I choose three optional videos to watch summarize and evaluate. The first video was titled Cohesive Strategy Stakeholders Perspectives. This video began describing the 100 years of good intentions using fire suppression as the main management tool that resulted in the loss of homes, firefighters, communities, and critical habitat. This management strategy also resulted in enormous spending. The Flame act was passed in 2009; the important section of this act was the cohesive wild land fire management strategy portion of the act. This section funded forest restoration projects that created resilient landscapes, fire adapted communities, and safe and effective wildfire response. The cohesive strategy brings all stakeholders together to come up with economically sound, socially acceptable, and ecologically sound solutions to forest management issues. The Flame Act allows communities to build trust by sharing value and beliefs which results in achieving forest restoration goals.
The second video I chose was titled “Collaboration Leads to Forest Restoration”. This video was about the collaborative process of the Payette Forest Coalition of the Payette National Forest. After years of stagnate forest management practices due to lengthy planning processes, appeals, and litigation, stakeholders from around the area got together to improve the scale and pace of forest restoration projects, improve communication and trust, and understand values and needs of various interest groups. This collaborative effort was possible by congress passing the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Act (CFLRP) in 2009. This act funded collaborative groups such as the Payette Forest Coalition, so they could bring the interests of all stakeholders to the table. This collaborative group now promotes economic growth, improvement of forest and watershed health, and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat through vegetation thinning, road improvements, riparian enhancements, invasive species management, and fuel treatments.
Finally, I chose the NPR podcast on the 1988 Yellowstone Fire. Historically, Yellowstone National Park had frequent naturally occurring fires which went out on their own. This lead the Park Service to adopt the “let it burn” policy in 1972. This policy stated that all naturally occurring fires will be allowed to burn themselves out. This policy was successful for 16 years until 1988. The fire of 1988 was fueled by severe drought, low relative humidity, and high winds. The public was outraged by the “let it burn” policy during the fire. Years after the fire, the forest is recovering and everyone is able to see the benefits of allowing fire on the landscape.