Reflection by GL

Only a few day have passed since we left the Fire Ecology Institute and yet so much has happened. Between the loss of a nearly an entire hotshot crew and the flash flood that has caused major destruction of the watershed near Manitou Springs, it seems that all of the discussions we were somewhat prophetic. Without wanting to seem callous, I am not sure that these events would have had such profound impact on me just two weeks ago. After all, they did not impact me directly. Yet since participating in the Institute, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of loss and empathy for the people directly impacted by fire nor will I ever look at any landscape the same way ever again.

                  Even though wildfire has hit pretty close to home several times (i.e. Storm King Mountain and Coal Seam), I still knew very little about it. I have hiked the Strom King trail, read every memorial in Two Rivers Park and watched flames encroach upon the town of Glenwood when I was unable to drive through during the Coal Seam fire. Yet, it wasn’t too hard to go on with my daily life. Then when my mom became a widow, living in a space that seems ripe for wildfire and the drought worsened, I started to pay more attention. Nevertheless, I still knew very little about it and I did not take the time to learn more on my own.  My simple solution, until recently, was to make sure that she had fire insurance and an exit plan. I did not really think that I was at risk so I did not think that I needed these things for myself. I have now completely changed my mind and it all started at the Institute.

                  I am still in disbelief with how, much we covered and we physically saw during the six day we were together. The background knowledge through classroom speakers and GIS map work was really helpful in understanding the basics of fire and how to assess risk in our own communities, but it was the field visits and Sparky’s story of destruction and renewal that really made it all come alive. I am a very visual learner and pictures are powerful for helping me understand, but nothings was as profound as being on-site at the someone’s house who is being completely surrounded by sandbags, feeling the incredible Jurassic Park structure that will only buy people below it several minutes of escape time and testing the hydrophobicity of soil to see just how damaging fire can be on the environment for years after the blaze. Many of the messages received during that particular field day were alarmingly hopeless.

                  When we saw the effects of fire over time, I started to feel better.  This came from visiting the burn sites and seeing new growth return and hearing that certain wildlife species actually thrive after fire. In particular, learning that bighorn sheep made a comeback near the Hayman fire scar due to the growth of new riparian plans gave me a sense of optimism. I also saw how devastating events can mobilize a community to work together to mend the land. Seeing CUSP volunteers at work in various locations drove this point home

                  In the end, the messages I took away were clear: we need fire in our lives, but controlling the wy in which they burn is really important to preserving the forests (and ourselves…). It is going to take so much time, energy and resources to undo the damage we have caused by reforesting too much and building in the forests so heavily. Every time I look at a landscape (and I have seen MANY different ones since the course…) I look at the make-up of the vegetation and watershed differently… even as I drove by a new fire last week in central Oregon on an Indian reservation and then today just south of Yakima, Washington, I am taking notice in ways I never had before. How did the fires start? What kinds of impact are the having as they burn and what will be the long term damage after the fires are out? The Fire Ecology course made me quite aware and I promise to share what I have learned with my students and anyone who wants to or needs to hear.

Reflection by KK

Overall I thought the Institute went well. I learned so much information and saw so many things that I was overwhelmed. I guess the only thing I would recommend for the future would be to give us time to process. Not just free time, but time after a lesson to talk about what we saw and how this affected us or how we might use it in our classrooms. Other than that, it was great!

I really enjoyed the Nature Place. I felt it was a good spot and centrally located. Good food and they did a great job trying to help me with my food allergies J

 

- It was nice to have a speaker in the know that was on a field trip pointing things out.

- It was nice to get out and do an experiment on a fire scene. The only thing was just the accessibility for those not in good shape or injured.

-The tour around the Nature Place was good. We got to see what some people had been talking about. -I liked a couple of the little lessons he talked about.

-I liked the lesson on ArcGIS. It seemed to be easy to follow.

-Fire Trunks – maybe a handout that gives an overview? The brief run-through was rushed and some of the materials were mixed up so it took time to figure out what was going on. Maybe have the supplies out and have people look at the overview to get a better idea of what was in each trunk.

-The two firemen that showed us the truck and how to make a fire line – excellent!!

-The lady that showed us the educational materials online was good. I wrote it all down.

-I really liked the brainstorming at the end. I would have liked more of that.

 

My brain got so full that I started to lose it at the end.  I can’t remember it as well because I was so saturated. It was all great information – I’m not sure how to make the end have the same impact as the beginning.

 It was a great Institute and I am so excited to share this information with my students!

Reflection by PC

The fire ecology institute was a great learning experience.  The nature place was a wonderful location and I learned a lot.   Fires have become a huge issue in Colorado over the past 10 years and will continue to be a problem into the future.  The more knowledge that we can gain and pass on to our students the more educated and prepared communities will be for large fire events.

I have lived in Colorado my entire life and spent summers with my grandmother up near Deckers.  We were never threatened by wildlife and it did not seem like an issue to us even though conifers surrounded the cabin.   During the institute we drove within 2 miles of the cabin and it was so different from when I was a child. As the climate begins to change and the population increases in wild land areas, fire has been brought to the front lines.  It is an immediate threat and has people on edge.   As a teacher in an area on the wild land interface it is really important that I know the correct information. 

I not only learned a lot about fires that I didn’t know but the institute also inspired me to really transfer this knowledge to my students so they can be better informed citizens. 

 I learned that the effects of the fire do not end when the fire is out.  I learned there needs to be as much money invested in the aftermath as was invested in fighting the fire itself.    I found the hydrophobic activity really interesting and it was a great way to see the connection between a hot fire and runoff. A hot fire produces hydrophobic soils, which contribute to the flooding that occurs in burn areas.    Flash flooding is a true problem after fires.  It was really interesting to meet with Teresa from the Coalition of the South Platte and have her describe what would happen with certain amounts of rain and then to see on the news the next week that her predictions were spot on.   She was highly knowledgeable and was working hard to warn people about the effects of a big rain over the Waldo burn scar. 

I really enjoyed going to the burn that occurred by 11-mile canyon.  You could actually see the root blowouts and it was great to see such a hot fire up close.  It would be great to take students into a burn area so that they could see the effects up close.

 

There is a lot I am going to take away from the institute.  I want my students to be fire wise.  We are going to access the risk that our school and community faces and purpose ideas for making are community more safe in the case of a large wildfire.   As teachers we are always trying to connect our units to our student’s everyday lives.  All students can connect to Fire Ecology.  Just by living in Colorado students are directly connected to and very interested in fire.   A unit on Colorado fires would drive itself and be incredibly engaging to students.

Reflection by TB

I feel very fortunate to have had the experience of attending the 2013 Fire Education Institute held at The Nature Place in Florissant, Colorado in June.  I originally was just on the wait list and found out one week before that I would be able to attend.  The timing of the institute was surreal because I live within 5 miles of the recent devastating Black Forest Fire in Colorado Springs.  I knew that this was an area that I did not know very much about fire education and safety, and that I would be learning a lot.  I work for The Home School Academy in Academy School District 20, and our program has three days of enrichment classes held on Black Forest property.  While I am not currently teaching at the forest property, my teammates are, and I knew that they would love to learn and implement directly the lessons that I learned firsthand in the class. 

                  After arriving at the property, I was excited to see all of the materials that we would be receiving.  I checked in and met the other participates in the class.  We then had a wonderful evening meal.  I have to say, I was incredibly impressed with all of the meals that we received during the class!  I’m sure that other people will be raving about the food in their reflection paper as well!

                  On Monday, we spent the day learning from different guest speakers.  Dave Rudd from the Colorado State Forest division talked about pine beetles.  I did not know that there were different types of beetles that affected different types of trees. We watched a power point on forest diversity and beetle damage.  Next Amy Sylvester from the Colorado Springs Fire Department talked about the history of fires in Colorado Springs.  She gave advice on fire mitigation and told us that she would be available as a guest speaker for any groups.  This is good to know seeing as she is local to me, and that we have students directly affected by the Black Forest fire.  We also had Dr. Peter Brown talk about dendrochronology.  We talked about the different parts of the tree, spring/summer wood, false rings, and other information about dating trees.  I learned that only conifers produce rings, not tropical trees.

On Tuesday, we spent a full day visiting various wildfire sites and learning about flood mitigation locations and techniques.  I learned a lot from Theresa Springer with CUSP.  I really thought that there really wasn’t must more damage that was going to be had from the Waldo Canyon fire.  I mean, what was burned is already done, so the rest of the houses are going to be fine.  When she said that with 100 percent certainty that Manitou Springs would flood this summer, and that many homes and businesses were going to be destroyed, I was shocked.  I was also shocked to hear about how much damage highway 24 would have in the case of a major flood.  When we saw the sandbags around people’s houses, and the 3-d map of the steep terrain that would be flowing water down into Ute Pass, it really opened my eyes.  Of course, when all of her predictions came true in our most recent heavy rains, I certainly was not surprised.  This guest speaker made the most impact on me and because of her, I designed my lesson plan to focus on flooding after a fire occurrence.  We took a hike up to Blodgett Open Space, which was affected in the Waldo Canyon fire and tested soil for the presence of hydrophobic soils and saw how they are attempting flood mitigation after a fire.  We also went by Glen Eyrie and saw the most amazing structures that they have placed in the canyon above their property.  I was shocked by their immense size and that such a small creek has the potential for such huge flooding. Later after dinner we learned about the COWRAP program. 

On Wednesday we learned about the organization structure that occurs during a large fire.  I saw some of this first had as we watched newscasts live during the Black Forest fire.  Also, I drove by the high school where the staging was held for this fire.  After seeing the sea of tents covering the parking lot, I can see how a lot of organization must take place.  We then took a nature walk around the property and learned a little of species diversity, fire mitigation, overstay, and ground cover.  After this, I unfortunately had to leave for the majority of the day to attend a funeral. 

On Thursday we had another field trip day where we met with Mike Hessler from the St. George fire department.  We saw the aftermath of the Springer fire and did a forest scavenger hunt.  This activity would be good to do with our students on the Black forest fire site.  I thought that the stream restoration site was a great example of helping the area be able to return to a new “normal”.   This evening we watched a movie “The Two Sides of Fire”.  While the movie was good, I don’t think I got much out of it because I was tired.  I guess that there is so much to learn though, and only so many hours in the day.

Finally on Friday, we finished up the course and talked about what lesson plans that we were planning on creating.  I actually changed my lesson after the flooding in Manitou, but would be interested in seeing other people’s final projects. 

Thank you for offering this course and providing so many resources and materials.  Teachers rarely ever get such quality materials and programming.  I am going to recommend this class to all my friends in the future.  

Reflection by CB

The 2013 Fire Ecology Institute has changed the way I look at forests, fires, and watersheds.  We were lucky enough to be in the Waldo Canyon burn area and see the changes in the ecosystem and watershed.  We got to speak with CUSP and many other influential scientists, activists, and educators that are trying to make the public aware of issues surrounding fire, even long after fires have been through the area.  I learned throughout this institute that our jobs as educators are very important in regards to wildfires.  We as humans have a very strong historical relationship with fire and it will take a lot of time and education to evolve that relationship and gain a better understanding.  Fear and misinformation leads the way in how most communities see fire.  Informing our future generations on prescribed burning, fire mitigation, forest succession and ecology, and wildfire habits will break that cycle.  When the public understands these different concepts, decisions will be made that will create healthier forests with wildfire a natural part of its cycle.  

Reflection by AA