The first statewide Fire Safe Council Forum was held in conjunction with the Fire Safe 2001 Wildfire Conference commemorating the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire. The Fire Safe Council Forum was designed to facilitate networking and information sharing among members of the statewide council and the more than 90 local Fire Safe Councils (FSCs) that exist throughout the state.

Following a welcome by Forum moderator Dr. David Horne of the Greater Laguna Coast Fire Safe Council, FSC Chairman Bruce Turbeville discussed the state of the statewide FSC and its role in supporting efforts of local councils. Seasoned FSC members then facilitated an informal information exchange and networking session by hosting ten informational tables addressing such topics as establishing non-profit status, hiring a coordinator/staff member, building partnerships, dealing with environmental conflicts in fire planning, publicity/media relations and conflict resolution/team building.

Director Andrea Tuttle of the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection and Dennis Orbus of the USDA Forest Service made brief remarks to commend FSC members for their tremendous dedication to wildfire prevention. The FSC honored the Bureau of Land Management for the agency¹s efforts in garnering federal funding to support the wildfire prevention efforts of councils and other organizations through the 2001 Community-Based Wildfire Prevention grant program.

The afternoon session included a presentation on FireWise and a resources workshop on identifying and applying for federal, state and local funding. A television producer was present to work with local FSCs to create customized wildfire prevention PSAs for distribution to their local TV and radio stations. At the close of the Forum, many local FSCs participated in the Wildfire Conference poster session by highlighting their accomplishments at the FSC Achievement Exhibit.

The FSC Forum was extremely successful and the FSC looks forward to holding future Forums in various regions of the state.