Plot your locationWEAB Board Members
Each member of the Board offers a unique perspective to the team and our combined network is very large and diverse. The Board is committed to consistently generating quality, timely and pertinent editorial content for Wildfire magazine. We are currently recruiting 2 additional members to work with our team from the international arena. If you are interested in becoming a member, please drop us an email.
Ron Steffens, Chair
Ron Steffens, MFA is a professor of communications at Green Mountain College where he focuses on non-fiction writing and environmental communications. He advises student and community media and served as thesis coordinator in the college's online Master’s program in environmental studies. Ron has been based out of Grand Teton National Park since 1992 where he supports Teton Interagency Fire as a fire monitor, incident commander, and fire analyst. He began his fire career as a lookout in Patagonia, Arizona and continued with seasonal positions in Saguaro National Park, where he served as fire effects monitor and lead of a backcountry fire crew.
Bill
Arsenault
Bill is a 20 year veteran of emergency services including EMS, structural and
wildland fire, and military. He started his career field in Montana working up
from a Volunteer First Responder/Firefighter to presently a wildland
Firefighter/Paramedic. In doing so, he has worked for MT DNR as a rural
cooperator, WA DNR, BLM, and US Forest Service. This has allowed him to perform
on hand-crews, engines, aviation, and as a Line-Paramedic. He also is a
certified EMS instructor and teaches numerous EMT course materials to USFS and
BLM personnel as well as other fire/EMS agencies and local high school seniors;
in addition he has been a National Fire Academy (NFA) Instructor for Infectious
Disease Control. Bill designed and received approval for the creation of
“Wildland Fire Rescue”; an EMS agency that is Idaho registered and licensed to
provide Line-Paramedics who are also NWCG qualified Fire Suppression
Professionals. He receives requests from TYPE I, II, and III Incident Management
Teams all across the US each year for his services. While in the US Army, Bill
was a Flight/Combat Paramedic and has traveled extensively throughout the US and
the Middle East performing those skills. He has been recognized for his military
performance with numerous citations and awards. Current and past memberships
have included the National Eagle Scout Association, the National Fire Protection
Association, the International Association of Firefighters, and the
International Association of Wildland Fire. Bill is currently assigned to the
Idaho State EMS Bureau’s Personnel Rules Task Force, which recently developed
the “Non-general Public Licensure Model” for wildland fire agencies and its
employees. He is based in the Boise, ID and can be reached at
barsenault@wildlandfirerescue.com.
Zev Balsen
Zev is a doctoral student in the Stephens Fire Science Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Fire Science Lab, he worked on handcrews in the Klamath and Lassen National Forests. His interests include the ecological effects of fire use and exclusion, European fire management, and fireline medicine.
Rich
McCrea
During his federal career, Rich worked 32 years in fire management and forestry. Outfitted with a BS in Forest Management, he started his career as a seasonal employee with the Forest Service as a forestry technician and member of the Helena Interagency Hotshot Crew, then moved on to permanent positions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as a Forester and Fire Management Officer, at three different field locations. The last 12 years of his Federal career Rich worked as a National Fire Planner with the BIA at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), as a national level fire planner, specializing in strategic fire planning, fire behavior, fire danger, burned area emergency rehabilitation and fire weather. While at NIFC he also served on several National Wildfire Coordinating Group committees including Fire Danger, and Fire Weather. He also has considerable experience working on wildland fire incidents in operations as a Division Supervisor, Fire Behavior Analyst and prescribed fire burn boss, and working at field agencies planning and implementing forestry and fire projects. Rich currently is a consultant working with Wildland Fire Associates.
Don Oaks
Don Oaks, a 39 year veteran of the professional fire service, retired in 2001, after two decades as the Fire Marshal for Santa Barbara County. Don holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from California State University at Long Beach (1973), with postgraduate work in political science/public policy at UCLA and USC, and a doctorate in law from the California Law Institute at Santa Barbara (1978). As a California attorney and consultant he has represented individuals and organizations at the Federal, State, and local level. He has authored statutes, ordinances, and codes for California communities including those relating to fire protection, toxic and hazardous materials, and land use controls. He has authored fire protection, emergency procedure, and organizational management books and professional journal articles. He holds teaching credentials and various professional certifications and designations, and has taught in several State colleges and universities and the National Fire Academy. He is a past member of the International Code Council (ICC) Fire Code committee, and the Wildland-Urban Interface committee of the Western Fire Chief’s Association. He is a past President of the California Fire Chief’s Association, Fire Prevention Officer’s Association, and currently co-chairs their Wildland-Urban Interface Committee.
Sandy Williams
Wildland Fire Prevention Program Manager at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Type II incident red card for Food Unit Leader, Facilities, Ordering and Base Camp. 2009 – International Association of Wildland Fire Board Member. 2006 – Chair of the Pacific Northwest Coordinating Groups Prevention Working Team This intergovernmental group of Oregon and Washington, local, state, and federal agencies work cooperatively to reduce wildfire risk and restore fire-adapted ecosystems. BA in Political Science from St. Martin’s University, Washington.
