Secretary Jewell Visits California Wildland Fire Operations Center

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell visited the Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center (North Ops) in Redding, California, where she met with members of the interagency fire leadership team and employees from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and toured on-the-ground fuels management projects in the surrounding area. Jewell was joined by federal and state leadership, including John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources; Ken Pimlott, Director of CAL FIRE and Jim Douglas, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Wildland Fire.

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    “I'm extremely impressed with the level of coordination and professionalism happening here at the operations center to ensure that the men and women fighting these fires have the resources they need to be safe and to protect communities and important natural resources,” said Secretary Jewell. Photo: DOI

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    During Secretary Jewell's tour of the operational facilities at North Ops, she received a briefing on the current fire situation and learned more about how the work at the North Ops facility supports firefighters on the ground. Photo: DOI

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    During her visit, Secretary Jewell underscored her support for the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and the President's Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal to change how fire suppression costs are budgeted to treat extreme fire seasons the way other emergency disasters are treated. Photo: DOI

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    “We are confronting new wildland fire challenges due to climate change, extended period of drought, fuel buildup and development in fire-prone areas,” Jewell said. “We need a better way to fund escalating wildfire suppression costs." Photo: DOI

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