BLM-Environmental Education-News

Listed below are some wildland fire education resources available to educators. Many of these resources may be available through the local fire education and prevention offices of Federal wildland agencies (USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). This list is adapted from BLM's Wildland Fire Primer (download PDF file here)

General

Burning Issues (grades 5–10). U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and Florida State University. This CD-ROM offers interactive multimedia lessons on fire ecology and fire management, including fire management simulations. The CD also contains the student and teacher educational guides (http://fsu.edu/~imsp).

Fire Ecology Resource Management Education Unit (grades 4–8). Interagency Fire Education Initiative. Ecology Communications Lab, School of Natural Resources, Ohio State University. This unit contains activities developed to help students become better informed about fire and land management issues, as well as background information on fire ecology. It is available on the Web (http://www.nps.gov/fire/fire/ecology/docs/toc.html).

Fire Education Team Publications and Materials. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and National Association of State Foresters (http://www.symbols.gov/catalog/products/fire_welcome.html):

Bert's Back Pack (Pre-K–3) Students can take Bert the Buffalo home and go over the Fire Education Team materials with their parents.

Fire Education Team—Good Fire/Bad Fire Activity Kit (Pre-K–3) The Fire Education Team is introduced in this folder, which contains good fire/bad fire cue cards, stickers, and activity sheets.

Fire Education Team Big Book (Pre-K–3) Good fire/bad fire and many other fire education topics are covered in this large-format book.

Fire Education Team Activity Book (grades 2+) This 17-page book includes coloring and other activities on fire-related topics.

The Fire Education Team Zip Game (grades 4+) This game consists of 30 fire education question-and-answer cards. The front of each card has a question and an answer about fire education. The back of each card has an animal tip and a
fire tip.

Project Learning Tree Fire Education Materials. (Pre-K–12). American Forest Foundation. PLT is an award-winning, interdisciplinary, environmental education program. PLT has materials on forest management and fire ecology (www.plt.org):

Pre K–8 Environmental Education Activity Guide:
"Forest for the Trees," "Nothing Succeeds like Succession," "Living with Fire."

The Changing Forest: Forest Ecology Secondary Module:
"Story of Success," "Understanding Fire," and "Fire Management."

Exploring Environmental Issues: Focus on Risk Secondary Modules:
"Decision Making: Ecological Risk, Wildfires, and Natural Hazards."

Smokey Bear. Variety of Smokey Bear fire prevention materials are available from many wildland firefighting groups. Information is also available on the Smokey Bear Web site (www.smokeybear.com)

Specific Regions or States

Fire in Florida's Ecosystems Educator's Guide (grades 4–8). Division of Forestry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
(http://flame.fl-dof.com/FIFE).

FireWorks Curriculum (grades 1–10). Jane K. Smith and Nancy E. McMurray. 2000. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-65 (www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr65.html).

The Colorado Fire Box: Activities for Understanding Wildland Fire (grades 6–12 and adults). Greater Arkansas River Nature Association, P.O. Box 1522, Salida, CO 81202 (719) 539-5106, info@garna.com.

Wildfire Classroom Activities: Fire Prevention Curriculum for Grades K–3. 1999. Olympia, WA. Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Fire Prevention/Fire Education Program (www.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/rp/prevention/k3.htm).

Web Sites

There are many sites that contain fire ecology and wildland-fire-related information. Those listed here provide a good source of basic information and also have links to a number of other sites.
www.firewise.org - National Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Program
www.fire.blm.gov - Bureau of Land Management Fire and Aviation
www.nps.gov/fire - Fire in the Parks, National Park Service
www.fs.fed.us/fire - USDA Forest Service Fire Management
www.fs.fed.us/database/feis - Fire Effects Information
www.nifc.gov - National Interagency Fire Center
www.nwcg.gov - National Wildfire Coordinating Group
www.tncfire.gov - Nature Conservancy Fire Initiative
www.plt.org - Project Learning Tree

Fire Mapping

GEOMAC: The Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group (GeoMAC), is an internet-based mapping tool originally designed for fire managers to access online maps of current fire locations and perimeters in the conterminous 48 States and Alaska. Using a standard web browser, fire personnel download this information to pinpoint the affected areas. With the growing concern of western wildland fires in the past several years, this application also became available to the public. Students and teachers can access GEOMAC to track wildfires. The site is used primarily during the fire season and may not be fully functional during winter months. The web address is: http://www.geomac.gov.

Wildland Fire Educational Resources

General

Specific Regions or States

Web Sites

Fire Mapping