Wildland Firefighter Articles — Grassroots Wildland Firefighters

Press Kit

Why We Started

The Grassroots Wildland Firefighters [GRWFF] were formed in 2019 because there is a large gap between perception and reality in the wildfire world. National Policy Makers are continually misinformed about the situation that our Wildland Firefighters face, and the public is continually misled by our land managers.

After years in the field, we saw that the only way a change could happen is for a new player to enter the field, with ideas and knowledge coming up from the grassroots level.

Our goal is to bridge the divide that currently exists between perception and reality. We provide a voice for the workforce and our society, offering expert analysis to our national leaders that is unbiased by partisan politics, which have no place in a coherent national wildfire cohesive strategy.

Our team consists of several retired/resigned employees including former Yosemite NP Chief of Fire and Aviation and multiple Hotshot Captains. We also have many employed wildland firefighters including Fire Managers, Smokejumpers, Training Specialists, and Fire Engine Operators, among others.

What Needs to Change

With our current circumstances of increasing wildfire size and intensity, climate change, and fire seasons that are year-round, why aren’t our leaders adapting to our new situation? In the context of our new normal, here are a few questions we are not supposed to ask:

Why does our national fire policy appear unchanged in the past 30 years?

Why is there a stunning lack of diversity among our Wildland Firefighters?
Why are federal wildland firefighters titled “Forestry Technician” when nearly 100% of our calls are fires? Why not “wildland firefighter?” While our primary job is wildfire suppression, it is not even mentioned in our job classification. Why are we inaccurately titled?
Why are there so many third-party “crowd-funding” sites needed to care for federal wildland firefighters when they are injured on the job?
Why are federal wildland firefighters paid a fraction of what state cooperators are paid?
Given increasing fire seasons, why is the federal government losing Incident Management Teams?
Why are federal wildland firefighters suicide rates, divorce rates, mental health conditions and PTSD rates so much higher than national averages?
Why are fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s and In ‘n’ Out, paying a higher starting wage than federal wildland firefighters?