迎难而上
Students Lead Fire Mitigation at UIEF and Beyond
学生们计划好了, overseen and conducted treatments on more than 800 acres on 莫斯科 Mountain in the last four years, 采用规定燃烧, thinning and hand/machine line installations to protect the 伊利诺伊大学实验森林 (UIEF) and neighboring lands and homes as part of broader forest management goals. They are also responsible for construction and maintenance of roads and hiking trails.
The UIEF, overseen by CNR, manages over 8,000 acres on East 莫斯科 Mountain. There are approximately 20-25 student workers during the school year and 10-15 in the summer, and staff efforts are joined by members of the 学生火灾生态学协会 (安全) 俱乐部.
他们对这项工作非常兴奋. There’s no way to overplay the impact that having a shared mission has on students. They will look back on their experience on 莫斯科 Mountain for the rest of their careers. 希瑟Heward.
To our students and the community, the UIEF is more than just a forest. It is a classroom and a world-class resource center where students become leaders of natural resources, all while having a momentous impact on reducing fire hazards on the Palouse.
2021年夏季, students responded to three fires started by lightning: the Hatter fire, the Upper Rock Creek fire and the Basalt Hill fire. 9月, treatments by 安全 club members slowed the spread of the Idler Fire, 烧毁了大约120英亩土地, 一个家和一个谷仓.
When students saw before and after photos of the areas affected, 他们的心中充满了骄傲,希瑟·海沃德说, 伊利诺伊大学教授, 安全的俱乐部 Advisor and chair for the Idaho Prescribed Fire Council.
“他们对这项工作感到非常兴奋. There’s no way to overplay the impact that having a shared mission has on students. They will look back on their experience on 莫斯科 Mountain for the rest of their careers,海沃德说.
火灾生态学 Management Major and UIEF Student 工作人员 Program Lead Joe Morgan agreed. “Helping train UIEF staff to fight fire has been a real highlight for me. They did great work on the fires we responded to, which showed the value of student involvement on the UIEF and 莫斯科 Mountain area.”
Many of the field treatments that students do are specifically to keep fires from spreading to neighboring lands and homes. “在未来, we’ll continue to have collaborative projects that cross borders, helping to co-manage Idaho forests as well as private lands. We hope to expand to a wider area and reduce the overall fire hazard further,罗布·基夫说, Associate Professor and Director of the UIEF.
“The UIEF is the students’ land to manage, which is very unique in the U.S.基夫说. Students don’t just make the Palouse safer — they model modern and collaborative wildfire management efforts across multiple land ownerships.
“When U of I President Green talks about careers that matter, this is what he means. We’re making a collective impact on students and the land,” said CNR Dean Dennis Becker.
Heward emphasizes that “adults learn by doing and being responsible. The UIEF offers invaluable leadership opportunities. As a land grant institution that strives to improve the landscape and make better leaders for tomorrow — this is how we do it.”
Article by Kelsey Evans, 自然资源学院 Writer in Residence
Photos courtesy of 希瑟Heward, Department of 森林，牧场和火灾科学
2022年2月出版
