Amanda Monthei
@amonthei.bsky.social
2K followers 270 following 150 posts
Writer, communicator, creator of Life with Fire Podcast. Mostly writing, talking and thinking about wildfire resilience and land stewardship. www.amandamonthei.com
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amonthei.bsky.social
The funny thing is that I'm fairly certain the author of these books was in the Wildfire subreddit last year asking some extremely specific questions (with full admission of what she was working on) and the community was really kind/helpful with her requests! www.amazon.com/Sky-Ridge-Ho...
Sky Ridge Hotshots
Visit Amazon's Sky Ridge Hotshots Page and shop for all Sky Ridge Hotshots books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Sky Ridge Hotshots
www.amazon.com
amonthei.bsky.social
Was talking to a groups of 50-ish year old women at a concert last night. They asked what I did and I told them about my wildfire work. One went “OH! I just read a series of *spicy* novels about hotshots! I learned so much about firefighting from it!”

Is smut an underrated form of #scicomm? lol
amonthei.bsky.social
Thank you so much for sharing, Murphy!
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
murphywoodhouse.bsky.social
Thank you @amonthei.bsky.social for a very thoughtful conversation about the north rim situation. If you care about our terrible relationship with fire and getting more good fire on the ground, this is the podcast for you. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
The Social Contract of Managing Fire with Stephen Pyne
Podcast Episode · Life with Fire · 07/17/2025 · 45m
podcasts.apple.com
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
georgetakei.bsky.social
Medical debt shouldn’t ever be a thing in a developed country. No other Western industrialized nation has it.
amonthei.bsky.social
My Roman empire is that some version of the headline below could happen in almost every county in the US right now if it experienced a disaster.

We need to sit with that and then figure out how to do better—quickly.

abcnews.go.com/US/hard-hit-...
Hard-hit Texas county had no flood warning sirens despite years of discussions
State and local officials in Texas have come under scrutiny over the lack of sirens in place to warn people of impending flash flooding.
abcnews.go.com
amonthei.bsky.social
Anyone know where to find smoke data or live-ish prescribed fire/wildfire maps for (northern) Spain? Was great weather for burning today and I biked by at least two sizable burns, was hoping to find more info about them!
amonthei.bsky.social
Community-level resilience has been a heavily requested topic by listeners over the years, but I could never give it the space I think it needed—I'm immensely grateful to Fire Aside for supporting my efforts to explore this topic from multiple angles and perspectives!
amonthei.bsky.social
I just finished up a month-long podcast series (supported by @fireaside.bsky.social), all centered on Community Wildfire Resilience. My approach to this conversation was to start as big as possible—with community resilience policy in California—and end at the community/implementation scale.
amonthei.bsky.social
A red card is required to respond to wildfire incidents, whether as a firefighter, information officer, logistics chief or other roles that support firefighting operations. So anyone who goes out on wildfires either as part of their normal job or on top of their normal job would have a red card.
amonthei.bsky.social
I don't have anything longer form yet. I just heard these numbers this morning, though many fire folks have been ringing the alarm on this since cuts started in February. We're about to enter the "find out" phase of f*ucking around and finding out.
amonthei.bsky.social
We will, without a single doubt, be short of firefighters and fire support folks this year. This will, without a single doubt, impact firefighter safety.
amonthei.bsky.social
Due to DOGE cuts, RIFs and early retirements, the Forest Service has lost 1600 red-carded individuals and five complex incident management teams (the teams that manage the large, complex incidents that you see on the news) ahead of what is expected to be an active wildfire season.
amonthei.bsky.social
I will keep this in mind! I spoke with Susan Jane Brown (www.silvixresources.org/about) on this topic last week and am hoping to release that episode soonish. But I'm also working on a substack post about this topic and may need additional interviews/context to make that happen as well. Thank you!
About | Silvix Resources
Silvix Resources advances the conservation, restoration, and stewardship of western public lands.
www.silvixresources.org
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
suddenoaklife.bsky.social
Center for Biological Diversity (@biologicaldiversity.org) recently published an opinion piece: "‘Active management’ harms forests — and it’s about to get a whole lot worse." Given that this article has considerable bearing on my profession, allow me to offer a different point of view. 🌎🍁🔥🌳
‘Active Management’ Harms Forests — And It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse • The Revelator
Forest management approaches promoted as “resilience,” “restoration,” “fuel reduction,” and “forest health” often degrade natural systems and reduce carbon stocks.
therevelator.org
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
jimwhittington.bsky.social
One reason the feds aren't discussing the situation & planning with state/local resources is because they aren't allowed to do so. Seeing it all laid out in this article is bracing.

We are already well behind the curve & stand no chance of getting ahead of the 2025 fire year. Prepare accordingly.
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
jimwhittington.bsky.social
Still amazed that these two maps are not making more news and generating more public comment. Especially given the intentionally degraded capacity of the federal wildland fire service.
Reposted by Amanda Monthei
grumpyunclesean.bsky.social
New paper alert -- Gavin Jones strikes again!

Key findings:
• Fire-driven complete loss of mature forest habitat in California is possible by 2100 under 'business as usual'.

• Active forest restoration could slow or reverse trends of mature forest loss.
🧪🌍🔥
Collapse and restoration of mature forest habitat in California
Mature and old-growth forests provide critically important ecosystems services and wildlife habitats, but they are being lost at a rapid rate to uncha…
www.sciencedirect.com
amonthei.bsky.social
Thanks for your ongoing coverage of this, Murphy!
amonthei.bsky.social
thank you for reading, as always <3