Era Of Megafires

Wallowa Resources, North 40 Productions, the US Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon State University Extension, The Nature Conservancy, and Bruce Dunn of RY Timber are pleased to bring The Era of Megafires to the OK Theater in Enterprise, Oregon on May 25 at 6PM.
The Era of Mega Fires is a 70-minute, multi-media, traveling presentation hosted by Dr. Paul Hessburg.

Hessburg is with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, in Wenatchee, WA, and the University of Washington, Seattle, where he has researched wildfire and landscape ecology for more than 27 years. His presentation comes in the form of fast-moving, short, topic-based talks interspersed with compelling video vignettes. Think Ted X mixed with snappy documentary shorts. Megafires are wildfires over 100,000 acres and are exceptionally destructive to communities, wildlife and our natural spaces.

The presentation previewed in Wenatchee WA, Dr. Hessburg’s hometown.  A Northwest tour of the presentation followed making stops in approximately 20+ communities this fall and winter across Washington and Oregon, reaching over 4000 people including 2000+ youth.
 
“The goal of the project is to help communities understand the issues surrounding Megafires so that they can better participate in the conversation and begin driving towards solutions.” said Jeff Ostenson, Director of the project. “I do believe we can change the way we receive wildfire and related smoke but it’s going to take everyone playing their part.”
Once the “Era of Megafires” has been presented to an audience, the Wallowa Resources will lead a Question and Answer discussion around topics that are relevant to that community in order to create local actions and answers to local challenges. Typically, different communities face different obstacles when it comes to wildfire preparedness and resilience.  Fire management staff from federal, state and local firefighting agencies will contribute to the discussions about fire risk, response, and mitigation in Wallowa County.

The current state of wildfires in throughout the West is catastrophic. The fires of 2013-2015 have brought huge losses of homes, power girds, wastewater systems, roads, crops, tourism, jobs, emotional security and life. The intent of this project is to significantly reduce the amount of loss we are experiencing from Megafires through education, community action, and policy change