| For the first time in its 50-year history, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) was visited in September by a sitting president. President Biden used the trip to focus attention on the severe wildfire season and to discuss with wildland fire management leaders how to make the nation more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The center is the original model for intergovernmental coordination on wildland fire management. Fires don't follow jurisdictional boundaries, and no single community, agency, or Tribal organization can successfully manage all wildfires within its jurisdiction without assistance. At this center and at innumerable regional and local fire coordination centers, the nation's wildland fire managers join forces to direct local, state, Tribal, and federal firefighting resources to protect lives, property, infrastructure, and vulnerable natural resources. The increasingly lengthy, intense, damaging fire seasons, like the one we experienced this year, showcase the value of this unified, cooperative approach. The center includes a coalition of partners from the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service; the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service; Department of Defense; Federal Emergency Management Agency; National Weather Service; and National Association of State Foresters. During his trip, President Biden emphasized how climate change is driving more extreme weather conditions that now affect one in three Americans and that makes wildfires more frequent and destructive. "You're incredible at what you do," said President Biden in his remarks. "I mean it from the bottom of my heart. And we owe you more than just our thanks. We owe you what you need to deal with these problems." You can read more in the full transcript of President Biden's remarks. The continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 created additional challenges for wildland fire response once again this year. In particular, the highly transmissible Delta variant impacted resource availability during a record-setting fire season. The increased disease transmission, even among the vaccinated, resulted in more significant impacts on available incident response personnel than in 2020. Mitigating the spread of COVID-19 before, during, and after wildfire operations continued to be a top priority for the interagency wildland fire management community this year. The Interior Department used many of the same protocols that were adopted last year, consistent with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Wildland Fire Medical and Public Health Advisory Team's guidance on preventing and managing COVID-19 was essential. In anticipation of on-going impacts from COVID-19, the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, Wildland Fire Medical and Public Health Advisory Team, and Fire Management Board are completing after action reviews and initiating plans for the 2022 fire year, including implementation of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force requirements on vaccination and testing. The brave men and women on the frontlines during the increasingly long, severe wildfire seasons deserve fair pay for their grueling, hazardous work to protect our families, our communities, and our lands. The Biden-Harris administration is working with Congress on much-needed, long-term support, benefits, and work-life balance improvements for federal firefighters. As an interim measure, the Interior and Agriculture departments this year implemented President Biden's pay initiatives to provide additional monetary recognition for wildland firefighters. The Interior Department currently employs roughly 5,300 wildland firefighters and support personnel across the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. Approximately 3,500 of those employees received $7.6 million in monetary recognition under these initiatives. The initiatives ensured that all federal wildland firefighters earned the equivalent of at least $15 per hour. They also provided monetary awards to all temporary firefighters and permanent firefighters up to the GS-9 level. The pay increases went into effect in August with backpay to June 30, 2021. Learn more in the August announcement… The framework for the wildland fire management workforce, which was established in the 1950s, must be revised to more effectively address the increasingly severe conditions propelled by climate change. The Interior and Agriculture departments, which employ approximately 15,000 fire response personnel, are working to modernize the federal firefighting workforce to create good jobs while protecting the safety and long-term wellbeing of wildland firefighters and incident responders. President Biden is committed to building a more responsive, resilient wildland firefighting workforce by ensuring firefighters are fairly paid for their grueling, hazardous work while also ensuring we can meet the now year-round challenges from wildfires across the U.S. Both departments are investing in the development of a stable, permanent firefighting workforce capable of suppression activities and fuel management work on a year-round basis. Last year, Congress appropriated $29 million for the Interior Department's workforce transformation initiative. The initiative will continue this year with the conversion of more than 700 positions from seasonal, temporary roles to full-time, permanent positions, along with the addition of another 235 full-time jobs. Similarly, the Forest Service has converted 500 firefighting positions from temporary to permanent over the past two years and plans to continue growing its year-round workforce. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure bill includes provisions to increase wildland firefighter compensation and benefits. The Interior Department, USDA Forest Service, and Office of Personnel Management have established a working group to evaluate possible improvements to wildland firefighter pay, benefits, and classification that would support these provisions and better position us to meet the increasing challenges and complexities of wildland fire management. The House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands also recently held a hearing on proposed wildland firefighting workforce reforms. One bill under consideration would enhance pay and benefits for federal wildland firefighters while the other would waive limitations on overtime and premium pay. Interior's Office of Wildland Fire Director Jeff Rupert and USDA's Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry Jaelith Hall-Rivera provided testimony about ongoing workforce transformation efforts and needs for both departments.  |
Over the past 20 years, the number of acres burned by wildfires has doubled. Not only do these fires destroy homes and businesses, threaten lives, and endanger natural resources, they also produce harmful smoke. Serious health effects from exposure to wildfire smoke can range from reduced lung function, bronchitis, and exacerbation of asthma to heart failure and even premature death. Children, older adults, and people with pre-existing heart or lung disease are especially at risk. Through the coordination of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, the Interior Department and USDA Forest Service are working with the Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to assess the air quality and public health impacts of smoke from wildfires compared with prescribed fires. In September, EPA released the initial interagency assessment of two case studies. The report found that prescribed fire can reduce the overall size of a future wildfire and the associated smoke emissions. Smoke from prescribed fires does still pose some risks, but at a much smaller scale compared to wildfires. Well-designed prescribed fires have the potential to reduce the negative impacts from smoke on a community. This work lays the foundation for additional collaborative research to inform future land and fire management strategies that will help reduce negative impacts from wildfire smoke.  Approximately 6.5 million acres of land managed by the Interior Department are in close proximity to Tribal land, separated by 50 miles or less. The interconnectedness of these lands necessitates close collaboration on wildland fire management, especially as climate change propels larger, costlier, and more complex wildfires. The Interior Department recently announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between its Office of Wildland Fire and the Intertribal Timber Council. The agreement commits both organizations to work collaboratively to reduce wildland fire risk, rehabilitate burned landscapes, promote a better understanding of wildfire, and support our firefighters. Learn more in the September announcement… November is Native American Heritage Month. This year, we're highlighting some of the people and initiatives that are improving wildland fire management in Indian Country. In our initial blog post, meet Jacqueline Martin, Bureau of Indian Affair's Assistant Director for Wildland Fire Management and member of the Gros Ventre of Fort Belknap Indian Community as she discusses how gender and heritage influenced her 30-year career in wildland fire management. "My grandmother is my role model," said Martin. "As a Native woman, she taught me to challenge policy and ideology, to push through the glass ceiling." Read more on our blog… | 
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