“Tools for Wildfire Preparation and Response” Webinar

Cost: FREE
Credits: CM Sustanability and Resilience (Pending Approval)

Register Today

Registration closes on Tuesday, May 27 at 5 PM. All registrants will also receive a link to view the webinar recording.

Webinar Overview:

Wildfires impact everyone in Washington State, regardless of where you live or work. While typically seen as a greater threat to non-urban areas, recent catastrophic fires in Los Angeles and various communities in Washington State highlight the need for careful planning in both urban and rural areas. In this webinar, the Mayor of Medical Lake will share her city’s experience with the devastating Gray Fire in August 2023, including subsequent recovery and rebuilding efforts. Following this, staff from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative, and King County will discuss wildfire risks across the state. They will provide insights on what local governments and special purpose districts can do to plan, prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfires.

Educational Objectives

Wildfires and wildfire smoke are increasingly impacting more communities across Washington State. According to Guy Gifford, Assistant Division Manager of DNR’s Community Resilience Program, the state experienced 1,709 wildfires in 2023, burning 151,319 acres. Two of the biggest fires of 2023, the Gray and Oregon fires in Spokane County, destroyed 700 structures, including 366 homes. This webinar will do the following to help local governments prepare now to reduce wildfire impacts and develop effective response plan:

• Frame the context of wildfire risk and impacts in Washington State.
• Provide tools for preparing for and responding to wildfires, including strategies for the wildland-urban interface and the state’s post-wildfire debris flow program.
• Share lessons learned from communities that have experienced wildfires and their approaches to preparation and response.

Who Should Attend?

Elected officials and staff working on climate action, land use planning, forestry, emergency preparedness and response, and hazard mitigation in local governments and special purpose districts. Anyone else interested in strategies for preparing for and responding to wildfires.

This training is eligible for:

• 1.5 hours of CM Sustanability and Resilience credit from the American Planning Association (Pending Approval).

Presenters

• Terri Cooper, Mayor, Medical Lake. Terri was elected and sworn into office in January 2022. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the City of Medical Lake. Her 25-year career in municipal government administration prepared her for the task at hand; she served 17 of those years as an appointed court commissioner hearing criminal and civil cases in the municipal courts of the West Plains. The mayoral seat is her first elected position.
• Crystal Raymond, Deputy Director, Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative. Crystal is the Deputy Director of Policy and Management for the Western Fire and Forest Resilience Collaborative. Crystal has an MS and PhD in fire ecology from University of Washington. Since completing her graduate studies, she has spent 15 years working at the boundary of science and management holding positions in local government, federal government, and most recently as a Climate Adaptation Specialist with the Climate Impacts Group at University of Washington. There she co-produced research on climate impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation with decision-makers, practitioners, and natural resource managers across the Pacific Northwest. Crystal’s role in the Western Fire and Forest Resilience Collaborative is to connect the science of the collaborative with the needs of decision makers and resource managers. She will lead stakeholder engagement and develop broader management and policy implications of the team’s research. She hopes to amplify the impact of the Collaborative to move society towards living more sustainably with fire.
• Guy Gifford, Assistant Division Manager, Community Resilience Program, DNR. Guy has served in numerous Forestry/Wildfire positions and is now Statewide Community Resilience Manager for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Guy oversees statewide Firewise USA, Community Wildfire Protection Plans, Wildfire Ready Neighbors and Community Wildfire Defense Grants.
• Nancy Calhoun, Post-Wildfire Debris Flow Program Manager, DNR. Nancy leads the newly formed Post-Wildfire Debris Flow Program at the Washington Geological Survey. This team, known as WALERT, responds after major fires to assess risk from debris flows to people and infrastructure, as well as mapping alluvial fans for pre-fire hazard understanding and modeling future debris flow susceptibility. Nancy started with WGS in 2024, after working for 8 years for the state of Oregon on landslide hazard and risk, gaining post-fire debris flow experience after the Labor Day 2020 fires in western Oregon.
• Collin Haffey, Post-Fire Recovery Program Manager, DNR. Collin is the Post-Fire Recovery Program Manager for the Washington Department of Natural Resources (since February 2023). Prior to joining the WA DNR, he worked for over ten years in fire ecology and post-fire recovery in the Southwestern US. In 2022, he worked with local, state, and federal agencies to assist communities with post-fire flood preparation, response, and recovery following record-breaking fires in New Mexico.
• Lara Whitely Binder, Climate Preparedness Manager, King County. Lara is responsible for leading and coordinating King County’s efforts to prepare for the impacts of climate change. This includes working across County departments to integrate climate resilience into policies and practices, and strengthening regional partnerships to address shared challenges and opportunities related to climate preparedness. Prior to joining King County, Lara worked for 17 years with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group, first as a graduate student and then as professional staff advancing climate adaptation practices across the Pacific Northwest. Lara holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.
• Lisa Pool, AICP, Public Policy Consultant, MRSC (Moderator). Lisa has been with MRSC since 2021, where she conducts research, writes, and answers inquiries on a whole host of planning and policy topics. She has experience with both current and long-range planning at the city, county, and regional scales, with a focus on sustainable communities. Lisa holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Kansas.