Over 45 participants from various agencies, non-profits, and higher education institutions, from across the United States, Tribal Nations, and Canada are coming to Central Oregon for a prescribed fire training exchange known as TREX. The training provides opportunities for local and regional fire practitioners, scientists and managers to work side by side while building experience in prescribed fire practices, fire effects, and other conservation and restoration efforts affecting forests. Participants are scheduled to be trained on and implement scientifically based prescribed burns in Central Oregon.
From April 29 through May 10, attendees will come together to learn about the current application and goals for prescribed fire in Central Oregon. Participants in the training will also learn about fire ecology, fire effects monitoring, Tribal perspectives on cultural uses of fire, prescribed fire smoke management, and interact with local fire staff through classroom, field-based, and live-fire training. The objective of the two-week TREX program in Central Oregon is to facilitate peer-to-peer, experiential learning for prescribed fire professionals and others interested in advancing their understanding of ecological burning to restore fire-adapted ecosystems.
Richard Pasquale, with the Deschutes National Forest, and Incident Commander for Central Oregon TREX, is looking forward to the two weeks because of the “sharing and growth of the prescribed fire practitioner community and their access to networks and knowledge.”
Hosted by The Nature Conservancy, the TREX program is a component of the national Promoting Ecosystem Resilience and Fire Adapted Communities Together Cooperative Agreement between TheNature Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service and the agencies of the Department of Interior.
Participants will learn, practice, and share knowledge, skills, and experience in a unique, hands-on training environment. The training includes innovations and best practices shared by a diverse set of fire practitioners, land stewards, conservationists, and resource specialists from a wide array of organizations. In this way, TREX is a two-way training and learning program, in which everyone is simultaneously a participant, a teacher, and a student.
John Punches, an Oregon State University Extension Forester, and one of the trainers, remarked “I am amazed at the engagement that occurs at TREX. With such a breadth of topics that can be covered when it comes to prescribed burning, I love being able to focus on fire effects monitoring during these two weeks. We are helping prepare a knowledgeable workforce to further this critical work on our landscape.”
More information about TREX can be found at https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/protect-water-and-land/land-and-water-stories/fire-training-exchanges-expand-controlled-burns/.
