The economic turmoil that has encircled the globe has affected all aspects of society in one way or another. The inevitable budget cuts that follow such a downturn will certainly have a huge impact on wildland firefighting.
Several U.S. states have already announced a reduction in the number of full-time firefighting crew members and newly elected California Govenor Jerry Brown announced a full one-third reduction in the budget for CalFire. In most western states, the largest part of the firefighting budgets goes toward aircraft.
They are expensive and can eat up money faster than a raging wildfire can run through dry brush. These cutbacks could occur just as the western part of the United States is poised for one of the worst fire seasons in years. The last four fire seasons have had well below average activity and the odds are that 2011 will be above average.
Late summer rains have produced abundant fine fuels and the development of a La Nina weather pattern have set the stage. It will be interesting to see what happens if this year indeed turns out to be a very busy one.
However, the states are not the only ones feeling the impacts as all U.S. federal agencies are also facing severe belt tightening. I recently commented on the value of social networks such as Facebook in keeping aerial firefighters from around the world connected. Since then, Georgia has announced that all of its wildland firefighting information will be posted on Facebook.
I know of several other state fire agencies that have pages on the network; The Texas Forest Service posts information such as training opportunities. It makes me wonder if government sites such as Inciweb may one day soon be obsolete. It is a changing world we live in.
Mark Bickham, who headed the National Single Engine Air Tanker program from infancy through maturation has recently retired.
Bickham did an outstanding job in overseeing the program and he will be sorely missed. His personal interaction with aircrews and contractors was always welcome in this era of big government. Good luck my friend and I hope retirement does not put an end to your tanker base visits. The 2011 fire season is upon us.
I am in West Texas as I write this and would not be surprised if I were called any day now. The forecast for this part of the country calls for very high fire danger at least through April. I hope everyone add something to their training programs besides a warm body. Remember safety is first and maybe I’ll see you in the mountains one day.
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