Project Leader: Chris Bremer Email: cbremer@thesca.org [1] Project dates: 5/19/10 - 10/15/10
Group Photo, Site Intro, and Contact Info [2]
SCA Conservation Corps - Fire
Dixie National Forest
1789 N Wedgewood Ln
Cedar City, UT 84721-7769
c 208 608 6323
Three factors affect fire behavior: Topography, Fuel, and Weather. Our crew will collect fuel and topography data from the forests of the Dixie and Fishlake and report our findings to the agency Fire Management Officers, helping these agencies assess the results of their fuels management practices. Along with fuels data, we will gather aspen regeneration data, invasive plant spread, suitable wildlife habitats, etc... Composed of three SCAs and 1 (or more) Forest Service Employee(s), we will cover large swaths of the most beautiful scenery in Utah (and on earth) to collect this data. This website will be updated monthly with our fuels monitoring progress as well as the various cross training opportunities we have. If you would like to learn more about the Fuels Monitoring Program on Dixie and Fishlake, please feel free to contact us.
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Late October Update [9]
The leaves are laying on the ground, snow is slowly inching down the mountains, and all is quiet in Dixie NF as the 2010 Fire Monitoring crew has disbanded following the completion of a very successful season. To find out what each one of us is up to next, please see our photos below.
Check out what we did during the season in the list below. (this list is only a partial list of all the awesome things we did and doesn't include our off-time adventures)
•319 plots – 75 in Fishlake and 244 in Dixie
•14 out of 22 weeks out on the road travelling to distant worksites
•SCA Training (McCall and On-site Training) – SCA’s missions and protocols, Wilderness First Aid, Introduction to Fire Ecology and Fire Effects Monitoring
•Fire Course - S290 Intermediate Wildfire Behavior (4 day course) – provided by Utah Wildfire Academy
•Fire Course - S130/190 Red Card Training – provided by Wasatch Cache Uinta NF
•National Interagency Fire Center – tour with SCA intern Erin Drake
•Dixie D3 Powell District Seasonal Orientation – a day of FS policies and protocols
•Fire Course Red Card Refresher – provided by Zion National Park
•Tree Identification Training –provided by Dixie Silvaculturist Bill Weiss
•Richfield Fire Cohesion Day – a gathering of Central Utah Fire with introductions and games
•Gordon Graham Safety Talk – an informative and entertaining half day lecture on risk management
•Panguitch Ballon Festival (3 day event) – volunteering with Dixie D3 Powell district to assist with the Smokey Bear Balloon
•SCA 50 Years in Dixie Picnic – celebrating SCA’s presence in Dixie and the other forests of FS Region 4
•SCA Service Project – trail work project to rehab trail damaged by Mill Flat fire
•America’s Great Outdoors Listening Session – an open forum with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and other notables to voice concerns about land management practices
•Leave No Trace Training – learning the principles of LNT and how to share the knowledge with others
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Late September Update [17]
The colors are changing here in Utah. Yellows, oranges, reds, and even pink leaves are adding more hues to the all ready colorful environs of the Dixie crew. As the leaves drop, it threatens to make identification of living or dead aspen very difficult. Nonetheless, we have been cruising along, finishing 78 plots over the month, taking our total number of plots to 293.
On a normal work day, we can typically drive to a central point within a set of plots and work from there for the entire day. This past work week and the upcoming work week are different, though. We are working on plots that were burnt over by a high profile fire (Mill Flat) last year in the Pine Valley Wilderness. Being a wilderness, there are no roads near the plots so we hiked into the backcountry with all of our equipment and food for the past week and for a portion of the upcoming week. The weather was great, albeit cool, and the food was great, making for a nice break from our normal routine.
As the season winds down, we will finish with plots burnt by last year's Bridge Fire and the Mill Flat Fire.
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Late August Update (and some awesome Utah photos including spider log) [19]
We have been logging some serious time in the Fishlake National Forest as of late. A bit more out of the way, Fishlake NF is more rugged than Dixie NF and that keeps us on our toes. We have completed 51 new plots in Fishlake and 28 remeasurement plots in Dixie in the past month...taking us to a grand total of 215 plots at this point in the season!
In addition to all the camping and plotwork, we had the opportunity to attend the America's Great Outdoors Listening Session in Salt Lake City where we were able to hear Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and other notables speak on conservation. To recognize all of our hard work, our agency coordinator Linda Chappell treated us to appetizers and dessert at Cafe Diablo, certainly one of Utah's best restaurants. And to round out the month, we treated ourselves to Utah's best burger at the Antimony Mercantile!
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Late July Update (and a photo of spider log) [30]
Since the last time...Emma and Chris have flown in the Smokey Bear Hot Air Balloon...The crew met with the forest ecologist and the fire ecologist to discuss the current state of affairs in Dixie and Fishlake and to get the bigger picture as to why fire monitoring is important...Andrew was deployed to fight fire with a Color Country squad...The crew went to a risk management talk / stand-up comic routine by Gordon Graham...SCA and Dixie NF celebrated their 50 year working relationship with a picnic and service project...the crew worked in the beautiful aspen groves of Fife Ridge, overlooking Zion NP...and 85 additional plots were remonitored or created.
It has been a busy / fun / productive month!
Looking to the future, the crew will be heading to the Fishlake National Forest for several weeks of plot work. These will be the first Fishlake plots this season.
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Late June Update [33]
Over the last month, the crew has done lots of traveling and lots of training. The entire crew traveled up to Idaho for training in McCall where Andrew and Emma received training about the SCA, Wilderness First Aid and FIREMON protocals. Andrew took a Red Card refresher at Zion National Park and attended the Dixie District 3 orientation with Chris in Panguitch, Utah. Emma received her Red Card in Huntsville, Utah. The entire crew attended a tree ID field session with the Dixie Forester. Richfield Fire Cohesion day rounded out the trainings and events that the crew attended. Interspersed with all of these happenings, 48 plots were also remonitored on Dixie Districts Two and Three.
In the next month, the crew will be helping with the Smokey Bear balloon at the Panguitch Balloon Festival and doing numerous plots. However, after the busy month that just occurred, a 5 day break from July 1st through 5th will allow for a brief respite from the rising temperatures in southern Utah.
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Chris Bremer, Project Lead [35]
I feel fortunate to be the SCA FIREMON Project Leader in Dixie National Forest for a second year. Having grown up within the Adirondacks of NY, I gained an appreciation for wild places at an early age. After a brief stint in Colorado, I have found myself in the wildest place in the country for the past seven years...Utah! I am excited to be an advocate for conservation in a state whose natural environment needs as many advocates as it can get. Save the aspen! Trolli Bright Crawlers are my candy of choice...yum
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Andrew Bousquet, Corps Member [39]
Hello! My name is Andrew J. Bousquet. I was born and raised in North Carolina. I recently graduated from Appalachian State University where I majored in Geography with a concentration in GIS. I am very excited to be working, adventuring and biking in Utah this summer. If I had to choose my favorite candy it would definitely be the Midnight Milkyway.
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Emma Giboney, Corps Member [42]
Hello my name is Emma Giboney. I was born and raised in Seattle, WA. This May I recieved a degree in Environmental Studies from Mills College in Oakland, CA. I really like candy, especially licorice.
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Late May Update [48]
For the past few weeks, Chris has been working with Laura Peterson (Forest Service Fire Ecology Intern) to set up this year's schedule. Of course the schedule contains ample time for fuel plots, but it also contains numerous other activities that will provide for an enriching and well rounded summer for the corps members. In addition to completing the summer's schedule(at least for now), Chris has renewed his Wildland Firefighter's Red Card and he, Laura, and Andrew added to their fire credentials by successfully completing the S290 course of Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior.
Looking to the future, the crew is getting ready to head to McCall, Idaho, for corps member training. After training, they will return to Utah and hit the ground running...Emma will get her Wildland Firefighters Red Card while Andrew, Laura, and Chris will return to Dixie to start monitoring fuel plots. Once she has received her Red Card, Emma will join the rest of the crew for plot work.
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