Southern Fire Exchange

Southern Fire Exchange (SFE) is one of 15 regional exchanges within the Joint Fire Science Program’s (JFSP, U.S. Department of the Interior) Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN), created to ensure that fire science reaches practitioners who can most effectively apply it to real-world applications (Dante-Wood and Hunter 2025). SFE serves the southeastern U.S. (South), the region with the highest prescribed fire use in the country (Melvin 2021). SFE connects researchers and managers to increase their use of fire science in natural resource management decisions and provides avenues for managers to share their information needs with the scientific community (Figure 1).

The South is unique in that most of its wildland fires are prescribed fires (Melvin 2021), underscoring the region’s need for prescribed fire-focused science (Hiers et al. 2020). Reducing the threat of wildfires (Malone et al. 2011, Addington et al. 2015, Kobziar et al. 2015, Nowell et al. 2018, Donovan et al. 2023), prescribed fire is essential for maintaining fire-dependent ecosystems and supporting the richly diverse species assemblages they harbor (Engstrom et al. 1984, Cox and Jones 2009, Dixon et al. 2022). The restoration and conservation of the region’s fire-dependent ecosystems require (1) the reintroduction of fire where excluded, (2) the ability to re-apply fire at appropriate intervals in the future, and (3) the capacity for human populations to coexist with fire in a manner that promotes human health and safety. These requirements highlight the need for cutting-edge fire science in the region and underscore the importance of SFE in delivering timely and relevant fire science to natural resource managers, wildland firefighters, policy makers, and the public. Here, we highlight examples of how SFE effectively connects regional audiences with fire science research, information, and technology.

Translating Fire Science into Ecological Restoration

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas, highly prioritized for conservation and restoration, are maintained by frequent, low-intensity surface fires (Van Lear et al. 2005, Frost 2006). Where decades of fire exclusion have degraded such communities, prescribed fire re-introduction can sometimes kill centuries-old pines targeted for conservation (Varner et al. 2007). Vexing land managers, the resulting longleaf pine mortality is often delayed and can occur well over a year following the prescribed fire. Understanding the factors that can lead to this delayed mortality and preventing its occurrence have been priorities for land managers on public and private lands across the South. Through JFSP funding, researchers and managers at the University of Florida, Eglin Air Force Base, Tall Timbers Research Station, and the USDA Forest Service collaborated to apply science to address the problem. Research found that smoldering duff at the base of trees can ignite during prescribed fires and smolder for hours or days, killing fine roots and ultimately stressing trees to the point of mortality (Varner et al. 2009). This science-manager partnership led to new management recommendations, including avoiding high-severity initial burns, testing for duff moisture, and applying a series of low-severity fires during wetter conditions to gradually reduce duff and protect mature tree fine roots (Varner et al. 2007, Kreye et al. 2016, Varner et al. 2016, Susaeta et al. 2022).

Stemming from this collaboration, SFE has organized workshops, led field tours, produced videos, and developed fact sheets training thousands of managers responsible for millions of hectares of public and private land on the techniques of prescribed fire restoration (Fill et al. 2020). Private landowners play a particularly critical role in fire restoration across the South, where an estimated 86% of forestland is privately owned (Wear and Greis 2013). Across the region, for example, practitioners report widespread adoption of the multi-step burning approach and duff moisture testing protocols recommended in SFE materials, particularly in restoration projects targeting long-unburned longleaf pine stands that cover hundreds of thousands of hectares. SFE’s latest initiative, the “Mountains to Sea Duff Workshop Series,” developed in collaboration with the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists, brings duff fire science to managers from the Blue Ridge mountains to the Atlantic coast through classroom presentations and field site visits. By focusing on practical, low-cost techniques like duff moisture testing and multi-stage burns, duff management becomes accessible and actionable for a wide range of landowners and fire practitioners.

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Figure 1.

SFE has four program objectives that guide the development of a range of regionally relevant pro-grams, resources, and opportunities: (1) Incorporate fire science into decision-making, (2) Unite fire science and management, (3) Increase and improve fire sci-ence access, and (4) Operate as impartial brokers of fire science information.

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Figure 2.

Results of a 2025 survey (n = 386) asking respondents to rate the usefulness of SFE’s primary topics and activities. Color gradient represents the proportion of each rated response, with higher proportions shown at the darker end of the gradient. Evaluation data indicate that SFE’s work remains valuable in prescribed fire planning, training, decision-making, and ecological management, with the majority of respondents rating the activities as useful.

The Structure and Organization of SFE

SFE operates with a small but dedicated staff who coordinate programming, develop outreach materials, and facilitate connections between researchers and practitioners. The organization is guided by an advisory board composed of fire managers, scientists, and natural resource professionals from across the South, who provide strategic direction, identify emerging needs, and ensure SFE’s programming remains responsive to regional practitioner priorities. Practitioners can engage with SFE through multiple pathways beyond attending workshops or trainings: they can subscribe to monthly e-newsletters, engage with social media posts, participate in webinars, watch archived YouTube videos, request specific resources or training topics, and serve on the advisory board. This multifaceted approach to engagement ensures that SFE functions not only as an information provider but also as a dynamic network in which practitioners actively shape the organization’s direction and outputs. This model of sustained collaboration between scientists and practitioners serves as a template for other disciplines within restoration ecology seeking to strengthen science-management connections.

The Science of Keeping Fire on the Ground in a Rapidly Changing World

Fire management in the South is increasingly complex due to rapid population growth and regulatory changes. The region has the nation’s largest and fastest-growing wildland-urban interface (WUI), with North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia leading the trend (Carlson et al. 2022, Tang et al. 2024). Recent changes in EPA air quality standards require managers to make increasingly informed decisions regarding prescribed burn timing, smoke management, and public communication (Ryan et al. 2013, Jaffe et al. 2020, Bond et al. 2024, Wagner et al. 2024).

Over the past 15 years, SFE has established itself as a trusted source of information, drawing on the latest fire science research to support practitioners across the South.

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Figure 3.

SFE develops programs and products across a gradient of end-user investment and engagement, ranging from user-accessed to personal interactions. The SFE website, southernfireexchange.org, features user-accessed materials such as fact sheets and newsletters. Additionally, SFE posts new resources and opportunities on the website, via email, and on social media. Direct delivery methods include webinars, meeting presentations, a database of regionally relevant research (hosted on Zotero), and archived videos on the YouTube channel. SFE also offers virtual in-person events, including workshops, field tours, and classes.

Evaluation data show that SFE work continues to benefit prescribed fire planning, training, decision-making, and natural resource management (Figure 2). Catering to busy professionals and a range of learning styles (Figure 3), SFE supports individual learning through current website content, webinars, social media, e-newsletters, fact sheets, podcasts, and research databases, while also connecting learners through workshops, field tours, and information booths at events (Figure 2). Since 2011, over 20,000 people from across the world have attended SFE fire science webinars. The SFE YouTube Channel has more than 1,500 subscribers, 165,000 views, and shares over 400 fire science-related videos. These trends attest to the value of the content to managers.

By combining multiple delivery pathways with products on topics like smoke management, SFE connects practitioners with the latest science and tools to support safe and effective prescribed fire management decisions. A key challenge SFE has addressed is expanding access to smoke resources for diverse audiences, particularly non-professional communities and private landowners who may lack the technical training and resources available to public agency fire managers. To mitigate this barrier, SFE has focused on making smoke modeling tools more accessible through simplified fact sheets, pocket guides designed for field use, and step-by-step training webinars to demystify these tools. For example, a webinar providing training on a new wind analysis tool developed by Tall Timbers Research Station to reduce smoke impacts on local communities was followed by a “Fireside Chat” that allowed participants to engage in further discussion with the panel of presenters. Another barrier SFE has worked to overcome is the limited availability of information on emerging smoke-related hazards such as super fog events (i.e., dense fog formed when smoke from fires combines with moisture), which pose significant risks to transportation safety (Achtemeier 2009). By compiling and disseminating guidance on this and other emerging phenomena, SFE helps practitioners anticipate and respond to novel challenges. For example, following recent hurricanes in the South, SFE rapidly synthesized scientific evidence on wildfire risk associated with hurricane debris, providing timely guidance that informed fire managers’ responses to new wildfire threats and challenges for prescribed burning (Godwin et al. 2022). Increasing the skills and knowledge of prescribed fire practitioners prepares them to be nimble in the face of disturbance events, which will likely shift prescribed fire burn windows and the conditions required to accomplish management goals (Wear and Greis 2013).

The Science of Living with Fire

SFE adapts its programming as fire management challenges change and the related science advances. In response to the proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 (i.e., particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter), SFE shifted efforts toward developing programs and resources to train landowners and fire professionals in smoke modeling and management. Recent products highlighting this focus include those developed with partners such as the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Forestry Commission, and Tall Timbers Research Station: Be Smoke Savvy: Georgia Prescribed Fire Smoke Management Pocket Guide (Fernandez et al. 2025), SFE Smoke and Weather Resources (SFE 2025) fact sheets, and a virtual workshop on PM_2.5. These resources provide practical tools and training for considering shared airsheds, planning safe burns, and applying predictive smoke models.

The Power of Connection

By serving as both a translator and a facilitator, SFE ensures that fire science is not only produced but also implemented. As a convener and listener, SFE keeps a pulse on the needs of fire managers and policymakers to help guide the future of fire science research. As population growth, expanding WUI, and changing air quality regulations shape fire management in the South, this co-production of science communication programs will provide the most practical tools and accessible information for applying safe and ecologically relevant prescribed fires (Hiers et al. 2020, Kupfer et al. 2022, Siegel et al. 2024). Duff management and smoke resources are clear examples of how connecting research with practitioners improves on-the-ground decisions and underscores the importance of sustained collaboration. Looking ahead, with support from the advisory board and continued funding from JFSP, SFE aims to address the most pressing regional fire management challenges by providing accessible fire science training, decision-support tools, and engagement opportunities. These efforts help practitioners adapt to changing conditions and apply the best-available science to their fire management decisions.