Fire is a persistent threat to both human communities and native ecosystems and a critical land management challenge in hawaii and the US-affiliated pacific islands including guam, cnmi, palau, and…

The University of Hawaii at Manoa received a $259,989 Cooperative Agreement award from the Department of the Interior's Joint Fire Science Program (CFDA 15.232) to implement the Pacific Fire Exchange (PFX) project. The project aims to deliver fire-related information, tools, and educational activities to support land management and emergency response in Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Islands, including Guam, CNMI, Palau, and Yap. Key objectives include: 1) Providing regional fire history, climate change impact, and post-fire science information through fact sheets and virtual workshops; 2) Improving fire science delivery through in-person training, curricula, and networking events in Guam, CNMI, Yap, and Palau; and 3) Increasing engagement with academics and students to expand fire science capacity in the region. The University of Hawaii has subcontracted $188,989 to the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a non-profit, to help execute the project's objectives, leveraging their expertise in wildfire management and community outreach. The award period runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2025.

Fire is a persistent threat to both human communities and native ecosystems and a critical land management challenge in hawaii and the US-affiliated pacific islands including guam, cnmi, palau, and YAP (in the federated states of micronesia), where the percentage of land area burned annually often dramatically exceeds that of states on the US continent. According to regional land and fire managers, there is a need for firerelated information for local management, hawaii-based, and directly related to micronesia. The regions diverse social, ecological and climatic conditions combined with limited investment in fire research points to the urgency and value of learning from practitioners in land care and emergency response and connecting them with scientists to identify knowledge gaps and CO-develop solutions for more fire-adapted communities and fire-resilient landscapes. The pacific fire exchange (PFX) has three major objectives for FY24-25 with specific tasks associated with each. First, we will continue to focus on topical priorities identified by our advisors and audience including: 1. Regional fire histories and climate change impacts 2. After-fire science and action and 3. New relevant wildfire research and tools developed and delivered by fact sheets (1-3 per tract) and virtual workshops webinars (1-2 per tract), as well as in-person events as covid-restrictions relax. The second objective is to improve science delivery for partners in the western pacific. The PFX will explicitly build upon a USFS-funded w. Pacific wildfire needs assessment by hwmo to develop and facilitate in-person educational events and curricula incorporating hands-on workshops, site visits, and professional networking in guam and cnmi in FY24 and YAP and palau in FY25. Finally, the PFX leadership will prioritize efforts to increase engagement with academics and students, especially in fields underrepresented in pacific island fire science, with the short-term goal of increasing awareness of science needs and project partners and medium-term goals of increasing fire-related projects in the region