Erik D. Johnson (Deceased),^1,* Tova Spector,^2,**,*** J. Kevin Hiers,^3,**** Dan Pearson,^4,***** J. Morgan Varner,^5,****** John Bente<sup>6,*******

1</sup>1Formerly with US Forest Service National Forests of Florida Tallahassee, FL
²2Mesa Verde National Park Mesa Verde, CO
³3Tall Timbers Research Station Tallahassee, FL
⁴4Florida Park Service, District 2 Gainesville, FL
⁵5USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Fire and Environmental Research Applications
⁶6Atlanta Botanical Gardens Panama City, FL

^*Erik Johnson's professional life was dedicated to the conservation of Florida's ecosystems, where he passionately pursued interests in old-growth protection, restoration of southern pine forests, conservation of native plants, and prescribed fire management. While in the Tallahassee area, Erik held positions with the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Forests in Florida. He earned a BS from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, in biology and an MS from the University of Georgia in agricultural science.
^** Corresponding author: Tova_Spector@nps.gov; (970) 529-5002
^***Tova Spector is a Plant Ecologist for Mesa Verde National Park. She was formerly a biologist with the Florida Park Service in the Florida Panhandle focusing on ecological restoration and rare plant recovery.
^****Kevin Hiers is a Wildland Fire Scientist at Tall Timbers Research Station where he leads research projects in fire behavior, fire management, fuel moisture, and the fluid dynamics of fire effects. He has worked at the interface of science and management for 24 years to help enhance tools and techniques to safely apply prescribed fire for management objectives. He has served as fire ecologist, prescribed fire program manager, and fire management officer at Eglin AFB, which burned on average 100,000 acres per year, and was The Nature Conservancy's Prescribed Fire Manager for Georgia and Alabama. His research career began at the Jones Research Center studying fire ecology and applications to fire management. His research has focused on building large interdisciplinary research teams to connect combustion science to ecological effects and smoke management. He has coauthored more than 50 peer-reviewed research publications.
^*****Daniel Pearson is an Environmental Specialist with the Florida Park Service, District 2 in Central Florida.
^******J. Morgan Varner is a Research Scientist and Team Leader at the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab in Seattle, Washington. His research focuses on fire ecology, post-fire tree mortality, and issues around biodiversity conservation.
^*******John Bente is a Wetland Restoration Project Coordinator for Atlanta Botanical Garden at Deer Lake State Park in Walton County, Florida. He was formerly the lead biologist for the Florida Park Service, District 1 in the Florida Panhandle.