Blog

The USFWS is co-located at the CAL FIRE-San Diego County Fire Authority station. Photo by USFWS. 

BY KARI COBB

One of the strongest, most active partnerships between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is through the San Diego Unit in the Southern California Fire Management Zone. It is co-located in a state-of-the-art CAL FIRE-San Diego County Fire Authority station.

Firefighters with the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge during a training hike. Photo by Pedro Gomez, USFWS.

BY KARI COBB

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) fire management program is primarily focused on using planned fire to maintain healthy ecosystems and habitats. In California, though, a partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) makes it possible for the USFWS to focus on wildfire suppression during the height of the fire season.

The National Park Service uses prescribed fire in south Florida to target non-native invasive plants. Photo by M. Gue, NPS.

BY KRISTY SWARTZ, HILARY SMITH

Those living in the “sagebrush sea” in the western United States know how important sagebrush habitat is to hundreds of treasured fish and wildlife species, including sage-grouse, elk, and Lahontan cutthroat trout. This iconic landscape—and others like it across the nation—could be forever changed because of invasive species and wildfire.

BY ERIN MCDUFF 

Across America’s vast forests and grasslands, wildfires can move swiftly, oblivious to the lines on a map that mark one parcel of land as private property, one as a sovereign Tribal nation, another as federally managed, and still another as state jurisdiction. This is what makes close collaboration across the breadth of organizations involved in wildland fire management essential. 

BY JEFF RUPERT 

As a new fire year begins, our nation is preparing to respond to the increasingly severe wildfire activity we have observed in recent years. Significant new funding for wildland fire management demonstrates the importance the country has placed on addressing this crisis together. Continually improving technology, new scientific studies, and our extensive partnerships will help us adopt a holistic approach that uses our resources efficiently and to the greatest effect possible. 

Firefighters watch a retardant drop on the Peavine Fire in Nevada at sunrise. Photo by Sarah McNeil, BLM.

BY ERIN MCDUFF

By now, you’ve likely seen mention of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law plastered across your favorite news outlets and social media platforms, but did you know that it includes a historic investment in wildland fire management?

Invasive grasses are fueling large fires in dryland ecosystems across the Southwestern U.S., including at Agua Fria National Monument in central Arizona. Photo by Katie Laushman, USGS.

BY SETH MUNSON, ERIN MCDUFF

Rachel Loehman, Ph.D., is a research landscape ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center.

BY ERIN MCDUFF, THAO TRAN, AND RACHEL LOEHMAN

“Leaders should work hard to set good examples that can inspire others. As a leader, I support those around me to not only achieve a common goal effectively, but to also enjoy and value the process.”

More than 6.5 million acres of land managed by the Interior Department is within 50 miles of Tribal lands. Map generated by Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire.

BY ERIN MCDUFF

Wildfires know no boundaries. They easily cross between federal, Tribal, state, and private lands, making coordination between wildland fire management agencies essential.

The Summit Trail Fire burned through dense vegetation in Washington state. Photo by Colville Agency, BIA.

BY JEFF RUPERT