Wildfires & Geography | Colorado Geographic Alliance

The purpose of this page is to provide articles and resources to geography teachers that can add to discussions and lessons plans that focus on wildfires and the impact of climate change on Colorado. If you have suggestions of additions to this resource, please email us at coga@uccs.edu.

Flash Point: Living with Wildfire

In the wake of last year's destructive wildfires, Colorado's residents, scientists, and government officials have been working hard to manage the ongoing threat. We're not only mitigating our landscapes; we're adapting our very understanding of what it means to reside within reach of mountain forests. Join KRCC News for "Flash Point," a special series produced by Andrea Chalfin and Michelle Mercer on how wildfire is changing life in Colorado.

From the "Colorado Matters" radio series on CPR:

Funding to Protect Homes and Water Supply in Burn Zones The bill Congress just passed to avoid a government shutdown includes almost $18 million for recovery efforts at two of last summer's massive wildfires in Colorado... Does Colorado Need An Aerial Fleet To Fight Fires? It's only the first day of spring, but Colorado's wildfire season has already begun... Scorched Summers: Tourism Takes a Hit Wildfires leave a scar on the land, but they can also leave a long-lasting impression with tourists...

High Country News

Good policy and good intentions won't stop big wildfires
According to the Forest Service, last year wildfires were allowed to consume built-up fuels on about 152,000 acres nationwide...

InciWeb, the Incident Information Portal

InciWeb contains a listing of all fires burning nationally, including proscribed burns and burned areas, along with wildfires currently being fought. Also includes announcements, closures, and maps related to the fires. Extremely useful tool for keeping track of all the fires burning during this fire season.

Miscellaneous Collected Fire Resources:

Aftermath of the Black Forest Fire from NASA Earth Observatory, satellite images show the devastation caused by Colorado's most destructive fire. Boulder Four-Mile Canyon Fire Map Black Forest Fire Perimeter Map created by Nate Siebert, UCCS Student Wildfire Research in an Environmental Hazards Course: An Active Learning Approach Tamara U. Wall & Sarah J. Halvorson. First page available to review here, but for the full article, please visit Taylor & Francis Online. Homes Keep Rising in the West Despite Growing Wildfire Threat Felicity Barringer, New York Times, July 5, 2013 Check out the following links for career opportunities in fire science and public service: firescience.org learnhowtobecome.org.

Wildfires and Geographic Information Science

These sites explore wildfire education through cutting-edge geospatial technology and satellite imagery. An excellent compliment to any GIS unit exploring an important topic in Colorado.

ESRI Disaster Response Program

Wildfire Mapping Image

View a continuously updated map of US wildfire locations, perimeters, fire potential areas, global burn areas, and precipitation. See the real-time effects of the fires via social media posts. Wildfire Map and Satellite Images.

National Earth Observatory Global Maps

National Earth Observatory

The fire maps show the locations of actively burning fires around the world on a monthly basis, based on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite NASA Global Fire Map.