Forestcast USDA Forest Service

Fire is a form all of its own, but a simple way to understand fire is as a swarm. A swarm of bees. Or starlings. Or mosquitos. A spreading fire is a swarm of ignitions, a series of small fires over and over. 
Season 4 of Forestcast is a series of fires, a series of voices. It’s a 360-degree introduction to fire from a scientific standpoint. The story of how fire research shapes our landscapes, and our lives.
Through kaleidoscoping voices from across the country, listeners will be taken inside the largest forest research organization in the world to hear from seventeen scientists on what they know, and don’t know, about one of the most complex elements in nature—fire.
In episode one, hear from research mechanical engineer, Sara McAllister, on the process of ignition; spatial fire analyst, Greg Dillon, on the timeline of fire management and research in the Forest Service; and research forester, Dan Dey, on the history of fire: where it was, where it’s been, and what can be done knowing its history?
Related Research:
Understanding Wildfire as a Dynamic System: A New Comprehensive Book on Wildland Fire Behavior (2023) New In-flame Flammability Testing Method Applied to Monitor Seasonal Changes in Live Fuel(2023) The Wildfire Crisis Strategy: How it Started, How it’s Going, and How RMRS Science Contributes (2023) Prescribed Fire for Upland Oaks (2023) Fire in Eastern Oak Forests—A Primer (2022) The North American Tree-Ring Fire-Scar Network (2022) Scientists:
Sara McAllister, Research Mech. Engineer, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana Greg Dillon, Spatial Fire Analyst, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana Dan Dey, Research Forester, Northern Research Station, Columbia, Missouri Forestcast is an official USDA Forest Service podcast, and is produced by USDA Forest Service Research and Development.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/products/multimedia/forestcast
Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at jonathan.yales@usda.gov
This episode, we used the following archival recordings:
The Fires of 1910 [National Wildfire Coordinating Group] Forest Service Officials Testify on Wildfire Management [C-SPAN] The Greatest Good: A Forest Service Centennial Film [USDA Forest Service] 1950s Smokey the Bear P.S.A.s [USDA Forest Service] Suppression of Fires in Natl. Parks & Forests [C-SPAN] The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (1988-07-27) [AAPB] The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (1988-09-13) [AAPB] Harry Gisborne Oral History Project [U of Montana] Up In Flames: A History of Fire Fighting in the Forest [Forest History Society] Higgins Ridge [Montana PBS] Learning from the Experts: Richard Rothermel [Wildland Fire LLC] U.S. House of Representatives House Session (2009-03-26) [C-SPAN] The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (2000-08-07) [AAPB] Wildfire Crisis Strategy 2022 [USDA Forest Service] President Biden Signs Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill [C-SPAN]

Indigenous tribes gained their unique understanding of fire, and the role of fire on the landscape, long before European settlers came to what is now called North America. Since then, the relationship between federal fire management and indigenous perspectives has often been one of misunderstanding and mistrust. On Episode 2 of "Afire," join Forest Service scientists, Frank Kanawha Lake, a tribal descendant, and Serra Hoagland, a tribal member, as they explain the ways in which Forest Service fire research is collaborating with tribes to jointly strive to better understand and manage fire.
Related Research:
Partnering in Research About Land Management with Tribal Nations—Insights from the Pacific West (2023) Wildlife Stewardship on Tribal Lands (2023) Using Culturally Significant Birds to Guide the Timing of Prescribed Fires in the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion (2023) Prescribed Fire Reduces Insect Infestation in Karuk and Yurok Acorn Resource Systems (2022) Getting More Fire on the Ground: Landscape-Scale Prescribed Burning Supported by Science (2022) Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Mexican Spotted Owl hHabitat in the Southwestern US (2022) An Assessment of American Indian Forestry Research, Information Needs, and Priorities (2022) Revitalized Karuk and Yurok Cultural Burning to Enhance California Hazelnut for Basketweaving in Northwestern California, USA (2021) Indigenous Fire Stewardship: Federal/Tribal Partnerships for Wildland Fire Research and Management (2021) The Importance of Indigenous Cultural Burning in Forested Regions of the Pacific West, USA (2021) Is Fire “For the Birds”? How Two Rare Species Influence Fire Management Across the US (2019) Indigenous Fire Stewardship (2019) Integration of Traditional and Western Knowledge in Forest Landscape Restoration (2018) Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Western Science for Optimal Natural Resource Management (2017) Tribal Lands Provide Forest Management Laboratory for Mainstream University Students (2017) Scientists:
Frank Kanawha Lake, Research Ecologist, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Arcata, California Serra Hoagland, National Program Lead for Tribal Research, Missoula, Montana Forestcast is an official USDA Forest Service podcast, and is produced by USDA Forest Service Research and Development.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/products/multimedia/forestcast
Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at jonathan.yales@usda.gov

Prescribed fire plays a vital role in creating healthy landscapes that better survive natural and human-caused disturbances, while reducing wildfire risk to communities, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources. Episode 3 of "Afire" highlights three scientists and partnerships that are attempting to better understand and utilize prescribed fire.
From Georgia, ecologist Joe O’Brien explains how researchers and forest managers are forming unique meetings that spark fresh ideas and advancements in prescribed burning across the South. In California, forester David Weise begins research into the processes related to pyrolysis to better estimate how prescribed burning affects people. And, in Arkansas, forestry technician Virginia McDaniel recounts a decades-long story of prescribed fire fortifying an ecosystem and an endangered woodpecker.
Related Research:
Prescribed Fire Science: The Case for a Refined Research Agenda (2020) Comparing Two Methods to Measure Oxidative Pyrolysis Gases in a Wind Tunnel and in Prescribed Burns (2022) Comparison of Pyrolysis of Live Wildland Fuels Heated by Radiation vs. Convection (2020) A Project to Measure and Model Pyrolysis to Improve Prediction of Prescribed Fire Behavior (2018) Particulate & Trace Gas Emissions from Prescribed Burns in Southeastern U.S. (2015) Diversity Explodes with Another Boring Burn with USDA Forest Service’s Virginia McDaniel (2023) Pine-Bluestem Literature Review (2013) Renewal of the Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Grass Ecosystem (2010) Scientists:
Joe O'Brien, Research Ecologist, Southern Research Station, Athens, Georgia David Weise, Research Forester, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, California Virginia McDaniel, Forestry Technician, Southern Research Station, Hot Springs, Arkansas Forestcast is an official USDA Forest Service podcast, and is produced by USDA Forest Service Research and Development.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/products/multimedia/forestcast
Questions or ideas for the show? Contact Jon at jonathan.yales@usda.gov

From whipping winds that fan flames to swirling smoke that obscures visibility, fire weather is a complex phenomenon. In Episode 4 of "Afire," hear from three meteorologists at the intersection of the intricate relationships between fire weather, wind, and smoke. 

Brian Potter explains how large-scale atmospheric patterns, like extended dry periods before a wildfire, may contribute to the development of extreme fire events. Natalie Wagenbrenner discusses WindNinja, a high-resolution wind model that simulates local winds in complex terrain. And Scott Goodrick investigates the turbulent dynamics of small‑scale surface fires, as well as superfog—dense smoke-enhanced fog that can severely reduce visibility. 

Related Research:
National Prescribed Fire Program Review (2022) Investigating the Turbulent Dynamics of Small-Scale Surface Fires (2022) Microscale Wind Modeling: WindNinja for Fire Management (2021) Downscaling Surface Wind Predictions from Numerical Weather Prediction Models in Complex Terrain with a Mass-Consistent Wind Model (2016) A Comparison of Three Approaches for Simulating Fine-Scale Surface Winds in Support of Wildland Fire Management (Part 1) (Part 2) (2014) Smoke 101 & Differences Between Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Smoke in the Western U.S. (2024) Fire Behaviour and Smoke Modelling: Model Improvement and Measurement Needs for Next-Generation Smoke Research and Forecasting Systems (2019) Laboratory and Numerical Modeling of the Formation of Superfog from Wildland Fires (2019) On the Formation and Persistence of Superfog in Woodland Smoke (2009) Scientists:
Brian Potter, Research Meteorologist, Seattle, Washington Natalie Wagenbrenner, Research Meteorologist, Missoula, Montana Scott Goodrick, Research Meteorologist, Athens, Georgia Forestcast is an official USDA Forest Service podcast, and is produced by USDA Forest Service Research and Development.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/products/multimedia/forestcast
Questions or ideas for the show? Contact Jon at jonathan.yales@usda.gov

To celebrate the immeasurable impact of women in our nation’s history, and to honor the scientists who have inspired others to dream, work, study, serve and succeed, Forecast is kicking off a special 10-episode series highlighting women’s perspectives in research over the past 50 years.
Eleven scientists from the Northern Research Station and Rocky Mountain Research Station will share their experiences from before, during and after careers with the USDA Forest Service. Stories of mentors and mentorship, motherhood, rural and urban stewardship, passions for science, leadership, and beyond.
To kick things off, a conversation between a mentor and mentee about how they met, the evolution and value of their relationship, their shared diversity research, and where to go from here.
Related Research:
USDA Forest Service Employee Diversity During a Period of Workforce Contraction (2022) Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Inclusion at SAF Meetings (2017) Bridging the Gender Gap: The Demographics of Scientists in the USDA Forest Service and Academia (2015) Scientists:
Laura Kenefic, Research Forester, Northern Research Station, Bradley, Maine Susan Stout, Emeritus Research Forester, Northern Research Station, Irvine, Pennsylvania If you're interested in hearing more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.
Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-1-twenty-five-years
Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: jonathan.yales@usda.gov

Ecologist Sara Brown takes us through eight chapters of her career and the 10 mentors that made her, from wildland firefighting, to smokejumping, to teaching in New Mexico, to directing the Missoula Fire Science Lab.
Sara is a classically trained ecologist, with a focus on fire ecology. Before her return to the Forest Service in 2015, she was an Assistant Professor of Forestry at New Mexico Highlands University. She taught wildfire science and ecology courses, and enjoyed working on research problems in the field with students. Her applied research program provided graduate and undergraduate students with opportunities to work on questions relating to fire effects, fire intensity, fuel treatment effects and understanding fire history as it applies to reintroducing appropriate fire return intervals to a variety of ecosystems. Today, she is the Fire, Fuel & Smoke Program Manager at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana.
Related Research:
On the Need for Inclusivity and Diversity in the Wildland Fire Professions (2020) Diversity: Just Gender and Race... or a Diversity of Perspectives (2018) Bridging the Divide Between Fire Safety Research and Fighting Fire Safely (2017) Scientist:
Sara Brown, Fire, Fuel & Smoke Program Manager, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana If you're interested in hearing more women in the Forest Service, visit the National Forest Service Library and their HerStory oral history project.
Produced by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.
Want more information? Visit us at https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/nrs/products/multimedia/podcasts/forestcast-season-3-women-research-episode-2-ode-mentors-sara
Questions or ideas for the show? Connect with Jon at: jonathan.yales@usda.gov