and smelled terrible. Just thought you all should know.

By: Clare Price

As the end of June approaches, it is difficult to believe that we, the members of the CWPP Conservation Corp in North Carolina, are already over one sixth of the way through with our assignment. Upon arriving in North Carolina, we set up housing and our home office and then set off to South Dakota for SCA training. Not only was training great for learning more about SCA policies and projects, but we were also able to visit Mount Rushmore and experience snow in May, which was met with both delight and confusion. Upon our return from South Dakota, we have been going non-stop, from site training to conducting fire department interviews to exploring Iredell County during our assessments. Additionally, we have all been able to explore our base of Statesville, NC and the surrounding areas, as well as plan our group and individual service projects.

After arriving back in North Carolina, we received additional on-site training by the North Carolina Forest Service, our agency partner for the CWPP project. After arriving from South Dakota early that morning, and consuming endless amounts of caffeine, training helped everyone have a better grasp on our project. By the end of the week, we were ready to begin our Community Wildfire Protection Plans in Iredell County. We spent a little more than a week assessing wildfire risk in Iredell County. The assessments began with interviewing local fire department representatives about basic fire station information as well as questions specific to wildfire protection, preparedness, and prevention. After interviews were conducted, areas of wildfire concern were assessed. When we were not out assessing these areas of concern with our agency representative, we worked on inputting data and getting accustomed to the database interface.

With Iredell County done, we embarked onto our next county: Mecklenburg. The assessments are the same process as with Iredell County, but Mecklenburg faced its own challenges, such as navigating through the suburbs of Charlotte. We learned that through the incredible power of CWPP teamwork, nothing was out of reach. With our trusty maps and GPS, we have continued to make it back to our base in Statesville without getting too lost. With Mecklenburg County almost complete, we will continue assessing North Carolina. Stay tuned for all the juicy details on Union County, NC.

Hello, my name is Jenna Rooker. I grew up on the East coast of Central Florida, close to the space program, and I have lived there my whole life. I attended the University of Central Florida where I graduated with my B.S. in Environmental Studies. Two weeks after graduation, I’m joining the SCA on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan team in North Carolina. I have worked at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for four years as a crewmember. I am passionate about animals, and horses in particular. I also enjoy spending time at the beach, reading, riding, hiking, cooking, fishing and quality time with good people. My horse and my dog are the most wonderful creatures and a huge part of my life.

My name is Clare Price, a student at Penn State University. Since 2009, I have been an undergraduate in the Department of Geography. The primary focus of my studies is cartography, particularly design and evaluation. I am a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon and have recently begun interning at the Gould Center at University Park.

Along with my academic interests in geography, I also enjoy knitting and fiber arts. It is an amazing feeling being able to create wearable art out of string and two needles. I have even been able to use this passion to create a small business creating custom knitting projects and patterns for sale. Other interests of mine include traveling, learning languages (eu falou Portuguese), wandering around museums and hiking.