Expanding Prescribed Fire Capacity in Washington State, with Lucas King

We're big fans of the Mt. Adams Resource Stewards here at Life with Fire. You may recall our episode with the organization's Executive Director back in 2022 (episode 28), but we're back today with an episode with MARS' Stewardship Crew Lead, Lucas King, who shared his thoughts on expanding capacity for more burning and fuels reduction from the ground up in Washington State. Lucas and Amanda spoke about expanding capacity for (and acceptance of) local burning in MARS' backyard—primarily through private lands burning and engaging community members through contractual opportunities and the Stewardship Crew itself. They also spoke about the Washington State Certified Burn Manager Program, engaging recreationists in the act of fuel reduction and land stewardship and a number of other topics, as well as what the stewardship crew has been up to this spring and summer. Speaking of expanding capacity for prescribed burning in Washington State—have you heard about the two TREX events taking place in Washington this fall? The Selkirk and Gorge TREX events are accepting applications for a few more days (July 17th is the deadline), so if you're available and interested, be sure to apply asap! 05:52 - MARS' Approach to Non-Intimidating Fires08:18 - Role Model Programs for MARS' Startup10:14 - Private Landowners Burning with Crews13:14 - Education in the MARS Program16:09 - Washington State's Prescribed Burn Manager Course19:29 - Engaging Rural Communities in Fire Mitigation21:50 - Fostering Collaboration Among Property Owners23:08 - Lucas' Background Story25:26 - Spring Job Opportunities at MARS27:01 - Current Status of Wildfire Proactivity Produced by Morgan McRae