3-Day Symposium on Living With Fire in California’s Coast Range

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A Living with Fire symposium will bring together experts in fire ecology and management, community planning, fire safety and preparedness, and global change at Sonoma State University May 7-9.

“Living with Fire in California Coast Ranges: Promoting Fire-Resilient Communities and Landscapes in an Era of Global Change” is designed for property owners, the public, policy makers, planners, managers, scientists, educators, and any others who are interested in the intersection of human communities and fire. The event is sponsored by a coalition of educational, fire and resource management, and extension organizations.

In October 2017, wildfires devastated communities in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino Counties. Large, destructive wildfires are not novel in California’s Coast Ranges – remember the Berkeley Hills and Marin County fires in 1923, the North Bay fires in 1964, the Oakland Hills fire in 1991, Lake County in 2015; the Monterey Coast/Big Sur fires in 1977, 2008, and 2016. Large, destructive fires will occur again in the future, and their probability may be increasing with the warming climate and expanding human footprint. Preparedness requires that we understand the causes and the nature of wildfire in the region, and how human communities and infrastructure might better interact with the ecology of fire.

The first two days will be devoted to presentations by experts, with question-and-answer sessions and ample opportunity for audience participation during structured discussions.

May 7 topics:

• Setting the Stage: Fire Ecology and Fire History of the Central and North Coast Ranges
• Understanding the October 2017 Fires
• Fire and Humans

May 8 topics:

• What does the future hold?
• The wildland urban interface: fire and your home
• Land use and community planning
• Landscape management, collaboration, education: learning to live with fire

May 9 will feature a series of field trips to fire-affected communities and landscapes in Sonoma and Napa Counties. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.

Registration cost: $50 per person for both days; includes coffee/tea, lunch, and parking for both days. April 26 is deadline to register.

Use this link for registration information and other details.

For complete program details, use this link

Major Sponsors: Sonoma State University, CALFIRE, U.S. Forest Service, University of California Cooperative Extension, California Fire Science Consortium, Pepperwood Foundation, and Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group.