Funded Project Detail

Project ID: 11-4-1-5

Year: 2011

Date Started: 02/14/2011

Date Completed: 09/30/2012

Title: Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium

Project Proposal Abstract: We ask for support for a preliminary project to develop the groundwork for a regional consortium: The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savanna Fire Science Consortium. Fire is used in management within the U.S. Upper Midwest by a broad array of individuals, organizations, and public agencies. There is a critical need for improved communication and better coordination among these many players so that fire science and fire practice can be most efficiently advanced. Our intent is to produce a full proposal to be submitted to the Joint Fire Science Program. We will work in four eco-regions that encompass southern Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, northern Illinois and Missouri, and Iowa, with some portions of other adjacent states. We will, in this pre-proposal stage: (1) establish an advisory board on the basis of information gathered from surveys and discussions with potential partners; (2) survey the land managers and other potential partners throughout the geographic region and use these results to guide the consortium structure and proposed activities for the full proposal; (3) solicit stakeholder input to assist in the design of the structure and content of a knowledge bank and to guide us as to how best translate research studies into practical prescriptions; (4) seek collaboration with those organizations that are already working on regional coordination, such as the Great Lakes Fire Consortium and the Land Management and Research Demonstration Program at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge; (5) assess current methods and capacity for evaluating fire management effectiveness and explore how adaptive management might be used to improve it; (6) develop a list of potential and current demonstration sites throughout the region; (7) develop criteria and procedures for a seed grant program; (8) determine how on-going conferences can be used to facilitate communication and explore existing training opportunities. Our core group of investigators includes persons who work for a private conservation organization (TNC), a federal co-op research unit (USGS - Madison), a scientist at a federally supported prairie and savanna reserve (USF&WS - Iowa) and two senior university fire researchers at UW-Madison. Our team thus includes practitioners, agency personnel, and researchers with multiple contacts throughout the Upper Midwest fire community. We have exchanged information with other proposed and existing consortia and expect to work synergistically with those groups.

Principal Investigator: Paul H. Zedler

Agency/Organization: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Branch or Dept: Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

There is no final report available for this project.

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Budget Contact	Katherine L. Spomer	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Region 3-Fire Management Office
Co-Principal Investigator	Pauline M. Drobney	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Neal Smith NWR
Co-Principal Investigator	John A. Harrington	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Co-Principal Investigator	Christine A. Ribic	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology
Co-Principal Investigator	Hannah M. Spaul	The Nature Conservancy	WI-Wisconsin Field Office
Collaborator/Contributor	Jessica R. Miesel	Ohio State University	College of Food, Agriculture & Environmental Science
Federal Cooperator	Tim Hepola	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Region 3-Fire Management Office
Grants and Agreements Contact	Denise L. Jefferson	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Region 3-Midwest Regional Office

Project Locations

Level	State	Agency	Unit
REGIONAL	Northeast	LOCAL

Project Deliverables

There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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