By Colleen Hagerty for Nexus Media News.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

Ryan Reed spent much of his childhood outdoors, absorbing the knowledge of his Karuk, Hupa and Yurok ancestors through activities like hunting and fishing in the forests of Northern California. As he grew older, he began participating in cultural burns, an ancient practice also known as prescribed or controlled burns that involves igniting and tending to small fires as a way to maintain the health of the forest and prevent larger fires. By necessity, this education was “discrete,” he said, because for years, these burns were outlawed as part of a larger suppression of Native practices and rights. 

These bans “stripped us of our culture, but [were] also an ecological disaster,” said Reed.  Federal and state agencies adopted fire-suppression policies that prioritized snuffing out all flames as quickly as possible, leaving the forests full of brush and kindling that, combined with climate-related drought and record-breaking heat, fueled the current wildfire crisis. In the 23 years since Reed was born, California has experienced 15 of its 20 most destructive wildfires on record. 

Reed is now dedicated to restoring humans’ relationship to fire. He’s a graduate student, Indigenous fire practitioner and wildland firefighter, and he’s teaming up with other young fire practitioners to change the way the U.S. responds to the wildfire crisis.

“There needs to be a continuous place for our generation in [responding to] a crisis that we’re most impacted by,” said Kyle Trefny, a student at the University of Oregon and seasonal wildland firefighter.

In 2022, Reed, Trefny and two other students — Bradley Massey, a junior at Alabama A&M University, and Alyssa Worsham, who recently completed her master’s at Western Colorado University — formed the FireGeneration Collaborative (FireGen, for short), a group that advocates for centering Indigenous knowledge and bringing more young people into the wildfire space.

That includes diversifying the workforce that responds to wildfires, Trefny said. A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that the vast majority of wildland firefighters—more than 80%—identify as male and more than 70% of the workforce is white. Though Trefny is both male and white, he identifies as queer. He said he was struck by the lack of diversity in the ranks and described the culture as patriarchal and militaristic. 

A more inclusive and diverse workforce wouldn’t just lead to a better experience for new recruits, Trefny added, it could also help address the severe shortage of wildland firefighters. Last year, the Forest Service told Marketplace it was short more than 25% of the workforce it needed heading into fire season; the following months saw an above-average number of wildfires, including the largest and most destructive fire on record in New Mexico.

The FireGen cohort believes that getting more young and Indigenous people involved in developing wildfire policies can increase support for proactive tactics like prescribed burns. It’s a shift that Tim Ingalsbee, an instructor at the University of Oregon and a former wildland firefighter, said he’s noticed among his students in recent years.

“Young people want to get involved in putting good fire on the ground,” said Ingalsbee. “Thirty years ago, no one asked me that. They all want to be firefighters.”

In November, Ingalsbee traveled with Trefney, Reed, Massey and Worsham, to Washington, DC, at the invitation of U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. They met with Moore, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and officials from the Department of the Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire to advocate for getting more young people involved in wildfire policy.

“The collaborative is passionate about being a part of the climate change solutions of the future, including work in prescribed fire and as wildland firefighters,” said Wade Muehlhof, a spokesperson for the Forest Service. “They bring great insights from the best and brightest we are trying to recruit into that workforce.” 

The group arrived in Washington with a proposal to create an official avenue for young people to connect with the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior, the agencies that oversee federal wildland firefighting. Trefny said they looked to FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council, which recruits young people to serve as peer educators and assist in other outreach efforts, as a model for bringing more young people into the field. (Muehlhof said his office was connecting the group with the Biden administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, which was created in 2021.)

In addition to its advocacy efforts, FireGen is working to fill a gap in knowledge about young peoples’ attitudes toward – and understanding of – fire. Reed, Trefny and Worsham are developing a research project that will gauge their peers’ interest in various fire-related activities, such as prescribed burning or fireproofing homes, to make a case to policymakers to fund workforce development programs that go beyond traditional firefighting. For Worsham, who became interested in wildfires through her graduate research in prescribed burns, it’s an opportunity to help others discover their own unique paths into this field.

“We need this base of young people who are rethinking how fire fits into bigger things, like land management and climate change,” said Worsham. “We’re aiming for fire happening at the right frequency, at the right severity, in the right vegetation and ecosystems. And that’s all going to take a lot more work on the front end than suppression, which is entirely [an] emergency or reactive response.”

In a contribution to a recent Federation of American Scientists report on wildfire responses, Reed and Trefny outlined ways that agencies could integrate Indigenous knowledge into their operations and invest in educating and onboarding young people. For example, they recommend shifting the hiring schedule for seasonal wildland firefighters from the fall to the spring to better accommodate students. 

Massey, who co-captains Alabama A&M University’s student-run forest firefighting team, wants to create more opportunities for students to access forest management and wildland firefighting training. The Forest Service currently partners with a consortium of four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to establish student-run fire crews; Massey, who has led prescribed burns near his school’s Huntsville campus, hopes to establish a multi-school fire crew that could take on larger land management and firefighting responsibilities.

“Not too many people from my community are familiar with prescribed fire or wildland fire, so just being able to have that knowledge to give and open their eyes to see what else is out there [is my goal],” Massey said. 

Massey and his FireGen teammates have seen, often up close, the devastation of increasingly frequent and severe wildfires. But they also understand that, much like becoming an electrician who installs heat pumps, understanding wildfires, and knowing how to anticipate and respond to them, is a skill set that will only grow in demand. “Imagine if in every fire-prone community, the local community college, university or even their local high school had programs where young people can get [prescribed] burn qualifications and get experience in making a house resilient,” Trefney said. “Our generation needs to be part of a cultural shift toward living with fire and not fearing it.”


Colleen Hagerty wrote this article for Nexus Media News.


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A Virginia group is working out ways to reforest former mines across Appalachia.

The state has several hundred thousand acres of mine land, which was being handled under the Virginia Department of Energy's Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program. But other groups feel reforesting mine lands can play a role in reducing global carbon levels.

Diana Dombrowski, carbon research fellow at Appalachian Voices, said this is the kind of project the carbon-offset market can invest in.

"They're interested in projects that not only are maybe more local, to where they're based, but also have an environmental justice perspective," Dombrowski explained. "When it comes to the work of reforesting mine land, we're aware of a need in central Appalachia."

The process begins with reclaiming the mine land, which could cost from $7.5 billion to almost $10 billion. But the carbon offset market made $277 billion last year, so it sounds possible. There also are other options available. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides almost $113 billion, appropriated for Virginia's Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.

Reforesting former mining areas can help Virginia achieve its climate goals. The projects can add to resilience against storms for communities, and help keep air and soil healthy.

Dombrowski noted other challenges could come up, such as how to identify the best sites for reforesting projects.

"Designing a project that can plan for the most carbon sequestration," Dombrowski suggested. "Where you pick the best land versus a project where you are maybe running over an average, that maybe people will see in the public at large."

Since the work is in the earliest phases, other challenges could arise. Dombrowski pointed out one priority is to focus on environmental justice. She added if any projects turn a profit, the funds will be reinvested into the workforce or materials to keep the work going.

Wildlife advocates are pushing back on a bill in Congress which would remove federal wilderness protections from some Montana land.

There are currently 44 Wilderness Study Areas, making up a million acres of Montana's wildest prairies, river breaks, deep forests and mountain peaks in all corners of the state. Experts agreed they provide unparalleled wildlife habitat, clean air and water.

But Senate Bill 2216, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., would remove 100,000 acres from the study areas, including Hoodoo Mountain, Wales Creek and the Middle Fork of the Judith River.

Gayle Joslin, a retired wildlife biologist for the state of Montana, called it a move in the wrong direction.

"These areas would be released to mining, to timber harvest, to recreational development," Joslin pointed out.

A 2022 voter survey found only 6% of Montanans support eliminating protections from the study areas. Daines and other supporters of what's been dubbed the "Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act" countered the study areas are "restrictive" and could be better managed to mitigate wildfire risk and increase public access.

The wilderness areas are open to recreational users but not to motorized vehicles, which the bill would change. It is a slimmed-down version of a measure Daines introduced in 2017, which would have removed protections from 500,000 acres but was defeated.

Joslin argued Montana residents are unanimous in their support for public lands and for many reasons, not the least of which is they are disappearing.

"They are simply not making wild country anymore," Joslin stressed. "Every acre we lose is a loss for wildlife and for, really, wildland scenic and spiritual opportunities for people."

Polls also show close to three-quarters of Montanans want to maintain or increase environmental protections and see development as a 'serious threat.' Critics of the bill said Daines sidestepped input from the public and from federal environmental officials. The measure awaits action in the full Senate.


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The Arizona Governor's Office of Resilience and industry leaders discussed clean energy investments in the state at Honeywell's facility in Phoenix Monday.

The event highlighted the partnership between the public and private sectors and how federal funds can be leveraged to continue making investments in renewable energy sources across Arizona, made available through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Blaise Caudill, energy policy adviser to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, contended when Arizona industry thrives, so do Arizona families. "Emerging, advancing and exciting," are some of the words Caudill used to describe Arizona's current clean energy economy.

"A few months back, the governor was able to attend a ribbon cutting in Northern Arizona for a wind farm," Caudill recounted. "What was so unique about this project in particular was that this wind farm was placed on and co-sited with the largest cattle lands in the state. That is truly Arizona."

Caudill argued it is remarkable to see what he called "one of Arizona's initial five C's - being cattle," coexisting alongside efforts to better handle the state's "emerging climate." He added it is an exciting time for the state to continue developing the clean energy economy, and encourages Arizona stakeholders to expand workforce development programs to meet the state's needs.

David Shilliday, vice president and general manager of advanced air mobility for Honeywell, said the company has had a long-standing history with the state of Arizona and currently employs about 10,000 people, adding they are interested in not just today's economy, but the future.

Shilliday contended the state could improve the current infrastructure of clean energy, which requires establishing improved facilities and fostering what he calls the "workforce of the future."

"We're also deeply involved in local universities," Shilliday pointed out. "To ensure that there are opportunities for developing the curricula for what we think the future needs are for a resilient and enduring Arizona economy that leans forward into this clean energy space."

Shilliday added Honeywell has been able to tap into incentives made available by the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and invested the resources in what he called clean energy solutions, renewable energy as well as to upgrade their facilities.