In a fully anticipated show of top down bureaucracy and lack of understanding about it’s very own fire program, the Forest Service has once again canceled the Region 5 Chief Officer’s Workshop. As some of you might understand, the Region 5 Chief Officer’s Workshop was a yearly multi-level workshop featuring collaboration and information exchange. The workshop has been instrumental in addressing federal wildfire issues such as recruitment & retention; firefighter safety; emerging technology; risk management; and countless other wildland fire topics. The workshop is probably best known for the synergy and voice gained after the 2003 Southern California wildfires, and the realization by firefighters and fire managers that several past events (South Canyon, Thirtymile, Cramer) were crippling the federal land management programs… or per se.. the various “Land Management Agencies” in their inability to manage complex wildland fire programs. In all actuality, it showed exactly why a complete re-organiation of the federal wildfire program is needed… and soon.The workshop participants typically consisted of the following groups working collaboratively on issues:
- The Chief Officers Group
- The Hotshot Group
- The Engine Captains Group
- The Helicopter Managers Group
- The Prevention Group
- The Dispatchers Group
Here is what the Region 5 Fire Director sent out as an explanation:
I am deeply disappointed that we will not hold the Chief Officer’s Workshop yet another year. Your committee did everything asked of them to the detail and in the time asked. The failure was not theirs, and as Allen pointed out we received excellent support from Joni Cook in the Chief’s Office. Just exactly why or how our request languished in the Washington Office for six-months without action or inquiry is unknown.It was my responsibility to do all I could to impress on others the importance of this meeting to our cohesion and our effectiveness. I should have been more diligent in keeping the issue fresh and the pressure on to move it forward. For these failures I alone am responsible.I will engage with the committee shortly after the first of the year to begin the process anew; with greater determination and focus.In the meantime it is important that the key attributes of the workshop not die with it. I urge all of you to hold video conferences, informal meetings, and use whatever other methods that are available to communicate within and among your groups and committees. The intent of ensuring cohesion and the sharing of lessons learned within and between forests, crews, and leadership must be realized regardless of whether we have a workshop or not. I would recommend inter-forest preparedness reviews and meetings, resource type-specific workshops within your province or group of provinces, or other creative means that achieve the end-state of honing yourselves to meet the challenges of 2010. Knowing your creative genius, I have every confidence you will do just that.May we all have a successful and safe 2010!-ed-——————————Ed HollensheadDirector – FAMPacific Southwest Region
Instead, someone at the Regional Office and Washington Office levels has determined it is more important that Fire Managers and Incident Management Team Command and General Staff members attend the following:
Date: December 11, 2009Subject: GACC Level Continuous Improvement SessionsTo: Forest Supervisors, Fire Managers and StaffI am requesting you to attend one of two important 2-day wildland fire management workshops to be held between March 8 and 15, 2009. I want each of you to be in attendance or have an acting that will bring back information. Please hold these days on your calendar. Exact dates will be announced soon. Workshops will be held at McClellan and at a yet to be determined location in southern part of the state.To prepare for the upcoming fire season and develop a more common approach to fire management, a “Continuous Improvement in Decision Making on Large Fires” workshop is being held at the Geographic Area Coordination Center level. The purpose of these sessions is to provide an opportunity for dialog regarding the challenges fire managers and line officers are facing; and potential methods and alternatives that could be implemented.In recent years the agency has been experimenting with systematic changes in fire management to ease resource demands, mitigate firefighter exposure and reduce costs of large “problem fires”.Even though phenomenal efforts have been made to improve effectiveness and reduce risks, additional refinements in managing these “problem fires” are needed. The focus of the GACC level workshop is to share information with leaders at the Forest, Incident Management Team and Coordination/Dispatch level throughout the state. I expect these leaders to have a common understanding of their roles and engage in a collaborative effort of decision making when managing large fires.Two sessions have been scheduled for agency administrators and their staffs and Incident Management Team Command and General staff members. The workshops will be facilitated by the Atlanta NIMO team, who will provide the framework for a common approach to fire management and the protocols involved in Continuous Improvement in Large Fire Management.The sessions will last two days. Day One will be an overview of Continuous Improvement with Forest Service expectations as to how large fires are managed. It will include topics such as risk management, line officers roles, social networking, importance of preseason stakeholder engagements and resource allocations. Day Two will be centered on a simulation involving multiple fires within the GACC and the decisions and expectations that can arise from these.With our busy schedules and constant demands I felt it was important to get this information out to you now, so that time can be set aside for this important engagement. More information will follow within the next month.If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact (snipped to protect the innocent).
/s/ Randy Moore
RANDY MOORERegional Forester
It is a pretty disappointing time within the Forest Service and other federal wildland fire agencies. All I can say is WTF are they thinking everytime decisions like these are made. The truth of the matter is… these decisions aren’t being made by firefighters nor by fire managers… but by folks who are not qualified to be setting policy and direction for a fire management program that they are not qualified to lead, supervise, or manage…. or in any way provide effective oversight.
When folks are allowed to stop communication as they are currently being allowed to do… things crumble from the inside – out…. and it’s usually from the backlash in which the first small cracks & holes appear… presenting ripe conditions for latent conditions to overwhelm, and active failures to occur with regularity in the system. We can do better. One senior fire manager stated it like this: “It is hard to gain supporters for positive change while you [as an agency] are circling the drain… especially when all you’re used to giving them is toilet paper and promises to hold on to … and fond memories of great sunsets that they all used to enjoy.”..
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