Introducing the Guild’s Intermountain West office and leadership
The Intermountain West (IMW) Region is gaining momentum with the hiring of two new Guild staff members—Corrina Marshall and Meg Matonis. The IMW Region is focused on increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire, increasing diversity and inclusion in the fire practitioner community, building fire–resilient landscapes and communities, and building Guild membership in the region. Opportunities abound in this region for planning and implementing landscape–scale conservation projects with support from the Guild’s very own Gravitas Peak Wildland Fire Module. Its yet another way we put Guild principles into practice on the ground while supporting forest stewards who seek to put the forest first.
IMW staff are collaborating with Evergreen and Platte Canyon communities to update their Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP). The IMW Region emphasizes meaningful community and stakeholder engagement throughout the CWPP process, from identifying wildfire hazards and values at risk to assessing evacuation routes. These projects will build on the Guild’s past research and experience working with communities in New Mexico. The IMW team also embarked on a project with fire and fuel managers at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and staff from the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute to co-produce knowledge around fuel treatment effectiveness. The partnership with RMNP should provide some great opportunities to get Guild members and other stewards out for field tours and discussion.
The IMW Region hopes to develop strong and lasting partnerships in the area to advance the Forest Stewards Guild’ vision of ecologically, economically, and socially responsible land management.
Corrina Marshall – Intermountain West Regional Coordinator
Corrina’s current responsibilities include fundraising, document generation, and community engagement on projects focused on wildfire mitigation and prescribed fire. Working previously in the East and Midwest, she has a strong background in land stewardship, partnership development and support, and private landowner collaboration. While working for the Aldo Leopold Foundation, she served on their prescribed fire crew which sparked her interest in its use as a tool for landscape scale conservation and restoration work. Corrina is interested in supporting diversity in the field of conservation through the community partners that we work with. The next generation of conservation work, in the face of climate change, needs to be more inclusive and on a scale larger than ever before.
Meg Matonis – Intermountain West Regional Manager
Meg Matonis is thrilled to join the Guild and support efforts to increase the pace and scale of prescribed burning, create fire adapted communities, and increase diversity and inclusion on the fire line. Meg earned a PhD in forest ecology from Colorado State University in 2015, and she has professional experience with science communication, outreach, and collaboration. She has been an on-call wildland firefighter with the Larimer County Sherriff’s Office since 2013. Before joining the guild, Meg worked for the Colorado State Forest Service as the experiential learning coordinator and university liaison, and she served as a science communication specialist for the Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. She looks forward to interacting with Guild employee and partners to advance our common interests in holistic forest management.