The long-term habitat impacts of the DOI USWFS merger

[kwyeewyk]

There are some really good and caring people in the fire community that see the value in habitat management and fire as a tool to achieve that. I've worked with dozens of them. Hopefully those who are brought into WFS have an opportunity to shape the organization in such a way that the new agency has habitat management, and not just wildfire response, as a core part of its mission

30 years in natural resources with various state and fed agencies, 20 years supporting fuels/rx fire projects as wildlife biologist, leading post fire program, READ/REAF/BAES for suppression/rehab for BLM.

I was given the decision of whether I wanted to convert to WFS and continue with the career I'd built supporting both wildlife and fire ecology, or stay with BLM wildlife and give up the post fire program and fuels support work. It was a tough decision, a lot to be skeptical about with the new agency. But with the fire program I have the most ability to have a positive impact on both wildlife habitat and general land health.

So I converted to WFS. I've provided my real world experience with what is going on. You can speculate on the future while ignoring other's real world experience in favor of your gut feeling all you want, but those of us responsible for implementing projects can only put one foot in front of the other and press forward. I've worked with the feds long enough to know when I have a bad feeling about something, but thus far I've been satisfied with the answers to my concerns.

Do you have fire related projects you're currently working on that you fear are in jeopardy due to the reorganization? I have about a dozen post fire rehab projects and 4 fuels redux/rx fire projects that are moving forward smoothly. Fortunately they are exempt from the additional review and approval process that all of our non-fire procurements over $50k must go through, so they're actually easier to accomplish than non fire habitat projects.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

30 years in natural resources with various state and fed agencies, 20 years supporting fuels/rx fire projects as wildlife biologist, leading post fire program, READ/REAF/BAES for suppression/rehab for BLM.

I was given the decision of whether I wanted to convert to WFS and continue with the career I'd built supporting both wildlife and fire ecology, or stay with BLM wildlife and give up the post fire program and fuels support work. It was a tough decision, a lot to be skeptical about with the new agency. But with the fire program I have the most ability to have a positive impact on both wildlife habitat and general land health.

So I converted to WFS. I've provided my real world experience with what is going on. You can speculate on the future while ignoring other's real world experience in favor of your gut feeling all you want, but those of us responsible for implementing projects can only put one foot in front of the other and press forward. I've worked with the feds long enough to know when I have a bad feeling about something, but thus far I've been satisfied with the answers to my concerns.

Do you have fire related projects you're currently working on that you fear are in jeopardy due to the reorganization? I have about a dozen post fire rehab projects and 4 fuels redux/rx fire projects that are moving forward smoothly. Fortunately they are exempt from the additional review and approval process that all of our non-fire procurements over $50k must go through, so they're actually easier to accomplish than non fire habitat projects.

Not sure why anyone is assuming I'm "ignoring" other's real world experience. In your case, that's a pretty good body of work. I respect your opinion but also feel it's too early to make any claims of any kind. My experience with wildland fire began in 1988 and I've been on, supported, managed, approved or planned over 175 burns last time I checked (around 2004 or so, haven't bothered to check since). Since then I've been a burn boss, fft 1 and 2, tech spec, read, div sup and for the past 15 years, an agency admin., still carrying a red card and torch although every year I wonder for how much longer. Most of my burns were coastal, so the acreage is considerably more than it would be in other habitats, but every burn is unique and as we both know, often the smaller ones are most complex. And yes, I know there are folks here whose wildfire experience far surpasses my own. I would never claim to be any kind of expert on wildfire, especially out west. But there aren't many I've met who have more Rx burn experience which is what this thread is about. This is where my concern lies, from a hunter, a habitat manager and someone who has a long history of studying the value and effects of Rx burns on wildlife habitat.

To answer your question, yes. But not right now. Things will go on as planned in 2026 and possibly even 2027 as the re-org takes shape. Then lingering Rx burn priorities will continue so long as folks like yourself are still in positions to make them happen. But as we've seen in the past year, all it takes is one incident and one EO, DO or the like, to reprogram every resource overnight. This fire season might be very revealing in that way.

And I apologize to you and others if bringing this up now is "too soon" after having to make an undoubtedly very difficult decision to leave the agency you've been with for a long time. This is very hard for many of my colleagues, some of whom I've known since the early 1990's and have worked alongside since that time. I hate it, actually, for you and for them, that they have to make this decision. All the DOI agencies will be less without them.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Not that aligning with the dem's opinions is ever a goal of mine, but it appears some of them share similar concerns.

Democrats sound alarm on Interior reorg's impact on wildfires, land management

Unauthorized shifts to staffing could leave DOI agencies underresourced for critical duties, lawmakers say.

www.govexec.com