Paper #5148: Jeff Crews, EOS Education Project

K-12 School and Community: Exploring Problems Locally
EOS Education Project: The Firewise Information System

Fires are a real threat across most of America and the world. The federal government has struggled to manage wildland fires for decades and their job has gotten more complex as populations creep into heavily wooded areas and enlarge areas of concern in the wildland urban interface. In the past few years, a new approach to managing this real threat has emerged through the National Firewise Communities program, which promotes community-based cooperation among the public, private, state, federal and local sectors to address fire hazards and build or create fire-resilient communities. The national model actively encourages participation at the local and regional level from all sectors of the community.

However, most communities interested in implementing the Firewise program lack key data parameters that will allow for the effective use of GIS. Examples include structure location, local vegetation and fuel loads, and road location and specifications within the interface area. Satellite imagery, with ground-truthing activities using GPS, can fill much of this data gap.

To integrate the Firewise initiative into schools, The Earth Observing System Education Project (EOSEP) of the University of Montana – Missoula has created the internet-based Firewise Information System (FIS) to engage students in systematically collecting data to assess fire related risks associated with real property in the wildland urban interface. The FIS uses the national Firewise Communities model and relies on the local school district - the core of every rural community across the west - to coordinate a cooperative agreement with the local fire district to use GPS and GIS to collect fire information in support of creating a safer community.

The FIS is being piloted with the assistance of Frenchtown Schools and the Frenchtown Fire Department (Montana). Frenchtown teachers and students were initially introduced to GIS through GIS 4 Montana, a creative partnership between EOSEP and Esri, in which every school in Montana may obtain ArcView software and training free of charge through EOSEP. FIS Students engage in real-world utilization of GPS and GIS technologies and associated geospatial data to assess fire risks in their community, work with the local fire department to correct problems, and assist with community education concerning wildland fire risks. Data generated through the Frenchtown School/ Frenchtown Fire partnership will be entered into the FIS, which utilizes an ArcIMS system. Data may then be shared with the larger community and be applied to real world planning and fire protection issues. The FIS represents a community-based data collection and mapping project that integrates student learning with an important local issue in western Montana – wildland fire.

The FIS is one example of the use of satellite imagery and GIS technologies by schools to address local issues. Another example is the Safe to School project. This project was conducted in Lolo, Montana to help students assess the safest route to use to get to school and other points of local interest. The town of Lolo is divided by Highway 93, which runs directly through the heart of town and most students must cross it to get to school. Once a less traveled road, Highway 93 is the only route for the Bitterroot Valley and Ravalli County to access Missoula, its medical, cultural, and business center. Ravalli County has one of the fastest growth rates in the United States. Consequently, Highway 93 no longer safely carries traffic through small towns such as Lolo and communities have suffered due to the traffic increase.

Safe to Schools was initiated to ensure that the younger segment of Lolo’s population understood the traffic concern and could find safe routes through town. Initially, fifth graders were trained to use ArcView software through a series of trainings provided by EOSEP. Once fifth graders were comfortable with the software, they were paired with a kindergartner, and together, they traced their routes to school and determined whether it was the safest route to take. Aerial photography of the town was used and GPS locations were added to provide students with reference points that they would recognize. The project has provided a successful template for use in towns that are split by busy roads and provides important safety information to students in a learning context.

Additional communities have been impacted by the use of GIS within their local schools. Plains, a small rural town in western Montana, used GIS to help establish a community map used to locate potential hazards as well as emergency resources. Drummond school hopes to use GIS to explore the local river and begin to understand the effects of many years of heavy copper mining upstream from their community. Billings SkyView is in the process of turning a recently donated tract of land into interpretive area, complete with informational kiosks, an interpretive path, and restroom facilities. These are a few of the many communities in Montana that are working to integrate GIS technology into current teaching practices.

EOSEP is committed to furthering schools’ use of GIS for local projects and issues. GIS allows students to explore the world in new and fascinating ways, and it also allows them to look at their local community in ways they had not thought of before.

Jeff Crews
Assistant Director
Earth Observing System Education Project