The Era of Megafires was a 70-minute, multi-media presentation hosted by Dr. Paul Hessburg, who has conducted fire and landscape ecology research for more than 27 years. The presented material came in the form of fast-moving, short, topic-based talks interspersed with compelling video vignettes and featured the work of wildfire photographer, John Marshall. The videos were produced by award-winning documentary film company, North 40 Productions, of Wenatchee, WA.

The presentation was designed to educate audiences across the West so that they may better participate in the conversation and solutions surrounding the Megafire issue.

Several partners including USFS, Montana Department of Natural Resources, FireSafe Montana, the Lolo National Forest and many local groups worked together to bring the Era of Megafires to Montana. Presentations were held in Missoula (April 24), Kalispell (April 25), Lincoln (April 26), Seeley Lake (April 27) and Helena (Sept. 12).

A follow-up discussion of local, fire-related issues was held after the Helena presentation on October 3rd. This event was meant to encourage ongoing discussion of local issues related to the Helena Era of Megafires presentation and included educational and eye-opening discussions by professionals who have studied the local fire hazards and are involved in the solutions.

The Era of Megafires presentation is available online and so is a short TedX talk that Dr. Hessburg gave in April.