The IAWF will sponsor of the scientific session, “Geomorphic Impacts of Wildfire” at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting & Exposition: Science at the Highest Level, to be held Oct. 27-31 in Denver. How wildfire shapes the landscape and affects run-off in watersheds will be addressed at the session.

Recent studies of burned watersheds have increased the knowledge of run-off processes that follow wildfires. These advancements are being used to guide plans for mitigation and for restoring fire processes to some ecosystems. In addition, they help shape guidelines used to limit life and property loss.

“Recent catastrophic wildfires around the world and continuing human encroachment into fire-prone ecosystems highlight the value of this kind of research,” said USGS session chair Sue Cannon. “We need to understand better how fire affects the hydrology and erosion in burned watersheds.”

Members from the Geological Survey and the Forest Service have selected a wide range of topics for inclusion in the session, including field and modeling studies of post-fire run-off of hillslope and landscape scale, and fire effects on soil. In addition, several post-fire topics have been targeted, including the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts; hazard assessments following wildfire; and new tools and methods for assessing run-off and erosion after fires.

“Promoting communications within the wildland fire community is part of our IAWF mission statement and the IAWF board is very enthusiastic about working with geoscientists who are interested in the topic and the potential of opening the door to a new group of researchers and students who have an interest in the topic of wildland fire and its impacts on our natural resources and society,” said IAWF Executive Board member Chuck Bushey.

Complete meeting information is available at <www.geosociety.org/meetings/2002>. Contact Cannon at <cannon@usgs.gov>, Deborah Martin at <dmartin@usgs.gov> or Charlie Luce at <cluce@fs.fed.gov>.