By Phil Sammon, USDA Forest Service Public AffairsTry something a little different for breakfast over the next three weeks with the USDA Forest Service – “Hot Links”! The agency has developed a three-week informational series centered around wildfire prevention and awareness, community planning, wildfire response and resource and landscape restoration information.
Wildfire is a “hot” topic that garners significant national attention each year. But it is the local interest that the agency seeks to address in this web-based campaign. Each of their daily messages and points of interest will be accompanied by a “link” to one of many wildfire-focused websites that the agency or other wildfire agencies hosts and supports.
The three week-long themes will focus on Fire-Adapted Communities; Wildfire Response by the agency; and Landscape and Resource Restoration activities the agency conducts. The information presented comes in short notes that direct readers or followers to a Forest Service or interagency web site where readers can find more details and get recommendations for other wildfire resources and information.
The agency seeks to capitalize on the growing number of followers on both the USDA Facebook profile and numerous Forest Service twitter accounts across the country, and anticipates reaching as many as 500,000 ‘followers’ through these social media websites. As the Department of Agriculture finalizes overall department-wide guidance and regulation for new media, the Forest Service is actively engaging this valuable communication and social networking opportunity to convey the vital role the agency plays in the everyday lives of Americans from coast to coast.
Make sure to check out “Hot Links” every morning – you’ll only need to follow the USDA Facebook page, or keep up with the Forest Service on Twitter.
