After the Flames Survey 2.0

 
In early 2018 Coalitions and Collaboratives released the first Post-Fire Recovery / Pre-Fire Needs survey. The responses provided COCO with valuable information, which was presented to the federal Wildfire Leadership Council. Since this original report, COCO and partners have made significant progress in changing the dialog about the post-fire environment we all work within.  Your input has been invaluable in helping us to gain the support we need to work towards a more resilient and capable post-fire future.  Several of the outcomes we are excited to report are listed below:
 
1. The Western Governors Association and the Wildfire Leadership Council have agreed to work on a roadmap focused on post wildfire. Their project description:
The Interagency Wildfire Disaster Response – Mitigating Post Fire Impacts effort will examine current federal disaster response programs and provide a framework to improve coordination of these activities.
Goals and Objectives:
The project will:
·      Develop a “roadmap” of federal assistance available to local governments and states before and after a disaster.
·      Develop a “roadmap” of the federal land management process for post fire response and restoration on federal lands.
·      Promote interagency cooperation in post-disaster response and better coordination and communications between federal agencies and with state and local governments.
·      Identify policy gaps that restrict closer coordination between federal land and non-federal land response.
·      Examine the need for greater coordination and information flow between federal agencies to ensure response actions are efficient, effective, and appropriately address needs in disaster-affected communities.
·      Study the eligibility criteria for federal programs and grants, and the required level of matching funds from state and local governments seeking monies for response actions, and assess the efficacy of these eligibility criteria.
 
2. Initial approval has been provided by the Undersecretary of Agriculture and WFLC to allow and encourage Burned Area Emergency Response Teams (BAER) to perform boundary-less analysis of the risks beyond Forest Service boundaries.
 
3. Initial discussions have been made regarding the integration of Post-fire subject matter experts to be included within IMTs on fires where post-fire effects are expected to be of a scale that could cause significant negative consequences.

4. COCO and partners hosted the first-ever national post-wildfire conference in Denver.  We plan to host the 2nd annual After the Flames conference & workshop in California, April 6-9 2020.
 
5. COCO has been asked to continue to participate in the post-fire roadmap guidance, and as such, we (COCO) are asking you to take the survey, which will take about 30-45 minutes of your time. ALL RESPONSES WILL BE PRESENTED ANONYMOUSLY.