Fire Resilience Panels During SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Adaptation: In-Progress Film Screening + Panel Discussion

Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Nevada City – City Hall Chambers

As wildfires, hurricanes, and hail storms become more frequent and severe, how can our communities prepare? How can we adapt to this new reality?

Join us for an exclusive sneak peak of Adaptation, a new short documentary from Spruce Tone and SLOMotion exploring unique experiments and research by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Behind the walls of their state-of-the-art facility, engineers simulate wildfires, recreate hail, and hurricane force winds to understand how humans can adapt to the climate crisis.

Post screening, join Palmer Morse Co-Director of Adaptation, Steve Hawks, Senior Director for Wildfire at IBHS, and other panelists TBA for a conversation on future proofing housing in the face of a changing climate and wildfire in California.

Palmer Morse (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary award-winning filmmaker based in Oakland, California interested in stories of humans, our planet, and the interactions of the two. He has a track record of producing impactful films sharing stories of individuals overcoming adversity, environmental challenges, and finding belonging in community. His work has been shown in National Geographic, PBS, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Outside Magazine and in festivals such as DOC NYC, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Indy Shorts Fest, Banff Mountain Film Festival, and Mountainfilm. His films have picked up a nomination for Vimeo’s “Best of the Year”, a Webby Award, and several Telly and festival awards. He currently lives in Oakland, California and is the Co-Founder of Spruce Tone. Steve Hawks – Senior Director for Wildfire, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety

Steve Hawks (he/him) joined the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) in 2023 and currently serves as the Senior Director for Wildfire. In this role, Steve works to advance wildfire policy and code development, manages IBHS’s post-fire analysis research, assists with the Wildfire Prepared Home program and develops future designation program opportunities. He also serves on the Underwriter’s Laboratory Fire Safety Research Institute’s Wildfire Advisory Committee and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo WUI Fire Institute’s Advisory Council. Steve has over three decades of experience in wildland firefighting and prevention. Prior to IBHS, Steve spent 30 years serving in various CAL FIRE roles, from firefighter to battalion chief. He retired as an Assistant Deputy Director in CAL FIRE – Office of State Fire Marshal’s Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation Division. He also served with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) from 1989 to 2022 and was a member of CAL FIRE’s Incident Management Teams for 13 years. Steve earned a Bachelor of Science in forest resource management with a minor in business administration from Humboldt State University.

Modern Megafires and The Power of Forest Restoration

Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Nevada City – City Hall Chambers

Join us for an exciting panel discussion with filmmaker Evan Barrientos of this year’s film Fireforest, which documents the crucial impacts of forest restoration in halting Colorado’s Cameron Peak Fire of 2020.

After the film, a panel of local and regional fire experts will share the methods, impacts, and challenges of forest restoration techniques in the face of our modern-day megafires. This will be a powerful dialogue tying together lessons in fire management across the evolving landscapes of the west and highlighting the vital role of forest restoration in adapting to large-scale wildfire. 

• Kat Perlman (moderator) – Forest Health Program Manager, SYRCL
• Evan Barrientos – Filmmaker
• Jeff Lauder, PhD – Executive Director of Sierra Streams Institute
• Alex Keeble-Toll – Interim Director, Nevada County Office of Emergency Services
• Edward Smith – (retired) Fire Manager and Forest Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy