Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is based in part on primary accounts by those who survived and witnessed the fire. It will examine the impact of this tragic fire in which more than 300 prisoners perished in their cell in Columbus, Ohio in 1930. The researcher is currently working on a book on this topic. This presentation will place the disaster within the context of America's penitentiary systm, circa 1930, especially riots, overcrowding, lack of fire fighting equipment etc. More importantly will be an analysis of the reforms that came out of this tragedy (similar to the impact of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on immigrant working conditions).

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: As North America continues to experience rapid changes in land use and demographics, and to suffer from the resulting loss and degradation of ecosystems and landscapes, prescribed fire managers face increasingly complex challenges that limit or threaten the use of this ancient conservation tool. Across the continent, common prescribed fire issues related to public health and safety, ecological stewardship, liability, public education, air quality regulation and the wildland urban interface (WUI) concern the prescribed fire community. Networking existing state and provincial prescribed fire councils’ efforts is proving synergistic in increasing communication, effectiveness of public education, participation in fire policy decisions, and representation in forums dealing with regional, national and international regulatory issues. In November 2006, a diverse group of private, federal and state agency, and non-governmental organization leaders collaborated to form a Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils. This group has since then coalesced by developing its mission statement, purpose, and goals and by manifesting them in a strategic plan. Concomitant with the Coalition’s advent has been a closely related flurry of newly developed state and provincial fire councils. The Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils serves on regional, national and international platforms to ensure that the ecological values, and other public benefits of prescribed fire, are secure for the future.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: As recently as March 2008, the FBI has maintained that eco-terrorism is the most significant domestically-based threat to the United States of America.[1] Attacks have resulted in at least $110 million worth of damage since 1976 and have caused significant destruction to public and private infrastructure.[2] To address this form of ‘special-interest’ extremism, officials have framed it in a relatively generic manner; in so doing, a policy disconnect between how the United States confronts religious fundamentalists and those groups with ecologically-founded ideologies has emerged. This presentation addresses the relevance of American counter-terrorism policies to combat the ongoing threat of eco-terrorism. It assesses the motivations of such groups, and how these are transformed into strategies which then determine tactics. A firm understanding of these elements allows decision-makers to establish a framework in which sound and effective policies can be established and implemented. Currently, the United States’ strategy to prevent eco-terrorism is inadequate; a comparison of domestic counter-terrorism spending and the frequency of eco-related terrorist incidents speaks to this statement. The threat, it is argued here, requires a local-agency response that relies on parsing specific motives (as opposed to the grand pro-environment narrative), treating eco-terrorism as a criminal act, and community-level engagement.

[1] “FBI: Eco-terrorism Remains No. 1 Domestic Terror Threat,” FOX News March 31, 2008, online, (accessed 15 May 2008).
[2] John E. Lewis, “Counterterrorism Brief” (testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee May 18, 2004), online, (accessed 15 May 2008).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: After the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, interest has exploded in developing more effective counterterrorist measures. Most of the thinking on this issue has focused exclusively on government responses to this threat. By contrast, this paper explores the potential of using non-state groups to combat terrorism. Specifically, it discusses the limitations that the anarchic international system imposes upon existing counterterrorist strategies, and suggests the possibility of employing transnational criminal organizations to gather intelligence on terrorists, and using private military forces to undertake coercive action against them. In both cases, it explicitly identifies specific conditions when these unorthodox strategies would have the greatest potential for success, along with full discussion of the dangers of over reliance on such non-state groups.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study explores how managerial directives about how to identify size and severity of wildland fires may be contributing to problems in sensemaking on both the physical and organizational levels. Details from the fatal Cramer fire that killed two helitack firefighters in Idaho in 2003 are used to show how the type rating system, and its application, interfere with firefighters’ ability to properly enact the fire environment(s) during transition fires.