Judge hands down 50-year sentence to defendant Ines Soto, whose wife Elizabeth was sentenced to same prison term

The death of 3 firefighters in Colorado is yet another tragic reminder that our ability to suppress wildfires is completely outmatched by conditions on the ground. These landscapes have changed, and humans simply can't contend with wildfires fueled by climate change, beatle kill & high winds.

Hey fire nerds, any of you coming to Missoula for the Forest Ecology conference next week??

An important idea I've heard from @amonthei.bsky.social is "unsuppressability." Many are possessed of the VERY mistaken notion that all wildfires CAN BE suppressed. But 4 a select few, there is no technology on Earth that can stop them. Humility is part of the path out of the wildfire crisis.

Massive atmospheric river heading towards the PNW this week, bringing a half inch of rain a day to some areas and up to five inches of rain total in places. These types of storms destabilize slopes that are susceptible to landslides, which includes slopes that have been destabilized by fire!

Great interview with @riverselby.bsky.social on her new book HOTSHOT, which is now very much on my list. Follow @amonthei.bsky.social’s Life With Fire if you are interested in thoughtful conversations about wildfire.

Was talking to a groups of 50-ish year old women at a concert last night. They asked what I did and I told them about my wildfire work. One went “OH! I just read a series of *spicy* novels about hotshots! I learned so much about firefighting from it!” Is smut an underrated form of #scicomm? lol

Thank you @amonthei.bsky.social for a very thoughtful conversation about the north rim situation. If you care about our terrible relationship with fire and getting more good fire on the ground, this is the podcast for you. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Medical debt shouldn’t ever be a thing in a developed country. No other Western industrialized nation has it.

My Roman empire is that some version of the headline below could happen in almost every county in the US right now if it experienced a disaster. We need to sit with that and then figure out how to do better—quickly. abcnews.go.com/US/hard-hit-...

Anyone know where to find smoke data or live-ish prescribed fire/wildfire maps for (northern) Spain? Was great weather for burning today and I biked by at least two sizable burns, was hoping to find more info about them!

I just finished up a month-long podcast series (supported by @fireaside.bsky.social), all centered on Community Wildfire Resilience. My approach to this conversation was to start as big as possible—with community resilience policy in California—and end at the community/implementation scale.

Due to DOGE cuts, RIFs and early retirements, the Forest Service has lost 1600 red-carded individuals and five complex incident management teams (the teams that manage the large, complex incidents that you see on the news) ahead of what is expected to be an active wildfire season.

The home insurance crisis is coming to a town near you. Reporting by @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social! www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-gov...

Center for Biological Diversity (@biologicaldiversity.org) recently published an opinion piece: "‘Active management’ harms forests — and it’s about to get a whole lot worse." Given that this article has considerable bearing on my profession, allow me to offer a different point of view. 🌎🍁🔥🌳

One reason the feds aren't discussing the situation & planning with state/local resources is because they aren't allowed to do so. Seeing it all laid out in this article is bracing. We are already well behind the curve & stand no chance of getting ahead of the 2025 fire year. Prepare accordingly.

Still amazed that these two maps are not making more news and generating more public comment. Especially given the intentionally degraded capacity of the federal wildland fire service.

New paper alert -- Gavin Jones strikes again! Key findings: • Fire-driven complete loss of mature forest habitat in California is possible by 2100 under 'business as usual'. • Active forest restoration could slow or reverse trends of mature forest loss. 🧪🌍🔥

A powerful piece by @amonthei.bsky.social about the daunting future of natural disasters.

Something I think about a lot: We will never be able to prevent wildfires. Sorry, we just won't. Humans on the whole have dumb and sometimes malicious tendencies. It's well past time to accept this reality, from coast to coast, no matter how "at-risk" your community is.

My staunchly conservative father—who used to call me a treehugger for ordering a salad at dinner—is now talking about food dyes and GMOs. Consider this a strong indicator that RFK's messaging has reached the last offline holdouts in the rural Midwest.

Just noticed I have two new podcast reviews. It's all about balance!

Here is the statement that I just got from NIOSH on the status of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, perhaps the most ambitious effort to date to understand the firefighting-cancer connection. This is a huge deal.

Who wants to come on Life with Fire to talk about the policy/capacity/infrastructure limitations of Trump's plan to increase logging on public lands? Would also love to get some input on what we actually *should* be worried about with that USDA memo so we can be more targeted than "STOP LOGGING!"

A local conservation organization is promoting a book club that's preparing to read a Chad Hanson book. I've already sent them an email telling them this is embarrassing. Now considering a covert book club infiltration to subtly espouse the benefits of active management for forest health.

just want to shout out the one guy in Arizona who listens to all of my podcast episodes religiously the day they come out and immediately messages me his thoughts about it. Robert, if you follow me here, just know you're keeping this ship afloat my man.

New Life with Fire episode is live today! I spoke with Collin Haffey—the @wadnr.bsky.social Post Fire Recovery Program Manager—about all things post-fire, including the common gaps that communities face in effectively recovering from wildfire. Listen here: lifewithfirepodcast.com/episodes/aft...

We’ll see you out there.

I just want to draw attention to the catastrophic ice storm in Northern Michigan right now. My family lives there and they are nearly out of gas to fuel their generators. Temps in the 20s tonight, in the teens tomorrow night. Power outages expected for at least another week.

“Understanding each other and the land is the gift that fire gives us.” -Opening remarks from the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria at the CA Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force meeting today.

Hey #wildfire folks: come join us for this great talk tonight at 6pm PT. Zoom link : bsky.app/profile/weat...

For those not able to make it this evening to my wildfire and climate talk in San Rafael (apparently the venue is at capacity!), the event organizers have arranged for a Zoom livestream of the event as an alternative. See below for details. us06web.zoom.us/j/81...

Attending my annual pre-season IMT meeting and one sentiment has been made extremely clear: the chaos that is being wrought on the federal workforce is creating a barrier to national preparedness. It’s already March. Big yikes.

"Time to get a real job!" -People who don't know what a hydrologist is.

If you or someone you know was a federal employee who was recently fired, I encourage you to apply to this opportunity to rest and reset in a truly incredible place along the American River between Placerville and SLT in CA. Dates available through the end of April. wildfireresilience.center

Knowing what the weather is and might do are 2 of the most essential pieces of information for managing wildfire and staying safe on the fireline. The FIRST of the 10 standard firefighting orders is literally: “Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts.” www.denver7.com/news/state-n...

This is from a week ago, but a good listen if you want to understand the impacts on wildfire response of the Musk/ Trump cuts to federal employees.

Let me say it again: If profit is your primary driver, safety cannot be your number one concern. 13/

IMTs are quietly talking about what the current political environment means for this year's wildland fire suppression efforts, but it deserves a larger and more public consideration. 1/

My favorite sign from the protest today

Felt good to go make some noise today.

Whew, been a busy weekend, happy to get this quick episode out to explain how these federal cuts will impact fire response this summer. Give it a listen at the link.

“What is going on is an attempt to make it so that our public land management can’t accomplish the goals we all want, in order to make it easier to divest these lands” www.outdoorlife.com/conservation...

This comment on r/fednews really stood out to me. Trump and Musk want people to think they're firing do-nothing "bureaucrats," but they're really getting rid of people dedicated to serving this country and keeping it operational. I hope these stories get told.

📣Hey journalists who want to cover the 3400 federal employees who just got fired📣 I’m developing a list of folks who were fired and who are down for interviews, primarily trails, river rangers and some folks who did collateral fire duties as needed (as of right now). DM me if you need sources!

I resent that people are saying it's just "desk jockies" who were fired from the Forest Service. No. These were field techs and timber markers and people who served on militia fire crews as a collateral duty. They're also the people that keep IMTs running. Logistics, comms, planning, READs etc.

Good snow and cold temps have made for a pretty delightful time in the Mt Baker backcountry over the last few weeks. Rounded it out with a full moon tour with friends last night before the weather starts to shift again. Gotta take joy where you can get it, and this is where I get mine.

WA loses access to $200M in wildfire preparedness funding www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...