In late 2021 and early 2022, the Energy & Environment Program held a series of five hybrid and virtual workshops with the Nature Conservancy to explore the topic of wildfire resilience in the United States. Below are details on these workshops and summaries of our findings.

1st Workshop: The US Forest Service’s Effective Implementation Strategy for Expected Federal Funding Surge

Convened in Washington, DC and virtually on November 3-4, 2021 with the Nature Conservancy

This convening brought together experts to discuss the expected surge in federal funding for wildfire resilience and the ability of the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy in partnership. Participants included Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) leadership, conservation partners, state and tribal government representatives, among others. All participants recognized the potential historic nature of a surge in funding and shared a mutual interest in helping the Forest Service successfully deliver on the promise. Our first workshop summary captures some of the key topics of discussion. While this workshop focused on the Forest Service’s role in implementation, the takeaways may be relevant to and applied to other federal agencies and non-federal stakeholders who will share the responsibility for implementing surges in funding.

2nd Workshop: Innovative Financing of Wildfire Resilience

 Convened virtually on January 25-26, 2022 with the Nature Conservancy

As wildfires increase in scale and intensity across the West, various stakeholders now have new incentives to participate and address the wildfire crisis together. This convening brought together leading experts to discuss how innovative financing structures and private capital might be used to increase investments in resilience, and therefore reduce the negative wildfire impacts that are threatening more and more areas, especially in the West. This workshop highlighted effective models such as environmental impact bonds, partnerships with utilities, and new insurance products as solutions to build resilience. Summarized in our second workshop summary are the lessons learned from these models, future policy changes at federal and state levels that could scale efforts and contribute to the paradigm shift necessary for the country to adapt to climate change driven wildfire increases, and other key points of conversation.

3rd Workshop: Leveraging Partnerships for Success

Convened virtually on March 15-16, 2022 with the Nature Conservancy and the Council of Western State Foresters

Following the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, P.L. 117-58) and its unprecedented levels of funding for wildfire resilience work, this convening brought together state, tribal, federal, NGO, and other experts to deepen their shared understanding of the funding available so that they can prepare to access this funding and implement wildfire resilience activities. Our third workshop summary captures some of the key topics of discussion.

4th Workshop: Post-Fire Restoration and Resilience

Convened in Boulder, CO and virtually on April 27-28, 2022 with the Nature Conservancy

Building off of past roundtable conversations around the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law and its unprecedented levels of funding for wildfire resilience work, this convening brought together state, Tribal, federal, NGO, and other experts to create a shared understanding of the scale, distribution, and impacts of post-fire reforestation needs; explore what is being done to address them; and develop recommendations to address gaps and barriers. Our fourth workshop summary captures key points from presentations provided during the workshop, along with key topics of discussion.

5th Workshop: Incorporating Social Considerations into Wildfire Risk Reduction and Recovery

Convened in Seeley Lake, MT and virtually on June 6-8, 2022

With over 100 years of fire suppression, climate change exacerbating ecological conditions, and ever more people living within the wildfire urban interface (WUI), wildfires have become increasingly frequent and severe. The Aspen-TNC series of wildfire resilience workshops is intended to incubate ideas and solutions to inform a policy roadmap around wildfire resilience and to spark a paradigm shift in addressing this issue. Specifically, this particular workshop was aimed at exploring how vulnerable communities can better prepare for, and respond to, wildfires, and considered strategies to ensure resources and capacity are appropriately directed to address existing challenges within these communities. Our fifth workshop summary captures some of the key topics of discussion.