Editor’s note: Laurel Kays and Emily Hohman are the Assistant Director and Director of the Fire Learning Network. They also support the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) program and authored the recently released TREX Guidebook. Blog cover photo credit: Kara Karboski.
Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) originated in 2008 as federal firefighters sought prescribed fire experience, The Nature Conservancy practitioners (TNC) needed wildfire experience, and land managers in Fire Learning Network landscapes needed extra capacity to get burning done. Early TREX events generally followed what is now sometimes referred to as a “classic” or “typical” TREX format – a two-week event modeled on wildfire assignments using the Incident Command System and NWCG standards.
In the nearly 20 years since then, TREX has evolved in countless ways. As of 2025, more than 5,400 people have built skills at more than 180 TREX events while treating over 225,000 acres with fire. Organizers host events that vary in ways including length, partners involved, qualification standards, and location. TREX events are still tracked and supported by Fire Networks staff*, but those staff are not closely involved in planning all events.
This expansion and evolution has led to an increasing number of fire practitioners interested in hosting their own TREX. To help support these practitioners, we have created the TREX Guidebook: Considerations for Planning a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange. The Guidebook is not a how-to guide or step-by-step instructions. Instead, it provides an overview of common formats, planning considerations, and questions to ask when planning a TREX. It is intended to help you think through your goals and plan a TREX that moves you towards them.
We hope the TREX Guidebook will be helpful particularly to those new to hosting TREX events. However, here and throughout the Guidebook we strongly encourage organizers to remember that when it comes to TREX, experience is irreplaceable. If you are considering hosting a TREX, we strongly urge you to consider first attending one that follows a format similar to the one you want to use, perhaps even serving on their planning and/or event management team. Contacting staff who support TREX and keeping an eye on the Fire Networks events page are the best ways to connect with other organizers and learn about upcoming TREX events.
We hope the TREX Guidebook will be a resource for many years to come. Happy burning!
*If you are hosting a TREX, we ask that you please let us know , especially if you are using the TREX name or logo. To notify our team about an upcoming TREX, contact Liz Rank (lrank [at] tnc.org).