Wildland Fire Blog

Creating conversations across the wildland fire community. Contact us to suggest a topic.

A firefighter works on a prescribed fire at sunset in southern Florida. Photo by NPS.

A New Study Gives Federal Wildland Firefighters an Opportunity to Inform the Development of Health and Wellbeing Programs

07/14/2022

This summer, federal wildland firefighters with the Interior and Agriculture departments are invited to participate in a rigorous scientific study of firefighter health and wellbeing, including occupational hazards and mental health impacts. This study by the CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and UC Berkley will enable wildland fire agencies to hear directly from the firefighters impacted by the growing demands of more frequent, severe wildland fires.

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Aravaipa Veterans Interagency Hotshot Crew member contemplates a partially burned forest during the 2021 Caldor Fire. Photo by Joe Bradshaw, BLM.

Investing in More Robust Mental Health Support for Wildland Firefighters

06/30/2022

Wildland firefighters work in arduous, stressful environments that can take a significant toll on mental health. With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Interior and Agriculture departments have begun work to establish a program to recognize and address the mental health needs for federal wildland firefighters.

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Greater sage-grouse in a field at dawn. Photo by Steve Fairbairn, USFWS.

A Project to Improve Sage-grouse Habitat in Idaho is also Reducing Wildfire Risk

06/23/2022

A robust collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies in Idaho is working toward shared conservation stewardship of sagebrush habitat on 1.67 million acres. This project is not only creating a more resilient landscape, promoting plant diversity, and benefiting species like sage-grouse, it is also reducing the risk of severe wildfires. And the work is accelerating with additional funding provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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NPS national fire planner Melissa Forder.

Web Reads: Trailblazers: Women in Fire (www.nature.org)

06/14/2022

Female fire professionals are blazing new career trails while harnessing the power of fire to restore forests. Women comprise a mere 10 percent of the national wildland fire workforce. The annual Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX), most recently held this spring in Virginia, is helping to expand career and leadership opportunities.

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A prescribed fire in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park helps protect homes. Photo by NPS.

In the News: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Benefits of Prescribed Fires (whchronicle.com)

06/09/2022

On this episode of PBS's White House Chronicle, Llewellyn King discusses the biodiversity and ecosystem benefits of prescribed fires with Morgan Varner, Director of Research at Tall Timbers, a Florida-based fire ecology group, and Kevin Hiers, Acting Deputy Wildland Fire Program Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey and Director of Fire Science Applications at Tall Timbers.

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Smokejumpers prepare to board plane at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. Photo by Neal Herbert, DOI.

Director’s Report: Expanding Multijurisdictional Efforts to Mitigate Wildfire Risk

06/06/2022

Over the past decade, the Interior Department has invested more than $2 billion to implement fuel treatments that reduce the risk to communities and ecosystems from wildfires before they start and to conduct post-fire rehabilitation to set landscapes back on the path to recovery. Moving forward, we will significantly expand these activities while the work of our partners to restore healthy fire regimes strengthens and extends these mitigation efforts across boundaries.

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