The Board of Directors of the International Association of Wildland Fire has developed a range of Position Papers and Issue Papers that engage discussion of the key issues facing our profession today.
Position Papers are on Health & Wellbeing, Prescribed Fire and Climate Change.
Issue Papers are on Extreme Fires, Fire Suppression, Competing Resources and International Cooperation.
This IAWF position statement articulates the IAWF’s commitment to promoting health and wellbeing for wildland fire practitioners, their families and support communities. The IAWF seeks to promote and contribute to the mental, cultural, physical and emotional safety of wildland fire practitioners worldwide.
This IAWF position statement articulates the critical importance of intentional burning as a landscape management tool, including the skillful application of fire to meet multiple resource objectives. The IAWF will continue to take a position on contemporary wildland fire issues and advocate with national and international policy makers for improvements in wildland fire management policies in relation to prescribed fire.
Climate change has resulted in drying and warming trends in many parts of the world; this is exacerbating wildfire risk, the likelihood of fire, and extreme fire consequences and climate models predict these conditions will worsen in the future. In many cases, fire seasons will lengthen, become more extreme and extend into landscapes previously unaffected by wildland fires. This will increase the risk to the health and safety of firefighters, the community, the environment, industries and the economy.
Wildfires globally are becoming increasingly deadly and destructive. It is not just an increase in the size of fires that is being observed, but a steep increase in impacts encompassing a high number of human fatalities, homes and structures destroyed by the thousands, and an upward trend in smoke exposure related to human health. There is not a single cause to extreme, deadly and destructive wildfires, but rather a triangle of three factors – climate, fuels, and people.
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion about what it means for the IAWF to be an international organization, and why it is a value worth pursuing.
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion about new ways to protect values and fight large fires, including the consideration of suppression strategies and tactics.
This Issue Paper focuses on competing and increasing demands on the focus and activities of wildfire professionals and community members, and the prioritizing and commitment of fiscal resources. How can we balance institutional, social, economic and political needs – this competition for resources and time — to best manage our evolving fire challenge?
