Wildland Fire: 2012 NPS Fuels and Ecology Award Recipients

Members of the Natchez Trace fire effects modules crew accept the award for Achievement in Implementing Adaptive Management.

The National Park Service Fuels and Fire Ecology programs have announced the recipients of the 2012 NPS Fuels and Ecology Program awards.

Categories included Achievement in Implementing Adaptive Management, Achievement in Promoting Fire-Adapted Human Communities, and Achievement in Restoring and Maintaining Fire-Adapted Ecosystems.

Natchez Trace Fire Ecologist Jesse Burton and fire effects module members Carol Fields, Jennifer Falkey, and Will Hilton were awarded for Achievement in Implementing Adaptive Management. According to the nomination, the fire ecologist and fire effects module (NATR-FEM) earned the award by routinely assisting with burn implementation using adaptive management, and the thoroughness of the fire ecologist in annual reporting.

In addition, success stories and features in the Southeast Region’s newsletter, The Open Understory, highlight the group’s achievements:

• 2011—National Park Service, Partners Treat 1022 Acres along Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi and Tennessee.

• 2009—Prescribed Fire Program and Partnership Begins Restoration of Native Longleaf Pine, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama.

• 2008—Three Prescribed Fires Accomplish Resource and Fuels Goals, Mammoth Cave National Park.

In the category of Achievement in Promoting Fire-Adapted Human Communities, three areas – Acadia, Cape Cod, and the Northeast Regional Office – were awarded for the Baker Island lighthouse hazardous fuels reduction project. Specifically, the award was presented to project leaders and the fire management officer for Acadia National Park:

• Acadia National Park staff

  • Andy Mitchell

  • Allen Moyer

  • Bryan Daigle

  • Kyle Dutson

  • Fred Mason

  • Dan Perkins

  • Sam Blatchford

  • Chris Cipollone

• Keepers of Baker Island staff

  • John Cesari

• Cape Cod National Seashore staff

  • Conor Laffey

  • Gregory Vigneaux

  • Katherine Sullivan

  • Benjamin Potash

  • Matthew Kampf

  • Christopher Siwik

  • Justin DeForest

• Northeast Regional Office staff

  • Mark Taylor

According to the nomination, the group earned the award for a project on the Baker Island unit of Acadia National Park. More information about the project may be found at usa.gov.

The final award, Achievement in Restoring and Maintaining Fire-Adapted Ecosystems, went to John Stiner and Doug Mullan for their project at Canaveral National Seashore - Canaveral National Seashore Habitat Restoration and Fuels Management Program Achievement. More information about the project may be found at usa.gov.

The intention of the NPS Fuels and Fire Ecology Program Awards is to promote those areas of emphasis important to the mission of the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The areas of recognition have been selected from the NPS Wildland Fire Management Strategic Plan and the DOI Wildland Fire Performance Measures. The awards are meant to acknowledge those programs that have best aligned their efforts with the DOI and NPS Hazard Fuels Program goals.

Congratulations to our NPS award winners!