The Wilderness Society has a number of wildfire experts that can answer questions you might have or direct you to others working on the wildfire issue. Please feel free to call us!
Dr. Greg Aplet, Forest Ecologist
Denver, Colorado
303-650-5818 x 104
greg_aplet@tws.org
Dr. Greg Aplet's experiences with prescribed burning and Harry "The Torch" Biswell - a pioneer in the use of prescribed fire - first sparked his interest in wildfire. He is an expert on the ecology of Western forests and their interaction with fire, and is part of the core group that crafted the national 10-Year Comprehensive Fire Strategy. Greg is on the Ecological Society of America's panel of scientists drafting the Society's position paper on fire management and fire policy, and he is one of the scientists reviewing the Forest Service's method for determining Fire Regime Condition Class.
Bob Ekey, Regional Director - Northern Rockies
Bozeman, Montana
406-586-1600
bob_ekey@tws.org
A former journalist for the Billings Gazette, Bob covered the famous Yellowstone fire in 1988 and subsequently authored the book "Yellowstone on Fire!" As The Wilderness Society's Director of the Northern Rockies region, Bob focuses on fire policy as part of forest management issues and has been a key figure in debunking commonly held myths about fire. His wealth of experience in and around fire-prone forests has made him a recognized leader on fire management issues.
Michael Francis, Director - Forest Program
Washington, D.C.
202.429.2662
michael_francis@tws.org
Mike Francis serves as the Director of the National Forests Program and Senior Policy Advisor for The Wilderness Society. A 30-year insider on the Hill, he is the chief strategist and liaison with the Administration and Congress on federal forest policy. His close relationships with US Senators and Members of Congress enable him to keep the Congressional pulse and help to ensure that federal agencies carry out their legal mandates to protect public lands.
Craig Gehrke, Regional Director - Idaho
Boise, Idaho
208-343-8153 x 11
craig_gehrke@tws.org
Craig is an Idaho native who grew up on a cattle and wheat ranch in north central Idaho not far from where his great grandparents homesteaded on the Nez Perce reservation. Craig leads The Wilderness Society's Forest Team, which sets forest policy for the organization. His experiences working on wildfire for the Forest Service before joining The Wilderness Society give him unique perspective on fire management issues.
Dr. Pete Morton, Resource Economist
Denver, Colorado
303-650-5818 x 105
pete_morton@tws.org
Pete Morton is a graduate of Colorado State University, where he earned a Masters in Forestry and a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics. With over a decade of experience, Dr. Morton is an expert on the policies, management and economic issues surrounding public land management, including fire suppression, fire restoration, and fires in the wildland urban interface.
Tom Fry, Wildife Program Coordinator
Denver, Colorado
303-650-5818 x 110
tom_fry@tws.org
Tom Fry is a former Forest Service employee and volunteer firefighter/medic. As Wildland Fire Program Coordinator for The Wilderness Society and Co-Chair of the Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance's Wildfire, Forests & Roadless Protection Committee, Tom works to improve wildfire management and policy at the national, regional, and local levels. Apart from working with local communities, interest groups, and governments to address effective fire management in Colorado and New Mexico, he is currently engaged in a national collaborative examining alternative Federal wildfire funding mechanisms, analyzing regional fire management planning, and researching opportunities for and barriers to increased wildland fire use. Tom received a master's degree in non-profit management, emphasizing Environmental Policy, Management, and Law from Regis University in 2003.
Bo Wilmer, Landscape Scientist
Boise, Idaho
208-343-8153 x 15
bwilmer@twsnw.org
Bo Wilmer is a Landscape Scientist at The Wilderness Society’s Center for Landscape Analysis. Currently, he is working on fire ecology research projects in Idaho, California, Colorado, and Oregon. Using GIS and remote sensing technology, Bo evaluates the composition, structure and function of ecosystems at the landscape scale. Wilmer received B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies.at Middlebury College; and an M.S. in Ecology from Montana State University where he focused on Rocky Mountain forest ecology, fire behavior, and landscape fragmentation. Prior to graduate school, he worked at a GIS consulting firm, Resource Data, Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska. While in Alaska, he spent three years teaching GIS at Alaska Pacific University and running his own GIS consulting business, Ripple Technologies.
Jaelith Hall-Rivera, Wildfire Policy Analyst
Washington, D.C.
202-429-2676
jaelith_rivera@tws.org
Jaelith Hall-Rivera is a native of rural, small-town Iowa and has lived in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and now Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the forestry program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and she received two master’s degrees from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, one in public affairs with an emphasis in environmental policy and natural resource management and another in environmental science, in 2001. While in school she worked on a variety of public lands issues, including trust land management in Arizona, forest policy, and endangered species, and published articles in both scholarly and professional journals. After time spent at a wetlands conservation organization and as an environmental consultant, she spent almost five years at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), where she analyzed a variety of natural resource programs and helped to produce reports on Columbia River salmon, desert tortoise recovery, the Endangered Species Act consultations and recovery programs, transportation impacts on habitat, and wood utilization. As wildfire policy analyst, she works closely with TWS’s Forest Team and Appropriations staff in shaping and leading our pro-active, solution-oriented policy and appropriation work on the Hill.
Rich Fairbanks, California Forest and Fire Program Associate
Idyllwild, California
951-329-7490
rich_fairbanks@tws.org
Prior to joining TWS, Rich Fairbanks worked for 32 years for the USDA Forest Service, 14 years of which on suppression crews and hotshot crews. He spent six years working as a division supervisor on fires throughout the West. Rich has worked as team leader for National Forest Fire Management Plans, has done burn severity analysis for post-fire planning, and most recently served as ID Team leader for the infamous Biscuit Fire Recovery Project. After leaving the Forest Service, Rich set up a corporation and did fire management plans and fire data collection contracts for Tribal and County governments in Oregon and New Mexico. Rich has done graduate work in fire ecology and fire behavior, has a degree in forestry, a masters degree in planning and is a certified silviculturist. As California Forest and Fire Program Associate for the Wilderness Society, he works to improve wildfire management and policy at the regional and local levels.
John McCarthy, Idaho Forests Campaign Manager
Boise, Idaho
208-343-8153 x14
john_mccarthy@tws.org
Chris Mehl, Communications Coordinator
Bozeman, Montana
406-586-1600 x 104
chris_mehl@tws.org
Chris Mehl is the Communications Coordinator for The Wilderness Society’s Northern Rockies Office in Bozeman, Montana where he has worked on wildfire media issues for several years. Before joining TWS, Mehl spent over twelve years in Washington, DC, as a press secretary for Members of Congress.
