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Life with FireAfter The Fire with Collin HaffeyToday's episode is all about post-fire—how to plan and prepare for post-fire challenges like debris flows and landslides, how to recover at a community and landscape scale, how to maintain a love of place after it's impacted by fire, and how we can reduce suffering in this often dynamic phase of wildfire response and recovery.Our guest on this topic is Collin Haffey, the Post Fire Recovery Program Manager for the Washington DNR, who prior to working with the DNR worked as the Forest and Watershed Health Coordinator for the New Mexico Forestry Division during the ca...2025-04-0843 minLife with FireHow the Loss of Federal Workers Will Have A Massive Impact on Fire Operations This Fire Season, With Riva DuncanThere's been a lot of postulating about whether the firing of some 4400 (and counting) Forest Service and National Park employees on Friday will have an impact on fire operations this summer. We spoke with Riva Duncan, who has decades of experience in fire operations for the US Forest Service (before retiring with the agency), and her answer couldn't be more clear: yes, these losses in capacity are already having an impact on our ability to suppress wildfires this summer. Riva is vice president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, which advocates and provides a voice for the wildfire workforce. C...2025-02-1618 min
Nature's Archive#109: Cultural Fire with Margo RobbinsToday’s episode is very timely. Our guest is Margo Robbins, cofounder and Executive Director of the Cultural Fire Management Council. Margo advocates for the return of cultural burning practices as a way to strengthen community, support biodiversity, and mitigate out of control fires that plague so many areas.But before I get further into the details of today's episode, I want to note that it was recorded just a few days prior to the tragic and devastating wildfires that affected the Los Angeles area in January. We’ve had numerous interviews on Nature’s Archive...2025-02-0353 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Ep. 6: The Ebb and Flow of Public Trust Around Prescribed Fire, with New Mexico State Forester Lindsey QuamIn our sixth and final episode of the Fire in the Southwest Series—sponsored by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and the Arizona Wildfire Initiative—we explore the complex, multicultural fire histories and management dynamics in New Mexico, with State Forester and Tribal Liaison Lindsey Quam.New Mexico's recent relationship with fire has been fraught with distrust in the aftermath of the 2022 Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire, which started from an escaped prescribed fire and an escaped pile burn. Lindsey's career has been bookended by such events, having started his career in Los Alamos, NM in the afte...2024-11-1337 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Ep. 5: Using Wildfire To Build Resilience at the Landscape Scale, with Dr. Jose (Pepe) IniguezFor our fifth episode of the the Fire in the Southwest Series, we're talking managed wildfires, which has a number of alter egos depending on who you talk to in the wildfire world, some of which include "wildland fire use" or "managing wildfires for resource benefit".Dr. Jose "Pepe" Iniguez, a research ecologist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, is our fearless leader on this journey through the fraught, occasionally contentious world of managed fire. Pepe has had a long career studying wildfire impacts in forested landscapes while building a better understanding of how our public lands...2024-10-2349 min
Mountain Gazette LibraryThe Way the Wind Is Blowing by Amanda MontheiThis week on the Mountain Gazette Library - The Way the Wind Is Blowing by Amanda MontheiSubscribe to print on MountainGazette.com2024-09-2829 min
Mountain Gazette LibraryTeaser Episode 6: The Way the Wind Is Blowing by Amanda MontheiThis week on the Mountain Gazette Library - The Way the Wind Is Blowing by Amanda MontheiSubscribe to print on MountainGazette.com2024-09-2700 minLife with FirePros, Cons and Misconceptions of Aerial Firefighting with Matt LyndeIf you've found yourself wondering "where the heck is the aircraft?" while watching a fire burn near you, this is the episode for you.Guest Matt Lynde—a helicopter operations specialist for the Forest Service's Regional Office in California—gave us a run-down on why some fires have huge airshows and others have almost none, and even tackled a few common misconceptions about the use of aircraft in fighting wildfires. Among these misconceptions is the idea that aircraft put fires out and that if you don't see aircraft on a fire, that means it's not a high prio...2024-09-0331 minLife with FireFire Tech and Improving Access to Wildfire Information, with Watch Duty Founder John Clarke MillsWith fire season escalating across the West this week, many people are downloading Watch Duty App for the first time. But what is Watch Duty all about? Why was it created? Where does their information come from? What do agency employees think about it?We spoke to Watch Duty CEO John Mills about the Watch Duty app as well as fire technology more broadly, and gave him a chance to respond to some listener questions from PIOs, wildland firefighters, community resilience experts and others in the Life with Fire community. His responses are about as no-BS as...2024-07-2351 min
Patagonia StoriesLeave it to BeaversHealthy meadows are wet, spongy and teeming with diversity; but too many lack that swampy hospitality due to the eradication of beavers. Now, crews are recreating beaver dams to encourage complex, healthy meadows. With luck, a passing beaver might see the dams and the pooling water they love and think, "This is nice … but I could do better." The hope is they’ll stick around.“Leave it to Beavers” read by Kirstie Carrizales and written by Amanda Monthei. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2024-06-2613 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Ep. 4: The Shifting Role of the Forest Stewards Guild in an Era of Megafires, with Zander EvansWelcome to episode four of our Fire in the Southwest Series, supported by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium as well as the Arizona Wildfire Initiative! Today's guest, Zander Evans, is the executive director of the Forest Stewards Guild, which has a mission of promoting ecologically-, economically-, and socially-responsible forestry as a means of sustaining the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Guild's team—including Zander, who has worked there for over 17 years—has seen the first-hand impacts of some of the most destructive wildfires of the last two...2024-06-2545 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Series, Ep. 3: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Western Fire Management with Jon MartinWelcome to our third episode of our Fire in the Southwest series! In this episode, we spoke with Jon Martin, who is the Director of Native American Forest and Rangeland Management Programming at the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University. Jon spent three decades working in forestry before retiring, and now uses his extensive interagency background to find pathways that can help tribes achieve their management goals within a Western fire management framework.This topic is especially prescient right now, as the Wildfire Commission Report was explicit in its recommendations to incorporate more Indigenous knowledge into...2024-06-1837 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Series, Ep.2: The Grassification of the Sonoran Desert with Ecologist Mary LataWhat is it like to watch vegetation type-conversion in real time? How are invasive grasses changing the ecology of the desert and broader Southwest? What's being done to protect and restore Southwest ponderosa pine forests? This episode with Tonto National Forest fire ecologist Mary Lata dives into the fire regimes of the Southwest, how they're changing by the year, how invasive grasses are influencing those changes, and particularly how she's beginning to see more fire in the Sonoran Desert, where fire was not historically common. We also spoke about her work within the Four Forest Restoration Project, w...2024-06-1146 minLife with FireFire in the Southwest Series, Ep. 1: Southwest Fire Regimes and Post-Fire Community Support with Mary StueverWelcome to the first part of our six-episode series all about the Southwest, sponsored by the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and the Arizona Wildfire Initiative!In this episode, which is serving as an introduction to the series, we spoke with Mary Stuever, who is the Cimarron District Forester for New Mexico Forestry Division. Mary has a breadth of experience across disciplines in the fire world, which is well-reflected in our conversation. She's worked in suppression, prevention, fire ecology, community education, post-fire support and public information, among other roles in her long career in fire. As such, we...2024-05-2948 minLife with FireTHE BEAVER EPISODE (finally!) with Dr. Emily Fairfax and Dr. Sophie GilbertThe long-awaited beaver episode! In this episode, we learn about how beavers are not only champions of wildfire resilience but are also sleeper endurance athletes (climbing mountains to find new watersheds), dedicated anti-capitalists (not giving a **** about the regulatory or material concerns of humans), expert engineers (casually restoring entire watersheds) and pretty handy companions to have in our pursuit of restoring habitat and landscape resilience across the West (and beyond).Dr. Emily Fairfax and Dr. Sophie Gilbert joined us to talk about everything from nature-based climate solutions to why we should learn to better coexist with beavers...2024-04-0351 minLife with FireExperiences of Wildfire in Montana, with Young Indigenous Storytellers and the Montana Media LabToday's episode is a special one. We collaborated with the Montana Media Lab—a program of the University of Montana's School of Journalism—to help support their winter "Youth Voices" workshop, which empowers young rural and Indigenous storytellers to learn more about audio storytelling while sharing stories from their communities. This episode features five stories from high school students in Browning and Florence, Montana, all of which are centered around wildfire's presence in their communities.Story one (timestamp: 6:32) centers on the experiences of volunteer wildland firefighters on the Blackfeet (Niitsitapi) Reservation, as well as on the history of I...2024-03-1529 minLife with FireThe Changing Fire Environment and Shifting Baseline Syndrome with "Fire Weather" Author John VaillantIn this episode, we had a chance to sit down with author John Vaillant, who recently published a new book about the 2016 Fort McMurray fires in Northern Alberta. The book, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, is an in-depth exploration of the fires, which released in June 2023. We not only spoke about his reporting process in the aftermath of a catastrophic wildfire, but we also touched on some of the book's major themes and how these were, in many cases, paralleled by the 2023 fire season in Canada. We even did some deep diving into t...2024-02-0655 minLife with FireFire Technology, Emergency Management and Building Resilience at Scale With Dr. Jessica McCartyIn this episode, we spoke with Dr. Jessica McCarty—the branch chief for the Biospheric Sciences branch at NASA's Ames Research Center—about her career, her work on fire in boreal and arctic ecosystems (within the context of the Canadian wildfires last summer), her perspectives on fire technology (spoiler: she's a big fan of predictive modeling) and so many other topics that we couldn't possibly list them all here. Here's her NASA bio, which explains her background better than we ever possibly could: Dr. McCarty has more than 15 years’ experience in applications of Earth observations and geospatial and dat...2024-01-1846 minLife with FireRapid Fire Episode with Mystery Ranch Backbone Scholarship Winner Riston BullockIn our second Backbone Scholarship episode—sponsored by Mystery Ranch and the American Wildfire Experience—we chatted with Nez Perce wildland firefighter Riston Bullock, who spoke about his experiences working in fire over the last decade, about the challenges that have come up as he has gotten older and become a father, as well as the challenges of the Nez Perce Reservation to have more authority over their own fire management. Riston also spoke about his experience of seeing a fatality on a wildfire last summer, as well as the processing he's had to do in the aftermath of this...2023-12-2921 minLife with FireRapid Fire Episode with Mystery Ranch Backbone Scholarship Winner Junior LazaroLife with Fire Podcast, Mystery Ranch Backpacks and the American Wildfire Experience (AWE) have joined forces to bring you this episode with Junior Lazaro—a wildland firefighter who received a Backbone Scholarship from AWE to share his experiences of fire through the Mystery Ranch Backbone Series and Life with Fire Podcast. Junior is a young wildland firefighter who shared his experiences of working in fire in his third season on a BLM handcrew out of eastern Oregon. In this episode, he spoke to some of his challenges and triumphs in pursuing wildland firefighting, and spoke especially to the...2023-12-1117 minLife with FireFire For the People With the Nature Conservancy's Marek SmithWell we finally got a chance to speak with Marek Smith, who is the North American Fire Director for the Nature Conservancy and the co-director of the Fire Networks, which houses the Fire Adapted Learning Network, the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX), The Indigenous Peoples Burning Network and the Fire Learning Networks. Before I get too far into this intro, I do want to note that the Fire Network has a new website that is a veritable clearinghouse of good fire resources, knowledge and information on how to get involved—I highly recommend you go check it out!N...2023-11-3032 minNature's Archive#82: Amanda Monthei - Life with FireAs you all know, I find wildfire to be fascinating. It’s complex, simultaneously necessary and at times devastating, and wildly misunderstood. And the landscape of fire is rapidly changing - literally and figuratively. So, I hope to continue to bring a variety of voices and perspectives on wildfire - including today.Have you ever wondered what it is like to be on the fire lines with a wildfire crew? Or what it takes to join a crew? Or the differences between crews, such as engine crews, hand crews, and hot shot crews? And how do they ac...2023-10-231h 02Life with FireThe Wildfire Commission Report with Kelly MartinThe Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission, established in 2022 at the behest of Congress following the 2021 Infrastructure Act, recently released a substantial report highlighting recommendations that will shape the future of wildfire policy and action in the US. Fifty commission members were charged with creating the recommendations, one of which was Kelly Martin—who is a founding member of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter organization and a longtime wildland firefighter. We had the chance to chat with Kelly about the commission, and she was able to provide us a glimpse into the process and efforts behind their whopping 340-page report. We sp...2023-10-1325 minLife with FireHumble Fire and Traditional Ecological Practices with Cultural Fire Scholar, Dr. Melinda AdamsYou've probably heard of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) but how about Traditional Ecological *Practices*?In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Melinda Adams of the N’dee San Carlos Apache Tribe about translating Indigenous knowledge into Indigenous-led action—which means giving Indigenous practitioners the "space, opportunity and action" to see their knowledge systems play out on the landscape. We spoke about a whole lot more than that, though; we heard about Dr. Adams' PhD work at UC-Davis, about her new assistant professor position at the University of Kansas, about "rematriating" fire (bringing women back into cultural fire decis...2023-07-3145 minLife with FireCommunity-Informed Wildfire Communications, With Isabeau OttoliniIsabeau Ottolini is one of the foremost experts on imbuing risk communications with values that are informed by communities themselves. As a PhD candidate on community-based communications at the Open University of Catalonia in Spain, Isabeau spends a significant amount of time thinking about how we can best reach those most at risk of wildfire's impacts, while also allowing those folks to inform how we approach them on this subject.The ways we talk about wildfire are often highly localized—and dependent on a number of factors like community values, history and available resources. However, the things th...2023-07-2435 minLife with FireExpanding Prescribed Fire Capacity in Washington State, with Lucas KingWe're big fans of the Mt. Adams Resource Stewards here at Life with Fire. You may recall our episode with the organization's Executive Director back in 2022 (episode 28), but we're back today with an episode with MARS' Stewardship Crew Lead, Lucas King, who shared his thoughts on expanding capacity for more burning and fuels reduction from the ground up in Washington State. Lucas and Amanda spoke about expanding capacity for (and acceptance of) local burning in MARS' backyard—primarily through private lands burning and engaging community members through contractual opportunities and the Stewardship Crew itself. They also spoke abo...2023-07-1228 minLife with FireLife after Wildland Firefighting with Luke MayfieldWhat can life after wildland firefighting look like? With the issues facing wildland firefighters these days (including but not limited to: abysmal pay, nonexistent benefits and perpetually being let down by elected officials who suggest they might actually do something about it etc) many in this essential but overworked workforce are likely considering that question themselves.After asking himself that question for years, today's guest Luke Mayfield finally got his answer in 2019, when he left his job as a hotshot captain to see what life outside of operational fire was all about. He now works as the...2023-05-1237 minLife with FireForest Resilience Policy at the State Level with Hilary FranzWe'll be honest—we've been hoping to talk to Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz since this podcast's inception. Franz is responsible for the management of over six millions acres of public lands and the state's wildland firefighting workforce, so we were pretty excited to finally have the opportunity to have a conversation with her a few weeks ago. Our conversation ran the gamut from the forest resilience measures she's taken while in office, to the All Hands All Lands approach to fuels reduction, to her vision for a more fire-adapted Washington. Life with Fire is...2023-05-0157 minLife with FireFire in the Pine Barrens of the Northeast with Emily DolhanskyOur 50th episode! In today's episode, we spoke to professional forester Emily Dolhansky about the fire-adapted ecosystems of her home state of New Jersey. Perhaps you've seen some footage of the Jimmy's Waterhole Fire (pretty good fire name tbh) in southern New Jersey—as of this writing, it's sitting at nearly 4,000 acres and 75% containment after exhibiting fire behavior that would be extreme by almost any geographic area's standards.Emily filled us in on the fire ecology and history of the pine barrens, where she spent as a kid growing up in NJ. Emily wrote her master's thesis at...2023-04-1432 minLife with FireThe Psychology of Fire and Innovating without Ego with Dr. Natasha StavrosAs indicated by the title of this episode, we covered some SERIOUS ground in our conversation with Dr. Natasha Stavros, Director of the Earth Lab at CU Boulder. Natasha's background in the academic realm combined with personal experiences with wildfire (being evacuated from one of California's first megafires back in the early 2000s, and most recently seeing the impacts of the Marshall Fire on the Boulder community) gives her a strong understanding of fire from both the academic and the community/human perspective. As such, our conversation touched on everything from how the right technology can help build fire...2023-04-0445 minLife with FireThe Philosophy of Fire with Amanda Rau, Part TwoIn our second episode with Oregon Prescribed Fire Council found Amanda Rau, we discuss how she has connected the dots between her philosophy degree and her fire career, what other agencies and jobs she is interested in pursuing, the Oregon Certified Burn Manager Course and her vision for getting fire in the hands of more people in Oregon and beyond. Learn more about the Oregon Prescribed Fire Council: https://www.oregonrxfire.org/This episode is sponsored by Mystery Ranch Backpacks. Whether you need the toughest load-bearing backpack on the market or a bag for your l...2023-03-2240 minLife with FireMaking Your Own Spark, with Amanda Rau (Part One)This week's guest Amanda Rau has worked for nearly every fire-adjacent agency or organization that exists in the state of Oregon. From the Forest Service to a contract crew to the Nature Conservancy and a current role with the Oregon Department of Lands, Amanda has had a hand in just about every side of the Oregon fire world that you can get.Naturally, that means she has a lot of fantastic perspective on what she has gleaned from each job, as well as the lessons she's brought from the suppression world to her work as a prescribed...2023-03-0134 minLife with FirePrescribed Fire, Managed Fire and Community Engagement in Oregon, with Christopher AdlamHello again! After a hefty mid-winter break, Life with Fire is back with our first episode of 2023. This episode was recorded from the road last fall, with guest Christopher Adlam. Chris is the regional fire specialist for the Southwest Oregon region of Oregon State's Fire Extension, and had some great insights on community and individual fire resilience, OSU's fire extension programming and, finally, how we can better communicate with communities about both prescribed and managed fire. We chatted next to an old burn unit above Ashland, Oregon, in a popular recreation area—this being the case, the aud...2023-02-1443 minLife with FireCommunity Resilience with Firesmart Canada Program Manager Magda ZacharaIn our third and final episode from the International Association of Wildland Fire conference in Edmonton, Alberta, we spoke with FireSmart program manager Magda Zachara about Firesmart's objective to build scalable wildfire prevention and mitigation programming across Canada. Magda spoke about Firesmart's programming and the ways they've build more engagement with communities that want to improve fire resilience and home hardening. To learn more about Firesmart Canada, check out their website. Click here to donate to our Patreon—for a limited time, those who donate at the $20 level this month will receive a Life with Fire...2022-11-2917 minLife with FireUtilizing Traditional First Nations Values in Land Management, with Francis Johnson Jr.You've probably heard of the Land Back movement, but an essential ingredient of Land Back initiatives will also be Fire Back—that is, returning land stewardship and burning authority to First Nations and Indigenous communities across North America and the world. We've spoken to a few guests who have highlighted the importance of Indigenous authority in land management in the past, but today we've got a whole episode on how that authority can actually be achieved at the community level and how these practices are informed by traditional Indigenous values and land management objectives. While at the IAWF...2022-11-0819 minLife with FireParadoxes and Solutions In Wildfire Smoke Exposure, with Sarah HendersonWe're in Canada at the International Association of Wildland Fire Conference this week, and will be pulling some folks aside for some quick conversations about the conference themes and the research being presented and discussed. Our first "rapid fire" episode guest is Sarah Henderson, who works for the BC Centre for Disease Control as the scientific director of Environmental Health Services. Sarah has some fascinating insights into our perceptions of wildfire smoke, some common paradoxes that come up in the ways we talk and think about smoke, as well as some legitimate, scalable solutions for reducing the impacts of...2022-11-0218 min
Life with FireTracking The Economic Impacts of Wildfire, with Environmental Economist Jude BayhamIn our final episode sponsored by Protect Our Winters, we explored the economics of wildfire (both it's suppression and it's community and recreational impacts) with Jude Bayham, an environmental and resource economist at Colorado State University.Jude told us about some of his upcoming research, which he's hoping will utilize Strava data to determine where people continue to recreate in the aftermath of wildfires, in addition to lots of other cool stuff he has in the works. We also explored the proliferation of Lyme disease as a result of fire exclusion, a problem that is most pronounced...2022-10-1332 min
Life with FireHow Do Wildfires Impact Snowpack? With Andrew SchwartzIn the fourth episode of our series sponsored by Protect our Winters, we spoke with self-proclaimed snow nerd Andrew Schwartz about his work as the lead scientist at the the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, where he explores all sorts of snowpack-related science but also how wildfires are impacting that snowpack. From less canopy to protect the snow from the sun to ash on the snow attracting more solar energy, Andrew talks us through all the ways that our snowpack and glaciers will continue to be impacted by wildfires that are increasing in size and creeping further into...2022-09-2727 min
The Anchor Point PodcastScience, Education, And "Life With Fire" With Amanda MontheiToday on the show: Former wildland firefighter, Amanda Monthei, stops by to discuss her wildfire podcast with a podcaster and former wildland firefighter, who podcasts about wildfire...Its like inception, but with wildland fire podcasts? 🤣But seriously, a lot has changed in the last three and a half years since Amanda was last on the Anchor Point Podcast - And she has changed the game in regard to the availability of science based, educational, and easily understood information of why wildfire is rapidly evolving...Here's a little more about Amanda, with a little ins...2022-09-192h 05
Life with FirePOW Bonus Episode! Living with Fire in Tahoe—with Athlete, New Dad and Climate Advocate Cody TownsendIn a special bonus episode of our recreation X wildfire series sponsored by Protect Our Winters, we spoke with professional skier Cody Townsend about what it's like to live in North Lake Tahoe as the threat of wildfire (or smoke) in that area seems to increase exponentially every fire season, as well as what kind of advocacy work he suggests for listeners who don't know where to get started in the climate or advocacy space. And we know what you might be thinking right now: A professional skier? On a wildfire podcast?You betcha, and f...2022-09-1420 min
Life with FireBuilding Trails in Burn Areas, with Dillon OslegerToday we're talking trails! What do trails have to do with wildfire, you ask? Well, ask any trail builder that question and they'll tell you that they're kind of a pain to rebuild (and cut out) after wildfires. Today's guest Dillon Osleger is a trail builder, an environmental advocate, scientist and Executive Director of the Sage Trail Alliance, and also works with Protect Our Winters as both a creative and an athlete. He's done a fair bit of both trail building and trail rehab in the aftermath of wildfires, and has some great perspectives on how folks who like...2022-09-0643 min
Life with FireHow Wildfires Are Impacting Outdoor Recreation, with Jamie ErvinWelcome to the first episode of our four-part series discussing the impacts of wildfire on recreation, sponsored by Protect Our Winters! For this episode, Jamie Ervin of the Outdoor Alliance walked us through the myriad ways that wildfires create barriers to recreation access and enjoying the outdoors. From air quality impacts to forest closures, Jamie talks about what recreationists can continue to expect from worsening wildfire seasons, while also talking about why it's important to remember fire's place in many of the landscapes we all love to recreate in. Jamie has a background in wildfire policy and currently works...2022-08-2331 minLife with FireHotshot Crew to Grad School, with Harrison RaineHave you seen that C̶o̶l̶l̶e̶g̶e̶ Hotshot shirt from Hotshot Brewery (you can look at it here if you're unfamiliar)? This episode's guest Harrison Raine walks us through doing both of those things at once—and shares why he thinks more firefighters should pursue fire-adjacent degrees and careers that can make use of that invaluable, on-the-ground fire experience. During his undergrad, Harrison scored a fellowship that allowed him to travel the world to explore fire management practices in places like South Africa, Greece and Australia, among others. The result of that work (which can...2022-08-1147 minLife with FireUnderdiscussed, Poorly Understood: Prescribed Fire Liability Insurance with Daniel GodwinListen—we know that prescribed fire liability insurance is a big, scary topic. But we encourage you to check out this episode, because while liability insurance is one of the bigger challenges in getting more "good fire" on the ground, it's also one of the least understood and more infrequently talked about challenges, likely because it is such a complex topic. With that in mind, learning more about those challenges and how people are working to solve them is critical to having a full understanding of prescribed fire and its usage (or lack thereof).Thankfully, our guest th...2022-06-3046 minLife with FireIndigenous-Led Fire Stewardship with Amy Cardinal-ChristiansonHow can First Nation and Indigenous communities regain power over their long-honed land stewardship and cultural burning practices? How can these practices be done without the influence of Westernized practices, which includes prescribed burning?Today's guest Amy Cardinal Christianson, a Métis woman and Fire Social Scientist for the Canadian Forest Service, addressed these questions (and so, so many others) for us in today's episode. On top of advocating for greater authority for First Nation communities over their ancestral lands, Amy also has an extensive background in researching the connection between First Nation communities and wildfire. Her m...2022-06-0247 minLife with FireHow Can Fire Culture Become More Inclusive? with Triss SeemillerTriss Seemiller is a trans woman who started gender-affirming hormone therapy when she was on a shot crew in California. She transitioned soon after she left the crew. She has occasionally felt uneasy about sharing her identity with coworkers since transitioning, and in this episodes walks us through her breadth of experiences on different crews to talk about situations where she felt most empowered and comfortable being herself, as well as the situations that made her question her desire to stick with fire as a career. Through it all, she provides some incredible perspective on what it's like to...2022-05-1243 minLife with FireA Life Of Fire as a Trans Woman, with Bobbie ScopaBobbie Scopa has had quite a long and storied fire career—she recently retired after 45 years working in both wildland and municipal fire, during which she worked her way into the Chief position and into numerous leadership positions over her career with the Forest Service. Notably, she was present on the Dude Fire in 1990, where six firefighters were tragically killed, and even served at Ground Zero after 9/11.But Bobbie's story doesn't start and end with firefighting. She's also a trans woman, and has experienced the fire world as both a man and woman, having transitioned to female be...2022-04-1350 minLife with FireDiversity in Fire with Jane Park (Part Two)In the second half of our conversation with Jane Park, we spoke about some of the diversity initiatives that Jane has spearheaded within Banff National Park and Parks Canada as a whole. We also spoke about Jane's experiences of working in fire as a Korean-Canadian woman and type 1 incident commander, and why she thinks it's imperative to bring more people of color and women into the wildfire and prescribed fire spaces. Be sure to check out our first episode with Jane, which covers prescribed fire and fire management in Banff National Park! Mystery Ranch's new women's-specific fire p...2022-03-2237 minLife with FirePrescribed Fire Management in Banff National Park with Jane ParkIn our second episode of the Women in Wildfire series, we brought on Banff National Park Fire and Vegetation Management Specialist Jane Park, who on top of being a profound presence in the wildfire and prescribed fire management space is also, quite simply, really frickin cool (and very fun to chat with). Jane is a Korean-Canadian woman and a type one incident commander; she has also played a huge role in building more diversity within the Canada Parks system, and has notable on-the-ground achievements in bringing more progressive fire management to Banff National Park. We broke this conversation up...2022-03-1431 minLife with FireFrom Fashion Week to the Fireline with Celilo MilesThere's a chance you've seen Nez Perce wildland firefighter and model Celilo Miles in a recent advertisement for Victoria's Secret—in it, she wears Nomex pants and holds her hard hat, emblazoned with the Nez Perce Tribe's fire management program logo. After seeing the ad making the rounds in the wildland fire community, we tracked Celilo down to chat about her background as both a wildland firefighter and a model and how her appearance in the VS advertisement came about. She spoke about balancing modeling and fire, and what each vocation has taught her about the other. We also sp...2022-03-0823 minLife with FireCreating Connections Through Community Forests with Jay McLaughlinThe Mt. Adams Resource Stewards in Washington State is an excellent example of a hyper-local solution to community fire resilience. Started in 2004 by this week's guest, Jay McLaughlin, the organization now boasts a community forest, a 10-person stewardship crew, community development programs and fire adaptation resources for nearby communities.Jay has a deep pool of experience in engaging rural (often former logging) communities in fire resilience and more progressive land management; in today's episode, we speak about the challenges of an organization like this, but also the myriad ways this work has been immensely rewarding for Jay and...2022-03-0133 minLife with FireMichael Wara Part 2: Sustainability of the Suppression Workforce + Lots MoreIn the second half of their conversation, Michael Wara and Amanda briefly dive into the nitty gritty of liability regimes as they relate to both wildland and prescribed fires, how smoke will continue to impact communities across the West and finally, how the current suppression workforce structure is not a practical means of moving into a more fire-adapted future.Of course, a suppression workforce will always be important, but Michael considers the abysmal work-life balance of the current wildland fire suppression structure and how that contributes to low retention of skilled employees. Eventually this brings him to consider...2022-02-1729 minLife with FireThe Reality of Burning 50 Million Acres in 10 Years with Michael WaraPresident Biden recently rolled out a plan to treat 50 million acres of land with fire over the next 10 years. The question is—is 50 million acres actually realistic with the system we have in place right now? We spoke with environmental law and policy expert Michael Wara about the logistics of actually putting that much fire on the ground to reduce risk in vulnerable communities, how we may not be in a place to scale it to that level yet, and what we can do to get to the necessary level of fuels reduction and fire resilience. We also talked a...2022-02-0132 minLife with FireThe Tim Hart Act and Channeling Grief with Michelle HartWhen smokejumper Tim Hart died from injuries sustained during a hard landing in New Mexico in May, his wife Michelle Hart quickly realized that she needed a way to channel her grief. She also realized she was in a unique position to draw attention to the needs of wildland firefighters—she had a personal connection to the issues facing them, and as a lobbyist, she also had the legislative chops to make legitimate change at a congressional level. This all culminated in the creation of the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act, which addresses firefighter compensation, benefits, ac...2022-01-1921 minLife with FireClimate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil HigueraWe covered such a broad range of subjects with guest Phil Higuera in this episode that it was hard to nail down a title. Nonetheless, Phil's expansive research background lended well to a conversation that covered paleoecology, how lake sediment is used to determine events that happened 13,000 years ago, how forests are changing with a warming climate and how we humans can choose to respond to those changes. Our main objective with the conversation was to discuss Phil's research in Western Washington's San Juan Islands (host Amanda's backyard) while getting his Master's degree at the University of Washington; the...2022-01-0757 minLife with FireFour Decades of Fire, with Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)This episode's guest, Sue Husari, went from pounding dirt as the first woman to work for the Lassen Hotshots in 1976 to an eventual role as the Fire Management Officer for the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service, from which she retired in 2012. In between, she saw fundamental changes not only in how fires burn but in how we fight them. She provides some truly invaluable perspective in this episode, which is guest hosted by our friend Zeke Lunder from The Lookout, an online project that aims to contextualize wildfire information through storytelling and digital media. 2021-11-3046 minLife with FireWhat The Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters with Riva DuncanHow will the infrastructure bill impact wildland firefighting and our overall fire resilience? We spoke with Riva Duncan—who is the executive secretary of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Coalition—about the bill and its implications for the wildland fire workforce. In addition to providing some greater understanding of the bill and its provisions, Riva also answers a few of the most common questions she's been getting about the legislation. More information about the Grassroots Wildland Firefighter Coalition as well as how to help can be found on their website.If you're digging these conversations, you can d...2021-11-1632 minLife with FireHomes as Fuel with Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric KnappOur first guest-hosted (an in-person) episode is live! In this episode, Zeke Lunder of "The Lookout" cameos as host of Life with Fire, and sits down with fire researchers Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp at his office in Chico, CA. They spoke about Valochovic and Knapp's research on the Camp Fire, which deeply impacted the town of Paradise, CA three years ago this week. Their research explores how homes are arranged and built, and how these factors can impact their susceptibility to ignition during wildfires. This is an essential conversation on home resilience, defensible space and what factors contribute...2021-11-1538 minLife with FireAll Things Cultural Burning with Karuk Tribal Member Bill TrippIn this episode, we explore one of the topics that is most requested by Life with Fire listeners—cultural burning. We spoke with Karuk tribal member Bill Tripp about his early experiences of cultural burning, and how those experiences reflect in his current work as Director of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy for the Karuk Tribe. We spoke at length about California's Senate Bill 332 (which was signed into law by Gavin Newsom just after Bill and I spoke back in September) and how it would benefit cultural burning practices, as well as how the Karuk Tribe is engaging its youth to...2021-11-0847 minLife with FireBuilding a Community of Land Stewards, With Sasha BerlemanIn this episode we speak with Sasha Berleman, who has a whole lot of irons in the...prescribed fire?
Sasha has a doctorate from UC Berkeley, is the founder and director of the Fire Forward Program through Audubon Canyon Ranch, is a founding member of the Bay Area Prescribed Fire Council and much, much more. Oh, and a former hotshot. We've wanted to get Sasha on the show for a while now, and we were excited to talk about her community work and dedication of building up land stewards, regardless of their backgrounds.
You can see more about Sasha on...2021-09-0326 minLife with FireScientists Respond to the New "All Fires Out," Forest Service Directive, With Matt HurteauIn this episode, we explore the new Forest Service directive requiring all new fire starts to be suppressed immediately. Fire scientist Matt Hurteau is our guide on this journey, as he discusses the directive itself, as well as the precedent it sets and its widespread criticism. He and dozens of other fire scientists voiced these criticisms in a letter to Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, which can be found here: http://www.hurteaulab.org/.../chief_moore_letter...
To follow Life with Fire, check out our Instagram (@lifewithfirepod) or our Twitter (@lwf_pod). To support our Patreon, please visit www.patreon...2021-08-2317 minLife with FireExploring Fire Impacts on Wildlife with Kendall CalhounAfter a bit of a fire-season-chaos break, we're back with an episode on probably our most requested topic—how wildfires impact animals.
For this episode, we brought on Kendall Calhoun, who is pursuing a PhD at US Berkeley and does a majority of his research on how shifting fire regimes in California are impacting native wildlife species. Kendall studies how certain species like deer and coyotes have adapted to wildfire and how they continue to adapt to fires that burn more severely and more frequently than historical norms. His field work is done primarily in Northern California, and he has a...2021-08-1329 min
Out and Back37. Life With Fire (Amanda Monthei)Wildfire Public Information Officer and former wildland firefighter Amanda Monthei breaks down why wildfires remain vital for ecosystem health, and how humans misunderstand this life force. She gets into the history of wildfire management in the US and how we’ve primed conditions for fires of unprecedented scope. Amanda dives into what we can learn from indigenous fire management practices and how we can learn to better coexist with fire in the future. Tune into Episode 37 to hear all this and more about how we can coexist with fire, rather than fight it.2021-08-121h 04Life with FireLand Use Series Episode Two: Resilient and Sustainable Development, with Liz Foster and Molly McCabeLiz Foster and Molly McCabe join us in this episode—the second of our Land Use and Resilience Series—to talk about fire-resilient communities and infrastructure, including the inherent inequities of disaster prevention, preparation, response and recovery.
Liz is the former senior manager of Urban Resilience at the Urban Land Institute, which explores the wildland urban interface resilience to disasters like wildfires. Molly McCabe is owner of HaydenTanner, where she works in real estate finance and property development with an eye to sustainability and disaster resilience.
This episode is chock full of great insights about hardening our communities to the thre...2021-07-211h 03Life with FireLand Use Mini-Series: Planning Developments for Fire Resilience with Molly MoweryFor the first episode of our mini-series on land use planning for fire resilience, we spoke with Molly Mowery about her background as a land use planner with a specific interest in preparing communities for wildfires, as well as about her work with the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program. Listen in for some perspectives on community wildfire resilience, and stay tuned for the rest of the mini series, which will include interviews with other planners, builders and architects.
As always, you can follow us on Twitter at @lwf_pod, or on Instagram at @lifewithfirepod. For those interested in supporting...2021-07-0827 minLife with FireWildfire Technology, Trauma and Other Tidbits, With Zeke LunderIn this episode we spoke with Zeke Lunder, a pyrogeographer with a background in GIS and mapping on wildfires, and more recently with helping out on prescribed burns all over the West. We spoke about how the advancement of mapping and technology for use in fire suppression is misguided—and how those tech solutions would be better used as a way to get more prescribed fire on the ground. Zeke is from Chico, California, so we also spoke about the impacts of the Camp Fire and the North Complex/Bear Fire on his community, and how repetitive large fires re-traumatize co...2021-06-2148 minLife with FireWildfire Perceptions and Misconceptions with Crystal KoldenIn this episode, we spoke with wildfire research extraordinaire Crystal Kolden, who is an assistant professor at UC-Merced. Crystal has a breadth of interests and areas of expertise, and is probably one of our favorite follows on "Wildfire" Twitter. We discussed her humanities background and what led her to an interest in wildfire, the wildfire misconceptions that most irk her and how we can better talk about wildfire impacts and wildfire topics in general.
For more information on Crystal and her research, check out her Twitter @pyrogeog or her website, www.pyrogeographer.com.
Life with Fire Podcast can be found...2021-06-0251 minLife with FireIs Suppressing Wildfire Actually More Of A Liability Than Prescribed Burning? With Will HarlingIn this episode we spoke with Will Harling about his work with the Mid-Klamath Watershed Council, as well as his experiences of growing up in Northern California on the banks of the Salmon and Klamath Rivers. Will had some fantastic insights on how prescribed fires are burdened with immense liability, restrictions and permitting, while wildfires are not treated the same—despite that modern wildfires are more severe because of human behaviors like full suppression firefighting and climate change. Will argues that modern wildfires are no longer an act of God, and that things like managing wildfires for prescriptive purposes could be...2021-05-1429 minLife with FireExploitation, Transformation and the Paradox of Incarcerated Firefighting with Dr. Lindsey FeldmanIn this episode, we speak with anthropologist Dr. Lindsey Raisa Feldman about her research on incarcerated fire crews in Arizona. Lindsey actually worked on the ground with these crews—and despite her assertion that she wasn't a very good firefighter, she did come away with some important insights about the nature of incarcerated firefighting, as well as a few profound experiences of her own.
Lindsey's work can be found on her website: https://www.lindseyraisa.com/
Follow Life with Fire! Find us at @lwf_pod on Twitter or @lifewithfirepod on Instagram. And if you enjoy the podcast, we'd be honored if...2021-04-2855 minLife with FireOff-Season Struggles: Understanding Wildland Firefighter Mental HealthWildland firefighters are disproportionately affected by depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicide and other mental health struggles. There are a number of reasons for this, but the biggest are quite simple: wildland firefighting is a high-stress job that takes firefighters away from their families for months at a time and often doesn't come with appropriate pay or benefits given the sacrifices that these folks make every summer. With that lack of benefits comes a severe lack of mental health resources and care for laid-off firefighters, resulting in something of a mental health epidemic for a seasonal workforce that grows more essential—an...2021-01-2739 minLife with FireFrom Incarcerated Firefighter to Full-Time Hotshot with Mando PerezMando Perez spent around six years fighting fire while incarcerated as a young man. Upon his release in 2010, he began the arduous transition into a position with a federal firefighting agency, and now works as a senior firefighter for the El Dorado Hotshots. In this episode, he shares his experiences of working on an inmate fire crew and details how he transitioned to a full-time fire career after his release. He also talks about why he continues to pursue fire as a career, what he loves about the job, and offers some suggestions for people who may be on a...2020-11-171h 02Life with FireFrom Incarcerated Firefighter to Full-Time Hotshot with Mando PerezMando Perez spent around six years fighting fire while incarcerated as a young man. Upon his release in 2010, he began the arduous transition into a position with a federal firefighting agency, and now works as a senior firefighter for the El Dorado Hotshots. In this episode, he shares his experiences of working on an inmate fire crew and details how he transitioned to a full-time fire career after his release. He also talks about why he continues to pursue fire as a career, what he loves about the job, and offers some suggestions for people who may be on a...2020-11-161h 01Life with FireRestoring the Land, Restoring the People: Cultural Burning with Margo RobbinsThe practice of cultural burning hinges on one critical truth: healthy land means healthy people. Margo Robbins, who is a Yurok tribal member, basket weaver and the executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council, explains the importance of cultural burning on Yurok tribal lands—located in Northern California— as well as why she has a vested interest in reintegrating cultural burns on her ancestral lands. Listen in to learn more about indigenous burning, the ecological and cultural benefits of fire and how cultural burning has helped renew the art and practice of basket weaving for Margo and other membe...2020-11-0920 min
Into The Wilderness with Byron PaceAmanda Monthei: A landscape of fire. Conservation / environment / fire-mitigation / fire-management / wildfire / climate changeThis show is all about fire in the landscape. From wildfire to a managed fire, from indigenous burning to decades of inappropriate forest management policy, we dive into the role of fire in natural cycles and the part humans have to play. To guide us through, former Hotshot firefighter, journalist and podcaster, Amanda Monthei. Amanda on Instagram: @A_monthei or @living_with_fire. Twitter: @A_monthei and @lwf_pod. Website: www.amandamonthei.com. To support the show visit www.patreon.com/byronpace Podcast partner: www.modernhuntsman.com F...2020-11-021h 10Life with FireBuilding Fire-Resilient Communities with Annie SchmidtIn this episode, we talk to Annie Schmidt, who works for the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. Through her position at the Fire Adapted network, Annie has committed herself to helping communities build their fire-resiliency and, quite literally, learn to better live with fire. Annie offers some great perspective on how and why fire prevention work should be prioritized just as much as fire suppression, while also providing a few suggestions for other people who want to improve fire resiliency in their communities. One of the most interesting parts of Annie’s work is her commitment to bringing different voices to...2020-10-1428 minLife with FireFire Ecology 101, with Dr. Susan PrichardIn this episode, I enlisted the help of Dr. Susan Prichard—who has a PhD in fire ecology—to share a few of the foundational ideas of fire science and how fire is fundamental to the landscapes in the Western US, specifically. She told me a bit about her ongoing research and projects, one of which models how fires would have burned and affected the landscape through the last century if they hadn’t been suppressed. Susan has also done extensive research on (and shared some insights on) how climate change influences fire and whether or not the high-severity fires we're...2020-09-2831 minLife with FireWhy The "Labor Day Firestorm," Was So Historic, with Fire Meteorologist Nick NauslarOn this episode, guest Nick Nauslar—a fire meteorologist at the National Interagency Fire Center—explains what contributed to the so-called "Labor Day Firestorm," that devastated the Northwest and Northern California on the week of September 6. Nick discussed all the factors that made this conflagration so historic, and also discussed how climate change—which took a lot of the blame in national media—played only a small part in what became one of the worst weeks of fire in US history.2020-09-2222 minLife with FireFirefighter Safety and The History of Hotshots With John MacleanIn this episode, we talk with renowned author John Maclean about the decades he's spent investigating and writing about fatality wildfires in the West, as well as his latest project, a book about hotshot history and the Yarnell Hill Fire. We also touched on the influence his father—Norman Maclean, the preeminent voice of wildfire fatalities with his book Young Men and Fire—had on his early writing career, and even got a short cameo from the squirrel who lives in John's attic/workspace.2020-09-1345 minLife with FireLearning to Live in "The Pyrocene," With Stephen PyneIf you’ve ever worked in fire, there’s a good chance a few of Stephen Pyne’s fire books were laying around the station or office where you worked. Pyne is without a doubt the foremost expert of fire history in the US—in this episode we spoke about his concept of a “pyrocene,” about the evolution of fire management in the US since the Big Burns of 1910, and about how we can prepare to live in landscapes where fires—not humans—set the terms.2020-08-1637 minLife with FireAchieving Diversity Through Prescribed Burning With Lenya Quinn-DavidsonLenya Quinn-Davidson has committed her career to changing the ways we think about prescribed fire. She also started the Women in Prescribed Fire Training Exchange program, or WTREX, which empowers women and people of color to gain experience as firefighters, mentors and leaders in fire management through the use of prescribed fire. We spoke about the importance of diversity in the fire world, and about how we can do better in mentoring, empowering and retaining women and BIPOC in positions in wildland fire.2020-08-1525 minLife with FireThe Prescribed Fire Revolution with Jeremy BaileyJeremy Bailey is a prescribed fire manager with the Nature Conservancy, and the brains behind the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange or TREX. On this episode, we talk about his inspiration for starting the TREX program, about how firefighters, homeowners, Indigenous peoples and communities have used prescribed fire to manage the landscapes around them, and about how prescribed fire is a critical tool for adapting ourselves to wildfire.2020-08-1523 min
She ExploresTo Get the Job Done: Hotshot Wildland Firefighter Amanda MontheiMeet Amanda Monthei, a hotshot wildland firefighter and creative who has made it her mission to empower women and all qualified firefighters to know there is space for them in wildland firefighting. We spoke to Amanda about her path to fighting fires as well as her project “The Women Before Me” that celebrates the women of the Zig Zag hotshot crew, the legacies they humbly left behind, and the qualities they brought to the US Forest Service.In this episode, we learn how the common traits women bring to the firefighting field are important and why it’s valu...2020-03-1136 minThe Anchor Point PodcastAmanda MontheiEpisode 2! With Amanda Monthei... On this episode, Amanda and I talk about life as a rookie hotshot, how she became a hotshot, and the grant that she won with The Smokey Generation and Mystery Ranch...Show note: About minute 36 to 39 the phone connection starts to break up - sorry, some stuff is out of my control...2019-05-1754 min
The Anchor Point PodcastAmanda MontheiAmanda Monthei - Writer, Traveler, Avid Angler, Powder Hound, and Hotshot... We talk about her rookie season on an IHC!2019-05-1754 min
The Fly TapesEpisode 22—The Cascadia Tour 2016: BendIn today's episode, we're going back to the early days of Writers on the Fly, with a reading in Bend, Oregon, that started off the first ever Cascadia Tour. This reading happened on November 1, 2016, and featured a handful of great writers and featured photographers as well. Among the readers in this episode, you'll likely recognize a few familiar voices. Both Amanda Monthei and Steve Duda have been featured on The Fly Tapes previously, so if you'd like to learn more about them, check out their episodes! New to the podcast today we've got: Copi Vojta, w...2018-08-101h 12The Fly TapesEpisode 16—Amanda MontheiIn today's episode, I chat with writer, firefighter, ski bum, and former yearbook making wizard Amanda Monthei. Amanda's work has been published in The Flyfish Journal, The Ski Journal, The Drake, and others. You can find out more about her work at www.amandamonthei.com. Thanks to Sage Fly Fishing for their support of The Fly Tapes. Visit SageFlyFish.com to learn more about the Salt HD family of rods built for chasing salty fish, from bones to barracuda to GTs. Music by Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate.2018-05-151h 19
The Fly TapesEpisode 10—Amy McMahon / Amanda MontheiAmy McMahon likes bugs. I mean, she really likes them. When I visited her in Fort Collins, Colorado, I was amazed by her collection of beautifully preserved and displayed butterflies, dragonflies, and even some huge, crazy insect from New Guinea (I think) that someone brought her in a water bottle. The great thing about that obsession of Amy's is that she has also translated it into the creation of some of the more striking fly fishing related art you'll see around these days. Her illustrations of aquatic insects, which can be seen at www.amymcmahonillustrations.com, detail th...2018-02-191h 14
Remote. No Pressure. Fly Fishing PodcastEpisode 33 Amanda Monthei Passion On Fire and FlyOriginally from Northern Michigan, Amanda Monthei now spends her summers smelling like smoke in Idaho and her winters attempting to figure out how to catch winter steelhead in Washington. When not standing in rivers or ash, she regularly contributes to The Flyfish Journal and The Ski Journal and can often be found trying to learn Cripple Creek on her banjo. Let's light the fire! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-01-2326 min
Remote. No Pressure. Fly Fishing PodcastEpisode 33 Amanda Monthei Passion On Fire and FlyOriginally from Northern Michigan, Amanda Monthei now spends her summers smelling like smoke in Idaho and her winters attempting to figure out how to catch winter steelhead in Washington. When not standing in rivers or ash, she regularly contributes to The Flyfish Journal and The Ski Journal and can often be found trying to learn Cripple Creek on her banjo. Let's light the fire!2018-01-2325 min