RECAP OF MYPUBLICLANDS INSTAGRAM TAKEOVER BY BLM NIFC!
We wrapped up our My Public Lands Instagram Takeover last week with BLM NIFC who shared photos of the amazing work that our wildland firefighters do! We thank all the men and women who serve and support the American people by keeping our public lands healthy.
Here we share a recap of some of the photos from BLM NIFC. For more great ideas for exploring your public lands, follow BLM NIFC on Facebook and Twitter.
Continue to follow us on Instagram to learn more about your public lands!
Unaweep crew member Joe Hill ignites a burn-out operation during the 2015 High Meadow Fire in Arizona to protect an important forest restoration study area. Photo by Jeff Frimel.
Managing wildfires is an increasingly complex undertaking. When land managers are looking for an expert crew, they call on the Bureau of Land Management’s Unaweep Wildland Fire Module. This seven-person crew specializes in managing fire to benefit the land.
The Unaweep Module was formed in 2004 and is the only Wildland Fire Module in the BLM. It is based in the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit in Grand Junction, Colorado. Like a Hotshot crew, it’s a national resource that’s called to help on incidents throughout the country.
From left to right Nate Harrison, Drew Benage, Jeff Frimel, Vance Weckworth, Joe Hill, Kelly Boyd, Brian Anderson. Photo by Kelly Boyd.
Members of the crew are all highly qualified and experienced wildland firefighters. But they don’t just put out fires: they use their expertise to manage fires for the benefit of the public lands.
“We are proficient in wildland fire tactical operations, developing long-term strategies for managing wildfires, as well as designing and managing prescribed fires,” said Module Leader Kelly Boyd. “Fire season for us typically consists of prescribed burning assignments in the spring and fall and long-term managed fire assignments during the summer.”
Upper Colorado River Fuels Specialist Lathan Johnson incorporates Unaweep in the prescribed fires he oversees in western Colorado. “Fire managers across the region seek out Unaweep because they are a highly versatile group that is very logistically self-sufficient and comes ready with a variety of specialized equipment.”
Unaweep Lead Crew Member Nate Harrison monitors fire behavior on the 2015 Little Bob Fire in the Wind River Wilderness in Wyoming. Photo by Kelly Boyd.
For the past three seasons, Unaweep has worked from two to six weeks in the Ely District in Nevada assisting with emergency stabilization and rehabilitation of severely burned areas. They work to fight erosion by using burned, dead trees to create dams and by strategically placing hay bales, straw waddles, and logs.
“We’ve also conducted plot monitoring and reseeding to help combat the huge issue of cheat grass invasion in the Great Basin, which is one of the challenges facing Greater Sage Grouse,” Boyd said.
This past season the module played a critical role in the success of multiple prescribed fires in western Colorado before leaving for a month-long assignment in Alaska.
Unaweep National Creek Complex 2015. Photo by Kelly Boyd.
“Working with Unaweep requires that I make predictions about fire behavior and make decisions accordingly. It gives me the opportunity to really study a fire,“ said Lead Crewmember Nate Harrison, who has also worked with the module for five seasons. "People, including managers, look to us as the experts.”
NIFC #mypubliclandsroadtrip goes behind-the-scenes with Marine Corps Veteran and BLM Firefighter
Tyler Samuelson served four years in the United States Marine Corps as an engineer. The 26-year old Nebraska native now has his eyes set on a career in wildland fire management, and he is gaining indispensable experience as a member of BLM’s Vegas Valley Handcrew, one of four 20-person BLM veteran’s hand crews. He has been on the Vegas Valley crew for two and a half years.
What is your job with the BLM?
I am a firefighter on the Vegas Valley Handcrew. We are based on the Southern Nevada District in Las Vegas. My precise role on the crew is a swamper.
What skills transferred from military to firefighting?
A lot of the skills transfer. Physical fitness is a big one, along with being comfort in dangerous conditions, and a strong work ethic in general.
What do you like best about firefighting?
Probably the camaraderie with all the other guys. It’s great to be working with a group of vets, because we have a lot in common.
How does firefighting stack up against work you’ve done in the past?
Firefighting is very demanding compared to any regular job. It’s even demanding compared to garrison duty in the military.
What is a “swamper”? What kind of work does that entail?
Mainly, I work with the sawyers to clear away the fuel they’ve cut. It’s an essential step in constructing fireline. I also help carry saw fuel and oil, and help dig fireline if we don’t have that much saw work to do.
Are you interested in making wildland fire your career?
Yeah, I’m interested in a fire career. Wildland fire challenges you, and makes you a better person. It’s a good career choice. We’ve done a few different things on fires [this season]. We set up some large hoselays in Alaska earlier in the summer, and helped called in birds (helicopters).
Thanks Tyler for sharing your story with us and for all you do as a wildland firefighter!
NIFC #mypubliclandsroadtrip celebrates Team Rubicon Partnership
This past March, Chuck Russell, normally the Wyoming Wind River/ Bighorn Basin Fire Management Officer, was in Washington, DC on a budget detail when he was asked if he’d ever heard of Team Rubicon. Chuck knew that Team Rubicon (TR) was a Disaster Response Veterans Service Organization, but not much more. He certainly didn’t expect to become the BLM National Office Fire Veteran Coordinator in charge of a brand new BLM/ TR partnership that was being formed. Fast forward a couple months and Chuck was arranging classes, choosing a cadre of experienced trainers, and teaching military Veterans from across the United States how to fight wildfires on public land. We caught up with Chuck on Lopez Island, Washington, at the last of the five classes offered to TR members, on July 10-13, 2015.
During the class on Lopez, 30 TR members and 10 local firefighters from San Juan, Lopez, and Orcas Islands earned their Type II certification. Chuck told us his favorite part about the classes, and the partnership as a whole, was the engagement of the students. “They’re all just jazzed for the opportunity. We’re giving ourselves the opportunity to serve them while they serve on their public lands. It’s a great program.”
Pictured above, BLMers Chuck Russell and Kelly Woods (left to right)
Chuck is not alone in his enthusiasm. Kelly Woods, the Great Basin Training Center Manager now in her 24th fire season, said the program was even better than she expected. As the only female trainer in the cadre, she was especially impressed with the ratio of female to male students, as it was higher than any class she has ever taught. “This experience is better than I expected, and I love seeing the students getting so excited about fighting fire.”
Perhaps no one is happier with the BLM/ TR partnership than the Team Rubicon members themselves. Vince Moffitt, Incident Management Team Chief for TR, and a retired municipal fire department firefighter, said the BLM’s training cadre is top-notch, the best he’s ever seen. “There is no doubt about their experience and passion, and the best part is hearing about lessons they’ve learned.” About the partnership, he says that it’s a great fit. “TR’s members are uniquely suited to fight wildfires because of the skills they learned in the military, and because of TR’s disaster recovery experience,” he said. “We already use FEMA practices and ROSS. Now we are learning the BLM language and will be able to work well together.”
Pictured above, Vince Moffit, Team Rubicon Incident Management Team Chief
At the end of this fifth and final Team Rubicon class of the season, in total, more than 200 TR members became red-carded Type II qualified firefighters. By the end of July, five TR Teams had deployed to wildfires near Fairbanks, Alaska, with the last two crews consisting of some of the Lopez Island trained firefighters. These TR crews returned from Alaska exhausted but happy, with the general feedback: it’s hard and fun, and you’re working your butt off. “There is just no other program like this,” Vince added. “We are very excited about this opportunity and the possibilities it creates.”
Forestry and Fuels: Working Together to Achieve a Common Objective
Understanding fire ecology, prevention and management… At the core of their professions, foresters and fuels specialists know that disturbance is a natural, needed and unavoidable part of every ecosystem on different scales. Foresters work to ensure resilient productive forests. Fuels specialists work to reduce the intensity of wildfires by reducing the amount of fuels in an area, and restoring more natural disturbance regimes. Many times our paths overlap.
In the mountains of North Central Idaho overlooking the Little Salmon River near New Meadows, Idaho, BLM fuels specialists and foresters, with help from the local Forest Service and firefighters from Southern Idaho BLM Districts lit a 160 acre prescribed fire as part of the larger Bally Mountain Vegetation Management Project earlier this spring. The goal of this portion of the project was to reintroduce fire into a previously ponderosa pine dominated stand – a stand that has uncharacteristically not seen fire in nearly a century. The stand had become choked by Douglas-fir regeneration and insect and disease outbreaks are becoming more common. As is often the case in dense stands, fuels have accumulated on the ground to dangerous levels reducing the likelihood that a wildfire could be stopped if one should start nearby. Not a hundred yards away, the solution was to commercially thin or harvest timber through a timber sale to reduce stand densities. But here, due to slope, broken ground and other concerns, prescribed fire was selected as the tool of choice to improve forest health, and reduce fuel amounts.
Learn more about BLM-Idaho Fuels Treatment and Reduction at: http://on.doi.gov/1o9rg7o
-Story by Forester, Zach Peterson and photos by Fishery Biologist, C. A. Johnson, BLM-Idaho
The Bureau of Land Management Yuma Field Office (YFO) in Arizona hosted a volunteer event to help plant 4,000 trees in the Betty's Kitchen Watchable Wildlife Area (Betty's Kitchen) that was damaged by fire in the spring of 2011.
Approximately 100 volunteers, including about 35 students from Arizona Western College and Northern Arizona University, planted one gallon mesquite trees into already drilled holes. Approximately 40,000 trees have been planted in the area by YFO staff and an Arizona State Forestry Fire Crew.
The May 2011 Laguna Fire destroyed 751 acres of valuable marsh and riparian habitat, while also destroying Betty's Kitchen. Since the fire, the native seed has been allowed to germinate, invasive species have been cleared and native species vegetation has been planted.
Previous to the Laguna Fire, Betty's Kitchen was a lush, shady spot along the Lower Colorado River where visitors could bird watch, fish from the pier, picnic and take a stroll along the 0.5 mile interpretive trail. With its close proximity to Yuma, it was a favorite spot for locals and visitors to enjoy.
"We are hoping to make Betty's Kitchen a favorite local spot again," said Yuma Field Manager John MacDonald. "This volunteer event was a significant part of the plan and we are excited that the community participated and wants to be a part of the final product."
