Thursday, August 7, 2025
from 1 to 6 pm
at The Wild Center
This event is in partnership with Adirondack Explorer, Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy,
Paul Smith's College and The Wild Center.
Join us for Fire in the Adirondacks: It has Happened Before - Can it Happen Again?—a one-day conference bringing together community members, scientists, Indigenous voices, and policy leaders to explore wildfire risk and preparedness in the Adirondacks.
As wildfire threats increase across the Northeast, this conference aims to deepen our collective understanding of fire as a natural ecological force—and the growing need for proactive strategies to protect Adirondack landscapes and communities. Through panels, presentations, and conversations, we’ll explore what’s at stake, what’s possible, and what we can do—together.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Local residents, community leaders, conservation organizations, educators, outdoor recreationists, researchers, students,
and anyone invested in the future of the Adirondacks.
REGISTRATION
$45 General Admission
$40 Wild Center Members
Registration the day of the conference will open at 11 am. Advanced registration is encouraged!
Fire in the Adirondacks: It has Happened Before - Can it Happen Again? Conference Schedule:
PRE-CONFERENCE: guests are encouraged to arrive when the Center opens at 10 am to explore trails, exhibits and programs. Conference registration includes general admission.
- Highlights include Wild Walk, Climate Solutions, Raquette River Roll (newly expanded!), Forest Music, Patrick Dougherty’s Stickwork, Birdly, and animal ambassadors that call The Wild Center home
- 11 am Creature Feature (drop-in program to see and learn about a Wild Center animal ambassador)
- 12 pm Otter Program (drop-in program to learn about Wild Center resident river otters)
- 12:30 pm pre-conference fire session in Planet Adirondack
11 am: Check-in Opens
- Registered attendees check-in and receive their name badge
- New attendees are invited to register if tickets remain
1 pm: Event begins in Flammer Theater with a welcome from Hillarie Logan-Dechene, The Wild Center
1:10 pm Partners Perspectives Panel: Why are we talking about wildfire in the Adirondacks now? facilitated by Nicole Baker, The Wild Center
- Dan Kelting, Paul Smith’s College
- Tracy Ormsbee, Adirondack Explorer
- Stephanie Ratcliffe, The Wild Center
1:30 pm Indigenous Perspectives Indigenous Relationship to Fire with Jade Haumann, Masters Student, Seneca Wolf Clan
2:15 pm Historic Perspectives Wildfire and Land Use in the Adirondacks with Phil Terrie, Environmental Historian & Author
3 pm Forester Perspectives Panel: Can It Happen? Then What? facilitated by Bob Stegemann
- Angello Johnson, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
- Tom Curiale, Lyme Timber Company
- Lizz Schuyler, Adirondack Park Agency
- Justin Waskiewicz, Paul Smith's College
3:50 pm Policy Perspectives Panel: Is Forever Wild Helping or Adding Fuel? Current Park Policy Discussion facilitated by Mike Lynch, Adirondack Explorer
- Mark Lesser, SUNY Plattsburgh
- Claudia Braymer, Protect the Adirondacks
4:20 pm: Keynote Understanding Historical Fire Regimes to Foster Resilient Forests with Jed Meunier, Research Scientist, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
Introduction from Sally Bogdanovitch
4:55 pm: Closing Remarks
POST-CONFERENCE: Reception with Presenters at 5:15 pm
- Meet and network with attendees and conference presenters
- Enjoy local beer, New York State wines and snacks
- Take a photo with Smokey the Bear!
THANK YOU SPONSORS
Keynote Speaker Sponsor
Gary Glenn Hartwick & Nancy Kelly Hartwick
Ignite Sponsor
Spark Sponsor
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE: Jed Meunier
Jed Meunier is a research scientist within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry studying forest and fire ecology. His research interests range from individual species attributes to landscape ecology with a unifying theme of understanding how forces of climate and disturbance drive ecological change and how we can in turn manage for resilient systems. He attributes the origins of his interest in fire ecology in part to his experiences helping conduct prescribed burns as an intern with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, started by his grandmother, Nina Leopold Bradley, and her siblings. Jed’s dissertation research was on fire ecology in northern Mexico aimed at guiding forest management and restoration in northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, very much in line with what Aldo Leopold had himself promoted seven decades prior. Jed received his M.S. in the wildlife ecology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying the effects of hunting on declining American woodcock populations. Jed considers himself lucky to spend his time asking questions and through applied research assisting in the management of our many natural treasures.
Sally Bogdanovitch
Sarah "Sally” R. Bogdanovitch, of Paul Smiths, New York, is Professor Emeritus at Paul Smith’s College and a certified forester through the Society of American Foresters (SAF). Sally was named a SAF Fellow, the highest honor bestowed upon SAF members to recognize sustained leadership and exemplary advancement of the forestry profession. She is a board member for the Empire State Forest Product Association, an advisory board member for the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY, and The Wild Center. She remains involved with many other organizations in the Adirondacks and beyond.
Claudia Braymer
Claudia Braymer is the Executive Director of Protect the Adirondacks, a position she started in 2025, after serving as the Deputy Director since 2023. Before joining PROTECT, Claudia worked for more than ten years in the private practice of law specializing in the areas of environmental law, zoning and planning, real estate, and municipal law. She has represented environmental groups, community activists, and individual landowners before local municipal boards and state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Braymer serves as a co-chair of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve committee of the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.
Tom Curiale
Tom is an Operations Forester at Lyme Adirondack Forest Company (LAFCO), where he manages day-to-day forest operations on approximately 48,000 acres of industrial forestland throughout the Champlain Valley. LAFCO is currently the largest private landowner in New York State, managing 234,000 acres of forestland throughout the Adirondack region. Tom graduated from Paul Smith’s College in 2022 with a B.S. in Forest Operations and a minor in Wildland Firefighting. He has also served as a volunteer firefighter since 2016, where he has worked on both prescribed burns and unintentionally set wildland fires in Essex and Franklin Counties.
Jade Haumann
Jade Haumann is a member of the Seneca Nation Wolf Clan. She is from the Onondaga Nation community and am a graduate student at SUNY ESF, formally studying fire ecology through a Haudenosaunee lens. Jade’s master’s work embodies her passion for advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, healing human-land relations, and her love for community. The goal of her work is to articulate past Haudenosaunee relationships to fire, with specifics of how, why, where, and when. Ideally, this work can serve as a resource to consult in making community decisions on how to address local climate change impacts.
Jade’s professional aspiration is to work with the Onondaga Nation community to help build plans for a prescribed burn team that can benefit all Haudenosaunee communities interested. As a student, she has dedicated much time and energy to traveling to other Indigenous communities and building relationships with fire practitioners outside the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to create a supportive network. Through studying behavior of wildland fire, Jade has also acquired her NWCG Firefighter Type 2 certification and has participated in controlled burns as far as Northern California. Fire holds a special place in Jade’s heart and genuinely enjoys sharing the often-untold story of fire’s nurturing qualities in caring for the land.
Jade’s professional aspiration is to work with the Onondaga Nation community to help build plans for a prescribed burn team that can benefit all Haudenosaunee communities interested. As a student, she has dedicated much time and energy to traveling to other Indigenous communities and building relationships with fire practitioners outside the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to create a supportive network. Through studying behavior of wildland fire, Jade has also acquired her NWCG Firefighter Type 2 certification and has participated in controlled burns as far as Northern California. Fire holds a special place in Jade’s heart and genuinely enjoys sharing the often-untold story of fire’s nurturing qualities in caring for the land.
Dan Kelting
Dan Kelting is the President of Paul Smith’s College, where he leads efforts to advance academic excellence, sustainability, and community engagement. With over two decades of service at the college in several key leadership roles, including his previous role as Executive Director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, Dan is deeply committed to the college, the environment and to fostering student success.
Dan’s leadership at Paul Smith’s College has focused on rebuilding its academic programs, improving student services, cultivating an inclusive campus culture, and reengaging with the external community and supporters. His strategic vision is focused on building a thriving college which includes strengthening partnerships with local communities and businesses and fostering a sustainable, thriving college community.
Since earning his Ph.D. in Forest Soils from Virginia Tech in 1999, Dan’s career has spanned academia and environmental stewardship, achieving significant milestones, such as securing major funding for key projects and enhancing protection of regional water resources. For example, his pioneering work that documented widespread contamination of surface and groundwater by road salt led to his appointment to New York Governor Hochul’s Road Salt Task Force whereon he contributed to vital recommendations for safeguarding water resources in the Adirondacks.
Dan’s leadership at Paul Smith’s College has focused on rebuilding its academic programs, improving student services, cultivating an inclusive campus culture, and reengaging with the external community and supporters. His strategic vision is focused on building a thriving college which includes strengthening partnerships with local communities and businesses and fostering a sustainable, thriving college community.
Since earning his Ph.D. in Forest Soils from Virginia Tech in 1999, Dan’s career has spanned academia and environmental stewardship, achieving significant milestones, such as securing major funding for key projects and enhancing protection of regional water resources. For example, his pioneering work that documented widespread contamination of surface and groundwater by road salt led to his appointment to New York Governor Hochul’s Road Salt Task Force whereon he contributed to vital recommendations for safeguarding water resources in the Adirondacks.
Dr. Mark Lesser
Dr. Mark Lesser is a forest ecologist in the Center for Earth and Environmental Science at SUNY Plattsburgh. Originally from Halifax Nova Scotia, Mark completed a BS and Masters in Forest and Forest Genetics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay Ontario before going on to the University of Wyoming for a PhD in Ecology where he worked on long-term development and structure of ponderosa pine populations. After completing his PhD Mark held postdoctoral positions at SUNY ESF and Syracuse University, where amongst other things he developed an interest in how tree species are arrayed along elevational gradients. Work that began as a postdoc in the Great Smoky Mountains moved north to the central Appalachians and Shenandoah National Park, while he was at Shepherd University in West Virginia for two years; and then finally to the Adirondacks when he came to SUNY Plattsburgh in 2017. An avid hiker and 46er, Mark can think of no better place to both work and play then the Adirondacks!
Mike Lynch
Mike Lynch is a journalist and outdoors enthusiast who has been reporting on issues related to recreation and the environment for more than 25 years. He is currently the climate reporter for the Adirondack Explorer, a nonprofit media outlet dedicated to covering the Adirondack region. Prior to joining the Explorer in 2014, Mike worked as the outdoors reporter for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake and newspapers in downstate New York and California. His work has been published in dozens of publications. Mike has also worked as a licensed outdoor guide and is the author of 12 Short Hikes on Preserves near Lake George.
Lizz Schuyler
Lizz Schuyler is the Supervisor of Natural Resource Analysis at the Adirondack Park Agency, where she leads efforts to integrate ecological science into land use planning and policy. Lizz holds a Ph.D. in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University, where her doctoral research examined the ecological consequences of wildfire and invasive species in degraded western landscapes through the lens of landscape species. Her academic and professional background centers on the role of natural disturbance, particularly wildfire, in shaping wildlife dynamics and ecosystem recovery. Prior to
joining the Agency, she served as a professor of wildlife ecology at Paul Smith’s College, where she taught and mentored students in the heart of the Adirondacks. Driven by a commitment to science-informed policy and a deep connection to her home region, Lizz brings a cross-regional perspective on fire-adapted ecosystems and land management strategies.
joining the Agency, she served as a professor of wildlife ecology at Paul Smith’s College, where she taught and mentored students in the heart of the Adirondacks. Driven by a commitment to science-informed policy and a deep connection to her home region, Lizz brings a cross-regional perspective on fire-adapted ecosystems and land management strategies.
Bob Stegemann
Bob Stegemann’s career spanned both public and private sectors, including work with the Tug Hill Commission, Empire State Forest Products Association, International Paper and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. In all of these positions, Bob’s work sought to find solutions to environmental and economic demands. Early in his career Bob worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as a smokejumper fighting fires in Alaska and the northwest. Bob holds a BA in Economics from Union College and a MS In Resources Management and Policy from SUNY ESF. Bob and his wife, Eileen, are retired and live near Saranac Lake, NY.
Philip Terrie
Philip Terrie is an environmental and Adirondack historian. He has taught American and environmental studies at colleges in Ohio and New York. His sixth book, Wild Forest Lands: Finding History and Meaning in the Adirondacks, will be published in September 2025 by Syracuse University Press.
Justin Waskiewicz
Justin is an Associate Professor of Forestry at Paul Smith’s College, where he has been teaching since 2017, with classes including Dendrology Lab, Wood Properties, Forest Mensuration, Forest Ecology, Advanced Silviculture, and Fire Ecology. Prior to Paul Smith’s, Justin has worked at the University of Vermont and the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine. His formal education in forestry began with a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in 2000, where he studied among the fire-dependent ponderosa pine ecosystems and worked for the Ecological Restoration Institute, continuing there with a Master’s degree in 2003. Justin completed a PhD at the University of Maine in 2011, studying inter-species competition in an oak-pine forest that developed over the decades following a 1947 fire.
