TEACHABLE MOMENTS
INSTITUTIONALIZING EDUCATION IN U.S. FEDERAL WILDLAND AGENCIES
BY JARED BANDOR
The days when men could be rallied from nearby towns to suppress wildfires for a few months during the year are long gone. Today, each of the five major U.S. federal land management agencies that have wildland fire suppression responsibilities – Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Forest Service – maintain a permanent wildland fire workforce complemented by a significant temporary workforce. In recent years, professional education has been discussed as an answer to combat the change in severity and complexity of wildfires and the issues the agencies face in suppressing them.
In many career fields of U.S. federal employment, a professional education is highly regarded and often required, but not in wildland fire. Proponents of institutionalizing an education system in the agencies argue that fire personnel who manage large budgets, cultivate trust of the public and politicians, supervise and lead people in dangerous situations, and collaborate with multiple government organizations should have more than a high school education. Opponents to implementing a more formal education argue that there is a well-functioning system in place that includes a governing body that sets standards, a digital system to track and document completed training, and a learning management system to create and deliver the training and educational content. With the increasing complexity of wildfires impacting communities and rising demands on firefighters to do more over the last several decades, the federal wildland fire agencies should invest in workforce education to better prepare their employees’ decision making and instill stakeholder trust.
The growing severity of wildfires, the impact on the rural and urban communities, and increasing cost to suppress wildfires demand more from wildland firefighters than ever before. According to the National Interagency Fire Centre, not only in the past two decades, 2004 to 2023, have the average number of acres burned more than doubled compared to the two decades prior, 1984 to 2003, but fires also occur more frequently in the wildland urban interface. NIFC also says that due in part to the increased acres burned and community sprawl, the cost of suppression by federal agencies alone in the last decade has also more than doubled from the previous decade. This rapid and drastic change requires a different set of skills and knowledge to successfully navigate the theater of wildland fire. As wildfires grow into the WUI and across jurisdictional boundaries of private, local, state, federal, and tribal lands, fire managers are met with several complex decisions and pressures.
“Institutionalizing a professional education system will prepare firefighters for the unprecedented severity and complexity of modern wildfires, better equip them as they advance in their careers, and increase stakeholder and public trust in the agencies and the workforces they employ.”
If professional education is institutionalized, alongside training, in the federal wildland fire agencies, personnel and managers could better meet the modern demands of the job that were not as prolific or even existed 40 to 50 years ago. At least one United States congressional representative believes “Wildfire firefighting . . . is not skilled labor.” On its own, the quote might not seem significant and is arguably accurate for entry-level positions. Regardless of experience and education outside of the profession, all firefighters start at the bottom, receiving on-the-job training, accruing time in position, and achieving qualifications to climb the ranks. During a career, however, the demands on the same individuals change but that individual also grows in his / her position and gains on-the-job experience.
Upon reaching supervisory and fire-program management-level positions, individuals are not only required to have tactical on-the-job skills, but also to acquire administrative responsibilities. The duties listed in one 2024 National Parks Service job posting for a supervisory wildland firefighter include maintaining operational preparedness, managing budgets, coordinating interagency wildfire response, compliance with environmental law, and more while not having more than a high school education requirement for the position. In addition, decision making by firefighters is often influenced by political pressure, public trust, professional motivations, and whether one might be held liable. There is a fundamental misunderstanding among politicians and their constituents – the public – about specialized knowledge and skills that developing and promotable firefighters will need to successfully manage the complexities of the wildland fire environment as they progress in their careers. The agencies must use education to professionalize their workforce and in turn gain stakeholders’ trust.
Higher education could be the solution for many issues the U.S. federal wildland fire agencies are facing by incentivizing with earnings and advancement, equipping firefighters with knowledge and skills for the next position and increasing public confidence. The most recent data collected from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2023) on higher education, correlates degrees earned with higher annual earnings. The same report also shows the higher level of education one has, the higher salary they earn. Like any industry, compensation and upward mobility in an organization can be a significant motivator in the workforce. It is important to understand that civil service employees have a supervisor of record, but as public servants, they are accountable to the taxpayer as a stakeholder. A 2021 survey found most employers have confidence in higher education and believe it is valuable to workforce success. The survey results indicate a correlation between employers – in this case stakeholders – valuing higher education and believing employees with higher education possess greater skills and are more successful; this equates to greater employer and public trust that the complex position requirements are attainable by firefighters.
While there are several arguments and data to show institutionalizing education in the federal wildland fire agencies would be a net benefit, opponents argue that the agencies have a robust and bureaucratic training system that already hinders speed to competency, and institutionalizing an education system would be time-consuming and unnecessary.
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (2024) is a formal body that creates and oversees the system of training across multiple disciplines and functional areas of fire and aviation management. Revising training courses, implementing standards, and issuing guidance via committees including all member agencies is costly and time consuming. In addition, The Wildland Firefighter Learning Portal is a learning management system used by the agencies to host training, advertise training schedules, house hundreds of on-demand courses, and perform student assessments and exams.
The argument against more formal education and training asserts the system is effective but slow and adding another layer would prevent firefighters from attaining necessary qualifications and on-the-job training to prepare them for the next position in a timely manner. While it is true that the system of training is effective and has been since its inception, training is only one side of the workforce development equation. Training is often task driven, skills based and designed to prove competency quickly versus education, which is intellectual, and designed to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills for long-term growth. Education is just as important, if not more, in fire and aviation management as training for long-term organizational health and success.
While the current training system for the federal wildland fire agencies is valuable and should not be replaced, the climate of wildland fire has evolved and requires a more resilient and progressive approach to workforce development. Institutionalizing a professional education system will prepare firefighters for the unprecedented severity and complexity of modern wildfires, better equip them as they advance in their careers to meet current challenges and increase stakeholder and public trust in the agencies and the workforces they employ. If the federal wildland fire agencies do not adapt, they will fail. Professionalized education must be integrated into the wildland fire workforce to ensure the nation’s disasters are not national tragedies.
This article is not meant to be prescriptive or detailed on how to institutionalize education but to provoke thoughts about how the agencies can better prepare their employees to meet the ever-changing demands of wildland fire.
The views and opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the U.S. government. The author is writing in a personal capacity and does not represent any federal entity.
Jared Bandor works for the United States Forest Service, Region 6, at the Pacific Northwest Training Center, where he serves as training specialist. His main duties are serving as the training officer for regional employees, facilitating and instructing regional level courses, and supporting workforce development initiatives for Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) employees. Bandor has a diverse operational background on handcrews, engines, and helitak, as well as fuels, prevention, and training. He is completing a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, which he plans to use in future workforce development opportunities in the agency.
