Preventing Wildfires in the South
Fire prevention efforts across the South include several program areas to address the South’s wildfire challenges. State forestry agencies provide fire management services including fuel reduction, firebreak plowing, burn permit systems and prescribed burning.
Prescribed fire is a cost effective tool to reduce fuel buildups which can cause dangerous wildfire conditions, thus providing increased protection to people, their homes and the forest.
Educational programs such as the Firewise Communities Program, interactive CD-ROM programs and Smokey Bear help teach adults and students methods and benefits of fire prevention.
www.Smokeybear.com is an interactive Web site that provides information about the history of Smokey Bear, wildfires, firefighters, and prevention. The www.Symbols.gov National Symbols Cache Web site hosts the product catalog of Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl materials.
Additional resources include:
- US Forest Service, Wildfire Prevention & Wildland Urban Interface, Southern Region Web site. The site is designed for homeowners, visitors, wildfire prevention professionals, Forest Service employees and volunteers. It is filled with information on where the big fires are burning throughout the nation, what the severity level is in your state, rules and regulations for burning debris in your state, and how to protect your home against wildfire.
- The Southern Wildfire Prevention Web site hosts current location and status information on National, Regional and State Fire Prevention-Mitigation Education Teams operating in the southern United States. The site is intended to act as a “clearinghouse” for the latest in wildfire prevention and mitigation ideas, campaigns, templates, products as well as individual team updates in the South.
