Prescribed Fire Stories
NAFSE will be hosting webinars to share prescribed fire stories from our region in the hopes that the relevant knowledge exchanged in these stories can potentially benefit the fire and forestry community.
Interested in sharing your prescribed fire story? Please contact Eric Evenson, NAFSE Science Communications Specialist, at NAFSEhelp@gmail.com
Click on each state name below to learn more about upcoming Prescribed Fire Stories this December (2026).
New Hampshire Prescribed Fire Story
Using Prescribed Fire for Restoration and Fuels Reduction in a Pine-oak Community in the Urban Interface, and Subsequent Impacts on Residual Pine Tree Health
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Register: CLICK HERE
Overview: New Hampshire’s increasingly severe droughts, including the record‑setting conditions in 2025, have heightened wildfire risk across the region. The Saco Wildfire Resiliency Project addresses these challenges in the wildland–urban interface of the Mount Washington Valley by reducing fuels and reintroducing fire in a pine‑oak community. This webinar will outline the project’s planning and implementation, the logistical and social considerations of burning near communities, and ongoing research on post‑fire pine health.
Speakers:
Jim Innes - Jim serves as the District Ranger for the Saco Ranger District of the White Mountain National Forest, based in Conway, New Hampshire. He leads a dedicated team responsible for managing the district’s 250,000 acres, overseeing forest management, recreation, wildlife, and mineral collecting. Before becoming District Ranger in 2015, Jim worked as a forester with the USDA Forest Service in California, Michigan, Montana, and Washington, D.C., gaining broad experience across diverse landscapes and program areas.
Travis Aho - Travis is based in Campton, New Hampshire and currently serves as the Assistant Fire Management Officer for the 800,000 acre White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). Travis specializes in prescribed fire and fuels and has helped shape the WMNF Prescribed Fire and Fuels program to its current state and future direction. Travis was born in southern New Hampshire and his first seasonal fire job was with the Green Mountain National Forest in 1999. Prior to his current role with the WMNF, Travis served 20 years on the National Forests in Florida.
Kevin Dodds - Kevin is a forest entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service (Eastern Region Forest Health Protection), based in Durham, New Hampshire. He provides assistance to state, federal, and tribal partners on all aspects of forest insect issues. Kevin’s work primarily focuses on the biology and management of forest insects, particularly bark beetles, woodborers, and invasive insects. Over the last decade, he has worked extensively on southern pine beetle expansion into northeastern pitch pine forests and improving forest health conditions in these forests through active management and restoration treatments.
Maine Prescribed Fire Story
Burning to Learn: Outcomes from a Prescribed Fire in a Maine Mixedwood Forest
Date: Monday, December 14, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Register: CLICK HERE
Overview: Interest in prescribed fire for various land management objectives is growing across the northeastern United States, offering a unique opportunity to study its effects on soil and litter. Our research group at the University of Maine evaluated immediate aboveground and belowground responses to an experimental prescribed burn conducted by the Maine Forest Service in May 2026 within a red oak/ mixedwood forest type. Ongoing forest floor measurements and a decomposition experiment will clarify how prescribed fire affects nutrient cycling and long-term forest productivity. Alongside the ecological study, a Learn & Burn event brought together agency staff, land managers, and community members for prescribed fire education, while students gained practical fire management training.
Speakers:
Cameron Chin - Cam is an MS/PhD student in the Forest Soils Lab at the University of Maine investigating the impacts of fire on forest floor carbon and nitrogen pools. Prior to this, she conducted biogeochemistry and climate research across the region she calls home (the Northeast) at Boston University and the National Ecological Observatory Network. She holds dual B.S. degrees in Environmental Science and Plant & Soil Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Mar Wiltz - Mar is pursuing a MS in Forest Resources with a concentration in Forest Ecology at the University of Maine, studying how old-growth red spruce forests change over time. He previously worked as a Forestry Specialist with the Vermont State Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, having graduated from the University of Vermont with a BS in Forestry.