Given the increasing severity of wildfires and their associated impacts across the country, there is significant attention on the tools that are available to address these challenges. Recent research highlights that conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems may play an important, yet overlooked, role in wildfire management. This presentation will provide an introduction to the current scientific understanding of the nexus between freshwater ecosystems–including the role of beaver dam or beaver dam analog-created wetlands–and wildfire, opportunities for additional research, and how this information can be best used to enact policy change.
Speakers: Dr. Emily Fairfax, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota – Department of Geography, Environment, & Society; Alexander Funk, Director of Water Resources and Senior Counsel at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Hosted by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and Southern Rockies Fire Science Network, in collaboration with the Northern Rockies Fire Science Network, the California Fire Science Consortium, the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange, the Northwest Fire Science Consortium, and the Alaska Fire Science Consortium.