Wildfire Journal 2012

Dispatches from the Field

Conservancy staff members blog about the wildfires threatening their communities.

The Conservancy has 50 years of experience using fire safely and successfully. Our staff also lives in communities that are facing the threat of megafires. We offer their personal perspectives in our Wildfire Journal.

More: Check out our Wildfire Newsfeed for daily updates and share your own fire story.

T. Parker SchuermanT. Parker Schuerman serves The Nature Conservancy as a fire planner and ecologist for the Texas Program. Photo courtesy of T. Parker Schuerman
Fire on the Mountain

Parker Schuerman was among those who helped snuff out a blaze on our Davis Mountains preserve in Texas.

Nebraska WildfireThe Nature Conservancy of Nebraska’s state director, Mace Hack, surveys the scene of the Fairfield Creek Fire in Nebraska. Photo © Chris Helzer
Recovering after the Burn

Chris Helzer reports from our Niobrara Valley Preserve in Nebraska, which was affected by the Fairfield Creek Wildfire.

Megan Sheehan and FamilyNature Conservancy employee Megan Sheehan and family at Rocky Mountain National Park. © TNC
'Fire was all around us'

Megan Sheehan's family vacation provided a sobering look at the destruction caused by Colorado wildfires.

Heather Knight Heather Knight started as a volunteer for The Nature Conservancy in 1994. Today she serves as our Laramie Foothill Project Director in Colorado, and helps manage the Conservancy’s Phantom Canyon Ranch Preserve. The preserve sits to the East of Fort Collins, Colorado. TNC
Four fires in four weeks

Near Phantom Canyon Preserve in Colorado, staff member Heather Knight says "It’s about loss of lives, life’s loves, and livelihoods."

Martha SchumannMartha Schumann is The Nature Conservancy’s Southwest New Mexico Field Representative. She lives in Cliff, just to the east of Gila National Forest, where the historically large Baldy-Whitewater wildfire burned this year. TNC
'Smoke like a big purple bruise'

In Gila National Forest in New Mexico, the smoke from the Baldy-Whitewater Fire stings your eyes and tickles your throat.

Jeremy Bailey lg hmpg tabJeremy Bailey, Fire Training and Network Coordinator for The Nature Conservancy. Photo © Jon Schwedler
'Hot, steep, dangerous work'

Conservancy firefighter Jeremy Bailey provides an inside look at life on the front lines.

Media
CNN Florida Fire hmpg tabCNN reports: Florida fights fire with fire. Video © CNN
Fighting Fire with Fire

CNN visits The Nature Conservancy's Apalachicola Preserve in Florida to help with a prescribed burn. Watch the video.

big wilson fire_215x143Fire team keeps watch on the Big Wilson Burn, Warm Springs Mountain Preserve, Virginia. © Nikole Swaney/TNC
Wildfire Newsfeed

Browse daily updates & tweets about this season's wildfires.

Read More

Photo Special Features TabLion in Maasai Mara, Kenya, Africa. © Kenneth K. Coe

Close Encounters with Nature

Whether scary or exciting, nature has a way of sneaking up on you. See stories

Arden OConnor 215x143Arden O’Connor. © Lajla LeBlanc

Nature Matters

Hear some of nature's success stories and see how nature matters to us all. Watch videos

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Naches Forest, Washington Naches Forest, eastern Washington. © John Marshall
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