Randy Moore | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 20th Chief of the United States Forest Service | |
| Assumed office July 2021 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Vicki Christiansen |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Southern University (BS) |
Randy Moore is an American soil scientist and forester serving as the 20th chief of the United States Forest Service,a position he has held since July 2021. He was appointed by Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Moore earned a Bachelor of Science degree in plant and soil science from Southern University. [1]
Moore began his career 1978 with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota. [2] He eventually joined the United States Forest Service in 1981. He has held various positions in the agency,including regional forester for the Eastern Region in Wisconsin and forest supervisor for Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. Most recently,Moore served as the Pacific Southwestern regional forester,managing 18 national forests in California spanning 20 million acres,as well as state and private forestry programs in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. [3]
Moore has been an advocate for utilizing vegetation treatment methods to reduce the risk of wildfire,rather than relying solely on logging. He believes that this approach can effectively decrease wildfire risk while preserving the natural beauty and ecological integrity of the forest. In addition to his advocacy of vegetation treatment,Moore has also focused on improving the pay and working conditions for firefighters,as well as increasing capacity and resources through partnerships with other agencies and organizations. [4]
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's Office,National Forest System,State and Private Forestry,Business Operations,as well as Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the sole major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
A controlled or prescribed (Rx) burn is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management,ecological restoration,land clearing or wildfire fuel management. A controlled burn may also refer to the intentional burning of slash and fuels through burn piles. Controlled burns may also be referred to as hazard reduction burning,backfire,swailing or a burn-off. In industrialized countries,controlled burning regulations and permits are usually overseen by fire control authorities.
Clearcutting,clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests,it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that require an abundance of sunlight or grow in large,even-age stands. Logging companies and forest-worker unions in some countries support the practice for scientific,safety and economic reasons,while detractors consider it a form of deforestation that destroys natural habitats and contributes to climate change. Environmentalists,traditional owners,local residents and others have regularly campaigned against clearcutting,including through the use of blockades and nonviolent direct action.
This glossary of wildfire terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to wildfires and wildland firefighting. Except where noted,terms have largely been sourced from a 1998 Fireline Handbook transcribed for a Conflict 21 counter-terrorism studies website by the Air National Guard.
The Great Fire of 1910 was a wildfire in the Inland Northwest region of the United States that in the summer of 1910 burned three million acres in North Idaho and Western Montana,with extensions into Eastern Washington and Southeast British Columbia. The area burned included large parts of the Bitterroot,Cabinet,Clearwater,Coeur d'Alene,Flathead,Kaniksu,Kootenai,Lewis and Clark,Lolo,and St. Joe national forests. The fire burned over two days on the weekend of August 20–21,after strong winds caused numerous smaller fires to combine into a firestorm of unprecedented size. It killed 87 people,mostly firefighters,destroyed numerous manmade structures,including several entire towns,and burned more than three million acres of forest with an estimated billion dollars' worth of timber lost. While the exact cause of the fire is often debated,according to various U.S. Forest Service sources,the primary cause of the Big Burn was a combination of severe drought and a series of lightning storms that ignited hundreds of small fires across the Northern Rockies. However,the ignition sources also include human activity such as railroads,homesteaders,and loggers. It is believed to be the largest,although not the deadliest,forest fire in U.S. history.
The Healthy Forests Initiative (HFI),officially the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003,is a law proposed by President George W. Bush following the forest fires of 2002 which was devastatingly widespread. Its stated intent is to reduce the threat of destructive wildfires. The law seeks to accomplish this by allowing timber harvests on protected National Forest's land. The law streamlined the permitting process for timber harvests in National Forests by adding new categorical exclusions to the National Forest Service's list of categorical exclusions from the environmental impact assessment process.
Tahoe National Forest is a United States National Forest located in California,northwest of Lake Tahoe. It includes the 8,587-foot (2,617 m) peak of Sierra Buttes,near Sierra City,which has views of Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. It is located in parts of six counties:Sierra,Placer,Nevada,Yuba,Plumas and El Dorado. The forest has a total area of 871,495 acres. Its headquarters is in Nevada City,California. There are local ranger district offices in Camptonville,Foresthill,Sierraville and Truckee.
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the available fuel,the local atmospheric conditions,the features of the terrain,and the size of the wildfire. Because of this wildfire suppression in wild land areas usually requires different techniques,equipment,and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas. Working in conjunction with specially designed aerial firefighting aircraft,fire engines,tools,firefighting foams,fire retardants,and using various firefighting techniques,wildfire-trained crews work to suppress flames,construct fire lines,and extinguish flames and areas of heat in order to protect resources and natural wilderness. Wildfire suppression also addresses the issues of the wildland–urban interface,where populated areas border with wild land areas.
The Dome Fire was a destructive wildfire in the Jemez Mountains in the northern region of the U.S. state of New Mexico during the 1996 fire season. It has been described by forester Bill Armstrong as "a wakeup call that nobody woke up to",anomalous at the time but an indicator of future high-intensity fires that are becoming more common due to both local and global environmental changes.
In the state of New Jersey,the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role,the Division is directly responsible for the management and operation of New Jersey's public park system which includes 42 state parks,11 state forests,3 recreation areas,and more than 50 historic sites and districts. However,its duties also include protecting state and private lands from wildfire,managing forests,educating the public about environmental stewardship and natural resources,as well as growing trees to maintain and restore forests in rural and urban areas,and to preserve the diversity of the trees within the forests.
The Yellowstone fires of 1988 collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires,the flames quickly spread out of control due to drought conditions and increasing winds,combining into several large conflagrations which burned for several months. The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations and,on September 8,1988,the entire park was closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history. Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end. A total of 793,880 acres (3,213 km2),or 36 percent of the park,burned at varying levels of severity.
Wildfire suppression in the United States has had a long and varied history. For most of the 20th century,any form of wildland fire,whether it was naturally caused or otherwise,was quickly suppressed for fear of uncontrollable and destructive conflagrations such as the Peshtigo Fire in 1871 and the Great Fire of 1910. In the 1960s,policies governing wildfire suppression changed due to ecological studies that recognized fire as a natural process necessary for new growth. Today,policies advocating complete fire suppression have been exchanged for those who encourage wildland fire use,or the allowing of fire to act as a tool,such as the case with controlled burns.
A fire-adapted community is defined by the United States Forest Service as "a knowledgeable and engaged community in which the awareness and actions of residents regarding infrastructure,buildings,landscaping,and the surrounding ecosystem lessens the need for extensive protection actions and enables the community to safely accept fire as a part of the surrounding landscape."
Wildfires are outdoor fires that occur in the wilderness or other vast spaces. Other common names associated with wildfires are brushfire and forest fire. Since wildfires can occur anywhere on the planet,except for Antarctica,they pose a threat to civilizations and wildlife alike. In terms of emergency management,wildfires can be particularly devastating. Given their ability to destroy large areas of entire ecosystems,there must be a contingency plan in effect to be as prepared as possible in case of a wildfire and to be adequately prepared to handle the aftermath of one as well.
Forest conservation is the practice of planning and maintaining forested areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations. Forest conservation involves the upkeep of the natural resources within a forest that are beneficial for both humans and the ecosystem. Forests provide wildlife with a suitable habitat for living which allows the ecosystem to be biodiverse and benefit other natural processes. Forests also filter groundwater and prevent runoff keeping water safe for human consumption. There are many types of forests to consider and various techniques to preserve them. Of the types of forests in the United States,they each face specific threats. But,there are various techniques to implement that will protect and preserve them.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) is an agency within the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Founded in 1906 with a focus on wildland fire suppression and fire protection,the Forest Fire Service is the largest firefighting department within the state of New Jersey in the United States with 85 full-time professional firefighting personnel,and approximately 2,000 trained part-time on-call wildland firefighters throughout the state. Its mission is to protect "life and property,as well as the state's natural resources,from wildfire".
Wildfires can happen in many places in the United States,especially during droughts,but are most common in the Western United States and Florida. They may be triggered naturally,most commonly by lightning,or by human activity like unextinguished smoking materials,faulty electrical equipment,overheating automobiles,or arson.
Tony Tooke was the Chief of the United States Forest Service for a little over six months,from September 1,2017,until he announced his retirement on March 7,2018 due to numerous sexual misconduct allegations over his four decades of employment in numerous positions for the Forest Service.
Vicki Christiansen is an American government official who served as the 19th chief of the United States Forest Service from October 2018 to July 2021. Prior to assuming the role,Christiansen had spent seven years with the Forest Service and 30 years with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
The 2022 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires throughout the U.S. state of California. By the end of the year,a total of 7,667 fires had been recorded,totaling approximately 363,939 acres across the state. Wildfires killed nine people in California in 2022,destroyed 772 structures,and damaged another 104. The 2022 season followed the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons,which had the highest and second-highest (respectively) numbers of acres burned in the historical record,with a sharp drop in acreage burned.
