Greetings MI PFC members! Time for a quick update on council happenings…
Andy using a drip torch to start a fire line. Photo credit: Andy Vander Yacht
Recurring MI PFC Meetings
Recurring council meetings will now consistently take place virtually the last Tuesday of February, May, August, and November from 9-11 AM Eastern. This will allow us to build on the momentum of our annual meeting and avoid peak burning season. Our next four meetings will be 9-11 AM on May 25th, August 31st, and November 30th of 2021, and February 22nd of 2022. Please add those dates to your calendar!
Burning Issues Workshop 2020
Our 7th Annual Burning Issues Workshop & 21st Michigan Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting was a HUGE success. More than 695 attendees were distributed across 3 days, with attendance dominated by individuals from state and federal agencies. The virtual and free meeting resulted in a broader than usual reach and excellent line up of speakers. Extensive pre-planning allowed the meeting to proceed smoothly, and all this likely means more virtual MI PFC events. A recap and all associated files and videos are available on the Lake States Fire Science Consortium website: http://lakestatesfiresci.net/BurningIssuesWorkshop2021_02_02_21.html
Michigan and Regional Survey Results
MI PFC leadership have worked diligently to synthesize results from a survey of our own membership and a survey conducted by the Northeast and Midwest Regional PFC Coordinating Group. A document summarizing those results can be viewed at the link below.
To summarize, the top 3 barriers to MI PFC’s mission as perceived by membership were: 1) liability, legislation, and risk management, 2) fire training availability and qualification standards, and 3) limited resources for prescribed fire. The top 3 referenced goal suggestions for the council were: 1) execute the state certified burn manager programming, 2) do more education and outreach, and 3) increase private landowner and non-agency training, capacity, and outreach. MI PFC leadership will keep all this in mind as actionable items are approached within sub-committees.
Welcome Aboard, Stephanie Bradshaw!
Stephanie Bradshaw of the Kalamazoo Nature Center is now working part-time as the MI PFC’s Administrative Coordinator. In this role, she will direct council communications, handle event registrations, serve as the council’s treasurer, and manage council records/files. Please feel free to contact her (info@firecouncil.org) with anything related. In particular, she can be fed any fire related content to be posted to our council’s social media accounts. Welcome Stephanie!
MI PFC’s Organizational Status
It is unlikely that the MI PFC will ever pursue official 501(c)(3) non-profit status as this would limit the participation of our very important federal and state agency partners. However, the Kalamazoo Nature Center has become a “fiscal sponsor” of our organization. This provides numerous benefits, including risk reduction, and allows us to exist financially under their non-profit organization.
Thanks All! Please be sure to engage through sub-committee sign-up and participation!
As always, feel free to contact the current MI PFC Chair (Andy Vander Yacht, vandery1@msu.edu) or Administrative Coordinator (Stephanie Bradshaw, sbradshaw@naturecenter.org) with any questions, concerns, or ideas.
