Alaska Fire Science Consortium

Some great stories in this Special Issue of Wildfire magazine, with topics like cultural burning in Alaska, Yellowknife's experience during the 2023 fire emergencies, changing wildfire regime in the Arctic and permafrost. Be sure to check it out if you missed this issue! https://www.iawfonline.org/issue/wildfire-in-the-arctic/

🌍✨ Happy International Day of Happiness!
Today we’re celebrating those moments of pure joy that shine through even in the toughest conditions — like this firefighter taking a hard‑earned breath of calm, soaking in the warm sunshine and relatively few bugs, with arms wide open.

Wildland firefighters know that happiness can be found in the little things:
🛡️ A safe shift.
😊 A good crew.
🌅 A sunrise over the fireline.
💚 The satisfaction of protecting communities and landscapes.
☀️Perfect weather with no bugs.

Here’s to the resilience, camaraderie, and sparks of joy that carry us through long seasons and long days. What brings you happiness — on the line or at home?

📷AFS Fire Specialist Brita West takes a moment to soak in the beautiful landscape while standing on the banks of the Porcupine River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge north of the Arctic Circle. BLM AFS photo by B. Ipsen

We're hosting our annual fire science workshop next week in conjunction with Alaska’s Interagency Spring Operations meeting. Managers will hear about new and ongoing wildfire research, tools and resources that improve wildfire response in such a big and remote state.

Wednesday, March 18
AFSC updates and fire science research with Hilary Shook and Kate Hayes, AFSC
Project updates with Kayla Mathes and Ludda Ludwig, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Fire behavior, fire modeling, fire danger adjective ratings and FWI updates with Nate Perrine, AICC
CFFDRS: future projections & implications for Boreal area burned with Jeremy Littell, DOI AK CASC
Satellite detection with Jennifer Delamere, UAF GINA and Mike Pavolonis, NOAA NESDIS

Thursday, March 19
Fire weather seasonal outlooks with Heidi Strader, AICC, Chris Waigl, Cece Borries-Strigle and Joshua Hostler, UAF
Planning level tool upgrades with Heidi Strader, AICC
National Weather Service incident meteorologist and Predictive Service area news with Jonathan Chriest, NWS
Invisible fuel: tracking deep drought with Ben Bown, UAF
Climatology trends with Jacob Coffey, UAF

Friday, March 20
Additional season predictions and new tools with Heidi Strader, AICC

Check out the full agenda https://www.frames.gov/event/627215

Here’s a sneak peek from the next Randi’s Roundup, coming out Monday, March 16. This issue highlights Benjamin Sovacool’s 2026 article, “Climate change interventions at the ‘top of the world’: exploring risk–risk tradeoffs in Arctic coastal protection and forest carbon removal in Alaska.”

From the upcoming Roundup:

“Alaska is anxious to monetize state forests by getting into the carbon credits program, passing legislation in 2023 that established the state’s Carbon Offset Program. A professor from Boston University ponders risks, rewards, and ethical considerations of forest carbon and North Slope coastal erosion interventions. The forest C protection program could generate up to $50M but there are questions about additionality (does the project store more C than existing management?) and risk. The perspectives and insights by Alaskan experts he interviewed are quite interesting.”

About Randi’s Roundup:

Randi’s Roundup is the Alaska Fire Science Consortium’s periodic briefing on new research relevant to Alaska wildfire managers. Each edition summarizes 9–10 recent publications that may inform fire management, policy, and research in the state.

Sign up to receive the next Roundup:

https://uaf.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3c40ab5371ea39e536e2b5e7b&id=f71e8dfb48

Undergraduate students: what a great paid research training opportunity focused on applying artificial intelligence to address wildfire challenges in Alaska! And even a trip to the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago!

The Denali Commission, an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1998, coordinates investments in rural Alaska infrastructure, economic development and public health. The 2019 threat assessment has been used to help guide those investments and a new threat assessment is underway, including wildfire, with meetings held in Anchorage and Southeast, and the next one scheduled Feb. 26, 2026 at Zach’s Restaurant in Fairbanks. Thank you Alaska Beacon for a review of their efforts.

New hazards to be analyzed in Alaska’s updated statewide threat assessment | Alaska Beacon The Denali Commission's statewide report is being broadened to consider more threats, like landslides, tsunamis and wildfires.

Alaska wildfire managers and fire specialists have relied on Dr. Van Cleve's research for decades, and the Bonanza Creek LTER continues to supply answers to our fire science questions. His legacy will live on.

Folks in Alaska know we must live with fire and are increasingly turning to vegetation fuel breaks as one strategy to protect communities. Here's a summary of recent Alaska and Yukon fuel break studies with many contributions from rural Alaskans as well as scientists (reflected in the list of co-authors). The well-referenced Open Access article reviews many previous studies on boreal fuel break research and opinion with links to the sources. The key concept of the article is that fuel breaks could be designed to provide "co-benefits" that would add ecological and socio-economic value. The ideas here came from members of the public (half rural, half urban) and real world examples. READ HERE: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225026525
ARTICLE: Mitigating Increasing Wildfire Risk Through Fuel Break Innovations. 2025. Link, NT; JF Johnstone, XJ Walker, F Amundsen, HK Berrios, L Bibeau, K Cooley, AC Erickson, C Johnston, JM Little, N Lowjewski, AD Perrin, CA Phillips, S Potter, DC Rees, LB Saperstein, JE Schmidt, EE Sousa, KV Spellman, A Spring, and MC Mack. iScience 29(1): 114391

(Photo credit: Tanana Chiefs Conference, Forestry)

We wanted to make sure all you firefighters and former firefighters heard about this new legislation on compensation for fire-related cancers--article in Wildfire Today: https://wildfiretoday.com/wildland-firefighters-with-cancer-can-now-get-450k-from-the-us-government/
Stay warm and safe this New Year's Eve!
(Thanks to Deb Dash for the photo)

The European science agency CAMS (Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service) provides a truly global perspective on wildfire emissions and trends. Note the uptick in Europe and that the 3 highest smoke years in Canada were 2023-2025.

Wildfire emissions in 2025 reach records for Europe and Canada The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has reported that global wildfire emissions from January to November 2025 reached around 1,380 megatonnes