Wildfire and Flood Recovery Manager Panel at Colorado State University Dec. 4

After historic wildfires and then flooding, natural resource professionals are filling new roles as Recovery Managers – a new position created in some of Colorado’s hardest hit areas. On Dec. 4, recovery managers from across the state of Colorado will be at Colorado State University to share insights about their roles as recovery managers, the status of recovery in their areas, and the challenges and key lessons that these disasters presented.

The Wildfire and Flood Recovery Manager panel will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Lory Student Center Theatre on campus. The event is free and open to the public. The panel will speak about their experiences and the ongoing recovery efforts for both floods and wildfires that have impacted Colorado in the last two years followed by a Q&A panel discussion with the audience.

Featured panelists include:

• Suzanne Bassinger, Larimer County Recovery Manager
• Gordon Brenner, City of Colorado Springs Fire Recovery Manager
• Kate Newman, Deputy County Administrator, Jefferson County
• Kathy Russell, Operations Director, Black Forest Together
• Garry Sanfacon, Boulder County Public Outreach Coordinator
• R.C. Smith, El Paso County Fire Recovery Manager

The recovery manager panel event is being hosted by CSU’s Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and is sponsored by its new Center for Managing WUI Wildfire Risk. The new center launched in fall 2013, and is dedicated to creating the next generation of wildfire management solutions and will provide science-based answers to critical questions raised by the most destructive wildfires in Colorado’s history.

The Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship is part of CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources and has a long history of education and research programs in wildland fire and collaborative management solutions. The College has faculty expertise in wildland fire behavior and management, fuels management, fire policy, and fire economics and suppression. It also offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in wildland fire and has a variety of research and extension initiatives dedicated to the issue.

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