Tall Timbers’ Bobwhite Quail Management Handbook Published
“The Tall Timbers’ Bobwhite Quail Management Handbook is an essential tool for anyone wanting to understand the ecology and management of bobwhites in their eastern range. The authors have done an excellent job of distilling years of scientific investigation, involving thousands of bobwhites, into an easy to understand, but comprehensive guide of best practices for bobwhite management.”
Edited by William E. Palmer and D. Clay Sisson. Published by Tall Timbers Press; 160 pages; 7 x 10. Hardback: $30.00. For more about the book and to purchase, click here.
PREVIEW AUCTION ITEMS | BIDDING BEGINS SEPT 4 AT 5PM
Tall Timbers’ 20th Annual Kate Ireland Dinner & Auction
Sunday, September 17, 2017 | 6 PM
Honoring George C. Watkins
Tickets to the dinner and auction have sold out, but you can still bid on auction items using the online bidding site. The auction features an inspiring collection of world class artwork, unparalleled hunting and fishing opportunities, and unique offerings from the Red Hills Region and beyond. Online bidding begins Monday, September 4 at 5 PM. To preview auction items click here:
For more information bout the auction, contact Crystal Davis, Director of Development at 850.545.2162 or cdavis@talltimbers.org; or Lou Maxwell at 850.893.4153, x249 or lmaxwell@talltimbers.org.
Tallahassee Area Watercolor Society artists have submitted a number of stunning paintings for this Artist’s Choice water media show. There are approximately 32 paintings that will be displayed at the Webster Art Gallery. The exhibit is a tribute to fellow artist, Linda G. Cooksey who died in September after a lengthy battle with cancer. Not only was Linda a talented contributor to our exhibits at Tall Timbers, but she also used her creative skills to arrange colorful centerpieces and provide delicious treats for our “Meet the Artists” receptions.
This exhibit opens Sunday, December 4, 2016, and will remain up until the end of February 2017. Opening day features a “Meet the Artists” reception, which coincides with our annual Beadel House Holiday tour. We invite you to come to Tall Timbers and enjoy the holiday decorations, as well as some exquisite art. Regular gallery hours are 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. For a special group tour, please call Juanita Whiddon at 850-566-3390.
RxScience: Collaborative Research to Advance Effective Prescribed Fire Application
By Kevin Hiers, Wildland Fire Scientist
At its core, prescribed fire is something one must experience. It is by trial and error that managers learn to manipulate fire to accomplish their objectives—my mentors certainly still point to my “learning moments.” It’s the error part, however, that society is less tolerant of but that science can help managers avoid.
Through the recently created Prescribed Fire Science Consortium (RxScience), Tall Timbers, the US Forest Service, managers, and researchers from across the country have teamed up to focus on the pressing needs of prescribed fire science. This group intends to address the problems of predicting fire behavior of ignition patterns, resulting smoke transport, and fire effects from a collaborative approach that grew out of my experience at Eglin Air Force Base.
Prescribed fire is a wonderfully complex mix of physics, chemistry, atmospheric science, and forest ecology all wrapped up in a day’s work. Because of this complexity, interdisciplinary teams are needed to advance our understanding of prescribed fire and how it works on the landscape. Just as importantly, since experience is the key to learning, managers must be part of any team from the beginning.
This RxScience effort is directed by a core team which is developing a 5-year plan to direct activities of an annual fire research event to be held at Tall Timbers. These events beginning in April of 2017 will focus on a priority prescribed-fire topic (e.g., fuel characteristics) to be studied through comprehensive measurements of fire behavior, winds, and forest stands. This effort will ultimately develop new tools for practitioners, but also directly answer questions that arise from managers on key prescribed fire topics. Tall Timbers’ proximity to many frequently burned lands and its history of supporting research through burning provides an ideal setting for RxScience activities.
For some prescribed fire managers for whom burning is a long-standing part of their cultural heritage, science may not appear a limiting factor for the continued application of prescribed fire. However, the rapid pace of change around us, including social acceptance, urban development, climate change, and balancing competing management objectives, begs for a better understanding of the process many of us think we know. The RxScience collaboration will pursue the questions most needed to improve effective fire management by providing the firm scientific basis on which prescribed fire will continue to stand well in to the future.
National Association of Counties visiting Tall Timbers
Leadership committees of the National Association of Counties (NACo) will visit Tall Timbers on December 9. NACo was founded in 1935 to improve and unite America’s 3,069 county governments. More than 70 county commissioners from 25 states across the nation will tour Tall Timbers Research Station, hear presentations in the field on topics of national interest like wildfire mitigation and private land conservation, and enjoy lunch on the lawn of the Beadel House overlooking beautiful Lake Iamonia.
The President of the National Association of Counties Board of Directors is Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge. Tall Timbers is located in Commissioner Desloge’s district, and he has long been a friend and supporter of our organization.
NACo works to bring county officials together to advocate with a common voice on national policy, exchange ideas, and build new leadership skills for county commissioners nationwide. We are honored that Bryan asked Tall Timbers to host NACo on their visit to Tallahassee.
The M-CORES program, which includes the proposed Suncoast Connector Toll Road in Jefferson County, passed through the Florida Legislature at breakneck speed with little review or analysis. Tall Timbers has a number of concerns given the potential for significant and wide spread impacts. These include fragmenting public and private conservation lands, robbing business from Main Street Monticello, impacting our rivers and other water resources, and making prescribed fire more difficult and costly.
Join us in asking the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to OPPOSE the Suncoast Connector toll road and its path through Jefferson County.
Take action now with our easy email form.
Send an email to all five Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners with one click!
Burn prioritization modeling seminars and fire modeling tools are supported by Wildland Fire Science to train managers in the important planning stages of prescribed fires.
Educating and guiding the next generation of fire researchers and managers is a key goal of Wildland Fire Science and a resource for testing new ideas in fire research.
Tall Timbers hosts the premier fire technology transfer organization—the Southern Fire Exchange. This JFSP funded effort helps connect research to management through webinars, workshops, and support of the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium.
Working with partners in the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, the program is building nexgen 3-D fuel beds using terrestrial LiDAR and novel sampling techniques to power new fire behavior models for prescribed fire managers. This work links to Tall Timbers work in wildlife habitat usage and ecological forestry.
The Longleaf Legacy landscape prescribed fire burn team arm of Wildland Fire Science works directly with landowners and partners to effectively put fire on the ground and promote prescribed fire throughout the region.
Tall Timbers is leading an effort to map fire regimes at the landscape scale. Staff work with numerous agencies to evaluate fire records and satellite imagery to build this critical conservation database. https://skfb.ly/6DqOY
Tall Timbers hosts the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, a national network of researchers and managers who promote integrated research and management to advance next generation tools for fire practitioners. https://arcg.is/1DSjDT
We are linking physics and field observations to understand the fluid dynamics of fire behavior surface fire regimes. Our work combines field observations using advanced thermal imaging techniques, laboratory studies, and coupled fire-atmospheric modeling to help managers improve outcomes of managed fire regimes.
Selected Publications authored by Wildland Fire Science staff.
Staff and researchers support Federal fire training by serving as a cadre for NWCG training courses, ranging from basic wildland fire to advanced fire effects.
(PFTC) specializes in training fire fighters the principles and techniques of prescribed fire through practical hands-on experience. https://www.fws.gov/fire/pftc/
Private land owners are the largest source of prescribed fire in the country. These land owners and the culture of fire that was maintained by them during decades of suppression are a part of why Tall Timbers is a world-wide center for prescribed fire science. Workshops and fire training are a critical focus of the Longleaf Legacy Landscape Burn Team and our support of the Georgia Forestry Commission Prescribed Fire Center in Marion County.
The conserved lands of the Greater Red Hills region are found on working, income-producing properties that support agriculture, forestry, and recreational hunting. These properties contribute $272 million annually to local economies and support 2,300 jobs. [link to Planning & Advocacy section] The landowners’ strong stewardship ethic preserves their working lands while replenishing drinking water supplies, protecting water quality, and providing wildlife habitat for dozens of rare and endangered species. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements on these working properties encourage landowners to retain their traditional livelihood by keeping farms in family ownership.
Home to world-class wild quail populations, the Greater Red Hills region contains the largest concentration of gamebird preserves in the United States. These preserves also support the largest community of Red-cockaded woodpeckers on private lands. Indicators of high quality habitat found here include the gopher tortoise, Bachman’s sparrow, fox squirrel, and many amphibians. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements identify and protect the critical habitats of these species.
The region also boasts outstanding aquatic resources. Large river systems, like the Flint/Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Aucilla, flow from Georgia and feed into the Gulf of Mexico to support some of the world’s most productive estuaries. Large disappearing sinkhole lakes, like Iamonia, Miccosukee, and Jackson, provide habitat for an array of aquatic species and migratory birds. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements protect these vital watersheds and wetlands that are the lifeblood for the ecological health of the region.
Once dominated by longleaf pine, our pine woodlands support abundant wildlife and local economies. These forests need prescribed fire to stay healthy. Herbert L. Stoddard and his associates Ed and Roy Komarek were pioneers in this emerging scientific field during the mid-20th century. Tall Timbers continues that legacy with applied research on prescribed fire and land management. Today, there is a tremendous need to expand prescribed fire use beyond the Red Hills to ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. Additionally, Tall Timbers uses conservation easements to permanently protect private woodlands while balancing the need for economic return from selective timbering.
Tall Timbers’ 20th Annual Kate Ireland Dinner & Auction
RxScience: Collaborative Research to Advance Effective Prescribed Fire Application
This RxScience effort is directed by a core team which is developing a 5-year plan to direct activities of an annual fire research event to be held at Tall Timbers. These events beginning in April of 2017 will focus on a priority prescribed-fire topic (e.g., fuel characteristics) to be studied through comprehensive measurements of fire behavior, winds, and forest stands. This effort will ultimately develop new tools for practitioners, but also directly answer questions that arise from managers on key prescribed fire topics. Tall Timbers’ proximity to many frequently burned lands and its history of supporting research through burning provides an ideal setting for RxScience activities. 
The President of the National Association of Counties Board of Directors is Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge. Tall Timbers is located in Commissioner Desloge’s district, and he has long been a friend and supporter of our organization.
