Technical User Group
The USDA Forest Service Chief’s Office conducted a review of the Eastern Forest and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Centers (EFETAC & WWETAC) during July 2009. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the overall performance of the Centers and their impact as prescribed in their Charters, with particular focus on the effectiveness of funding from three Forest Service Deputy Areas (National Forest System, State & Private Forestry, and Research & Development) that supports the Centers, and make recommendations for revision and/or extension of the Charters.
Following the review, the Chief's Office provided a summary report with a series of recommendations for both Centers. One recommendation was that the Centers should form a Technical User Group (TUG) composed of a broad representation of federal and nonfederal stakeholder partners to assist with program development, priority setting, monitoring, performance review, and the establishment of technology development plans for the higher priority investment lines. In response, the TUG was formed with representatives from the Southern Group of State Foresters (Georgia Forestry Commission); the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition; Northeastern Association of State Foresters (Maine Forest Service); U.S. Fish and Wildlife; National Park Service; Western Land Trust Alliance; USDA Forest Service Southern, Eastern, and Pacific Northwest Regions; Bureau of Land Management; Southern Regional Extension Forestry; Western Washington University; National Council of Air and Stream Improvement; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Geological Survey; Federation of Southern Cooperatives; National Tribal Environmental Council; University of California LA; and Colorado State Forest Service.
Right: Hells Canyon - Photo by Bridgett Naylor
Left: Nantahala National Forest - Photo by USDA Forest Service
Participants from EFETAC, WWETAC, and the TUG gathered in Portland, OR, and Asheville, NC, and virtual locations for the inaugural TUG meeting, held March 2-3, 2011. The purpose of the meeting was to expand the Centers’ collaborative efforts with traditional and non-traditional partners, engage Center staff with TUG members, and receive strategic input to enhance the Eastern and Western Centers’ research and technology transfer development efforts that benefit the range of stakeholders represented by the TUG.
The following presentations were delivered to the TUG by the Centers' staff:
- Danny C. Lee, EFETAC Director - EFETAC Overview
- Nancy Grulke, WWETAC Director - WWETAC Overview
- Alan Ager, WWETAC Operations Research Analyst - WWETAC Threat Mapping Applications and Wildfire Risk Assessment Framework and Tools
- Paige Fischer, WWETAC Research Social Scientist - Human Perceptions of Environmental Risk at the Rural/Wildlands and Agronomic/Wildlands Interface
- Bill Hargrove, EFETAC Ecologist - National Early Warning System
- Kurt Riitters, EFETAC Research Ecologist - Forest Health Monitoring Research
- Emrys Treasure, EFETAC Biological Scientist - Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options and Water Supply Stress Index – Carbon and Biodiversity
- Kevin Potter, EFETAC Cooperating Scientist and Research Assistant Professor (North Carolina State University) - Forecasts of Climate-Associated Shifts in Tree Species (ForeCASTS)
- Qinfeng Guo, EFETAC Ecologist - Invasive Plants
- Steve Norman, EFETAC Ecologist - Comparative Risk Assessment Framework and Tools
Notes from the inaugural TUG meeting are available here.
TUG members and Threat Assessment Center staff can login to the portal here.
