Base Camp and Conservation Committee: Ralph Bloemers, Wildfires

Activity Notes

On March 5 the Mazama Conservation and Programs Committees will host a presentation and discussion with wildfire filmmaker and policy expert Ralph Bloemers. Ralph is the Executive Producer of the wildfire documentary Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire, and today he is one of the world's leading public educators about fire and its role in nature and society. He is the creative producer on a new special for PBS on the LA fire storm that will be released March 19 nationwide. He is also working on a job documentary series called Fire Safe People and is a producer of a new Hulu film on wildland firefighting, as well as several screenplays.

Ralph is a storyteller who seeks to bring forward solutions to help people in the path of these fires make choices and act to meet these challenging times. He's at the front lines of stories to end conflagration, driven by a desire to empower people to take action before fire comes. In the presentation he shares the lessons he has learned from nature and from the nation’s foremost experts. He will reflect on interactions with fire survivors from two years on the road with Elemental — and he will unpack and confront the dominant cultural beliefs around fire, the unreasonable expectations the public has about firefighters' abilities in fast-moving fires, and brainstorm on how we might bring humor and action, not fear and futility, to deal with wildfires. He works with fire survivors, firefighters, policymakers and the public on solutions.

Ralph's presentation is the first of three conservation programs put on by the Conservation and Programs Committees. On April 25 we will learn about the Blue Mountains Trail in Eastern Oregon and on May 8 Rand Schenck will discuss his book Forest Under Siege The Story of Old Growth after Gifford Pinchot.