The Wildland Fire Leadership Council is meeting for the first time in Boise. The national committee was created in 2002, and includes officials from different national and state firefighting agencies. They meet regularly, often not leaving Washington D.C.
Wednesday, the group is getting a chance to see the effects of wildfire in the Great Basin firsthand.
Erin Curtis is with the BLM in Idaho, and is helping to organize their field trip to the Elk and Pony Complex burn scars. The wildfire rapidly burned 205 square miles north of Mountain Home three years ago.
“It’s an opportunity for us to do two things," says Curtis. "To show them on the ground, and to show also how we’re leveraging our partnerships with the state, with the tribe and with local ranchers.”
After the tour, Curtis says that policy makers will meet Thursday at Boise State University. Rangeland wildfire in the sagebrush ecosystem will be a main topic.
Find Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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