In August, the Richard Spring Fire burned more than 170,000 acres of land through southeastern Montana. Cattle ranchers, who often serve as first responders for wildfires on their property, were hit particularly hard during this time. But this was not the first experience these ranchers have had with a wildfire. For decades, farmers, ranchers, and others have worked tirelessly on strategies to mitigate wildfire and the threats they pose to their animals. Weeks after the Richard Spring Fire, Jacqueline Wilmot, a research project manager at the Fire Protection Research Foundation, spoke with Clint McRae, a longtime cattle rancher, about his experience dealing with the Richard Spring Fire. Their conversation is captured in the podcast, Fire on the Ranch. A sobering story, McRae tells listeners what he and other ranchers have been doing to help their cattle survive, and the difficult choices they must often make during and after a wildfire burns through their area.
Following McRae’s interview, Jesse Roman, senior editor of NFPA Journal, dives deeper into the topic of wildfire and interviews Michele Steinberg, the director of the NFPA Wildfire Division about this year’s fire season. Together they discuss legislative efforts currently underway to help address the damaging wildfire trends the U.S. has seen over the last five years.
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