Community Resilience

Cultural Burning & Indigenous Fire

Fire Ecology and Academia

Policy

Prescribed Fire

Uncategorized

Wildland Firefighting

Certified Burn Manager

Community Forest

Cultural Burning

Cultural Fire

Fire Ecology

Fire Tech

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters

Hotshot

Insurance

Mental Health

In the fourth episode of our series sponsored by Protect our Winters, we spoke with self-proclaimed snow nerd <a href="https://www.drandrewschwartz.com/">Andrew Schwartz</a> about his work as the lead scientist at the the <a href="https://cssl.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab</a>, where he explores all sorts of snowpack-related science but also how wildfires are impacting that snowpack. From less canopy to protect the snow from the sun to ash on the snow attracting more solar energy, Andrew talks us through all the ways that our snowpack and glaciers will continue to be impacted by wildfires that are increasing in size and creeping further into the alpine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Links and Shownotes</h2>



To see more of what Andrew&#8217;s doing, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/snow_d0c">him</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/UCB_CSSL">the Snow Lab</a> on Twitter.&nbsp;



Learn more about Protect our Winters and their <a href="https://protectourwinters.org/stoke-the-vote/">Stoke the Vote campaign</a>.



Support Life with Fire by donating to <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod/posts">our Patreon</a>! We&#8217;ll send you some swag for your troubles, and really appreciate the support.&nbsp;



Music featured in POW Ad: The Times They Are A Changin&#8217; by Goth Babe.&nbsp;

How Do Wildfires Impact Snowpack? With Andrew Schwartz

In a special bonus episode of our recreation X wildfire series sponsored by Protect Our Winters, we spoke with professional skier <a href="https://www.codytownsend.com/">Cody Townsend</a> about what it&#8217;s like to live in North Lake Tahoe as the threat of wildfire (or smoke) in that area seems to increase exponentially every fire season, as well as what kind of advocacy work he suggests for listeners who don&#8217;t know where to get started in the climate or advocacy space. 



And we know what you might be thinking right now: A professional skier? On a wildfire podcast?



You betcha, and for good reason—Cody hasn&#8217;t just been an outspoken advocate for better climate policy and the politicians that support them, but has also experienced the community impacts of wildfire first hand, whether through air quality, forest and trail closures, figuring out what to put his family&#8217;s go-bags or otherwise living with the near constant threat of wildfire and smoke. His experiences likely mirror those of many folks in California and beyond, and are particularly pertinent now as the Mosquito Fire continues to burn intensely—blanketing much of the Tahoe and Reno areas in dense smoke. &nbsp;&nbsp;



You can learn more our sponsor, Protect our Winters, and their <a href="https://protectourwinters.org/campaign/stoke-the-vote/">Stoke the Vote campaign</a>—which encourages the outdoor community to do their research, register to vote and make their voices heard ahead of this fall&#8217;s midterms.



To support Life with Fire, follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lifewithfirepod/?hl=en">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lifewithfirepod/?hl=en"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/lwf_pod">Twitter; </a>you can also support us/help pay the bills (and our host&#8217;s burgeoning addiction to iced lattes) by donating to our <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod/posts">Patreon</a>. 



Song featured in POW ad: The Times They Are A Changin&#8217; by Goth Babe

POW Bonus Episode! Living with Fire in Tahoe—with Athlete, New Dad and Climate Advocate Cody Townsend

Today we&#8217;re talking trails! What do trails have to do with wildfire, you ask? Well, ask any trail builder that question and they&#8217;ll tell you that they&#8217;re kind of a pain to rebuild (and cut out) after wildfires. Today&#8217;s guest Dillon Osleger is a trail builder, an environmental advocate, scientist and Executive Director of the Sage Trail Alliance, and also works with Protect Our Winters as both a creative and an athlete. He&#8217;s done a fair bit of both trail building and trail rehab in the aftermath of wildfires, and has some great perspectives on how folks who like to use trails can become more engaged in keeping those trails looking good both before and after wildfire impacts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Links and Shownotes</h2>



To see what Dillon&#8217;s been up to, check out his <a href="https://dillonosleger.com/">website</a> as well as a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q056hYXdtdM">film</a> he worked on about the impacts of drought, beetle kill and wildfire on trails in southwest Colorado.&nbsp;



To learn more about Protect our Winters, the sponsor of our wildfire and recreation series, and their Stoke the Vote campaign, check out their <a href="https://protectourwinters.org/stoke-the-vote/">website</a>.&nbsp;



Music featured in the POW ad by <a href="https://www.gothbabemusic.com/">Goth Babe</a>.&nbsp;



To support Life with Fire, check out our <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Patreon</a>.

Building Trails in Burn Areas

Welcome to the first episode of our four-part series discussing the impacts of wildfire on recreation, sponsored by <a href="https://protectourwinters.org">Protect Our Winters</a>! For this episode, Jamie Ervin of the Outdoor Alliance walked us through the myriad ways that wildfires create barriers to recreation access and enjoying the outdoors. From air quality impacts to forest closures, Jamie talks about what recreationists can continue to expect from worsening wildfire seasons, while also talking about why it&#8217;s important to remember fire&#8217;s place in many of the landscapes we all love to recreate in. Jamie has a background in wildfire policy and currently works as a policy associate for the Outdoor Alliance—making him a perfect guest guide us through the growing relevance of how wildfires will continue to impact recreation and public lands access, as well as what we can do about it.&nbsp;



Protect our Winters is a climate advocacy organization that engages the outdoor community in on-the-ground and legislative climate action. We encourage you to check out their <a href="https://dashboard.simplecast.com/accounts/c5caff6b-d562-4992-8bab-5808ec2e7248/shows/e64b7a70-510f-4a3b-8b79-94ad9ae877d7/episodes/b44321c2-5080-4498-9136-43c48840edd0/www.stokethevote.com">website</a>, where you can pledge to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, learn more about what they do as well as how to support them.&nbsp;



You can learn more about the Outdoor Alliance <a href="https://www.outdooralliance.org/">at their website</a>.



If you&#8217;re feeling extra benevolent today, consider becoming a Patron and donating to the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Life with Fire Patreon</a>.

How Wildfires Are Impacting Outdoor Recreation, with Jamie Ervin

Have you seen that <s>College</s> Hotshot shirt from Hotshot Brewery (you can look at it <a href="https://www.hotshotbrewing.com/products/college-hotshot">here</a> if you&#8217;re unfamiliar)? This episode&#8217;s guest Harrison Raine walks us through doing both of those things at once—and shares why he thinks more firefighters should pursue fire-adjacent degrees and careers that can make use of that invaluable, on-the-ground fire experience.&nbsp;



During his undergrad, Harrison scored a fellowship that allowed him to travel the world to explore fire management practices in places like South Africa, Greece and Australia, among others. The <a href="https://www.harrisonraine.com/">result of that work</a> provided a profound framework for his continued work in academia, which has largely been funded by his work as a wildland firefighter through the summers.&nbsp;



Harrison encourages firefighters to lean in to the unique experiences they&#8217;ve had if they leave fire, especially as so many agencies, organizations and businesses are trying to find solutions in the wildfire space. We also spoke about his fellowship experiences, as well as what he is researching as a grad student at UC Berkeley, working primarily in the wildland urban interface realm. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Links and Shownotes</h2>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.paucostafoundation.org/en/">The Pau Costa Foundation</a></li>



<li><a href="http://mountainlegacy.ca/project/lookouts/">The Mountain Legacy Project</a></li>
</ul>



As always, we owe a massive thanks to MYSTERY RANCH for sponsoring this episode of Life with Fire, as well as a number of previous episodes. MYSTERY RANCH is proud to be the first pack company to provide women’s specific harnessing in their HOTSHOT Line as well as their HOT SPEED pack in our engine/IA category. To see their entire line of fire packs—including their women&#8217;s packs and packs for international firefighters who don&#8217;t use fire shelters—check out their <a href="https://www.mysteryranch.com/Packs/Fire">website</a>.



Finally, if you&#8217;d like to support Life with Fire with a monthly donation, please check out our <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Patreon</a> for tier options—Patrons who donate at the $7 tier and above will get some Life with Fire and Mystery Ranch swag!&nbsp;

Hotshot Crew to Grad School, with Harrison Raine

Life with Fire Podcast

Life with Fire Podcast

Episodes

Ep. 40—How Do Wildfires Impact Snowpack? With Andrew Schwartz

Ep. 39—POW Bonus Episode! Living with Fire in Tahoe—with Athlete, New Dad and Climate Advocate Cody Townsend

Ep. 38—Building Trails in Burn Areas

Ep. 37—How Wildfires Are Impacting Outdoor Recreation, with Jamie Ervin

Ep. 36—Hotshot Crew to Grad School, with Harrison Raine

Episode Collections

Tags