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The Shenandoah Valley Interagency Fire Prevention and Education Team met the challenge created by severe drought from the fall 2001 through the summer of 2002. Four years of drought led to very active fall and spring fire seasons. Even summer, not considered fire season in the deciduous forests, was busy because plants simply did not have the water content that they would in normal years. The interagency team included staff from the Virginia Department of Forestry, the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Service. They effectively and efficiently reached out to a variety of key audiences with appropriate messages delivered in many ways. This included roadside and trailhead signs, coloring sheets for preschool and elementary students, media contacts, distributing homeowner preparedness pamphlets to libraries and cooperative extension offices, websites and personal contacts.
The team’s work in the fall of 2001 received the Robert E. Browning, Jr., Award for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. The regional award recognizes excellence in fire prevention. Team members are Stephanie Bushong, USDA FS; Wade Bushong, USDA FS; Cindy Frenzel, VA DOF; Don Sawyer, USDA FS; and Barb Stewart, US NPS.
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