Catch the Wave
Many Wildfire issues ago, I addressed the major historical developments in U.S. wildland fire policy that appeared to come in cycles or waves, which Steve Pyne described in his book, Tending Fire. At the time, I was particularly interested in the “Fourth Wave,” which focuses on modifying landscape fuels policies. I was interested in how this wave was being defined in a much larger global context. Periodically, I'm asked what I think the next big wave in wildland fire will be — what will drive U.S. and global wildland fire policy.
The next big U.S. fire policy wave is not yet visible, but my glasses are frequently foggy. However, I do see an important development that has been building quietly for decades. It may not fit neatly into the “waves” concept, but it could be considered a gradually rising tide. It is a development that has changed the course of fire management as we know it, and it may continue to do so even more in the future.
This rising tide is an outgrowth of the decades of repeated waves of fire policy issues, debate and gradual implementation. It is our discovering the need to communicate and cooperate; it has resulted in the growing interconnection between all levels of fire organizations, from the local to international.
Over the last four decades, I have observed increased communication and cooperation within the U.S. fire community, driven by both necessity and decree. In more recent decades, similar trends have taken place around the world, including the creation of international agreements between nations for the emergency exchange of firefighting personnel and resources. I would like to think this has been a natural evolution, but if so it has been a hard one. In 1965, a few U.S. wildfire management agencies came together in Boise, Idaho, with the goal of reducing duplication of services within a limited geographic area. This regional center would gradually grow as more agencies discovered the benefits, but didn't really develop a nationwide mission until the late 1970s. In 1993, reflecting its evolved operations, this center would be renamed the National Interagency Fire Center. Canada followed a similar but slightly different track with creation of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre in 1982; in recent years, the European Union has started to tackle similar organizational issues.
I have seen “interagency cooperation” go from a crazy idea, to differing agencies sharing office space but not necessarily talking to each other, to actual cooperation. Imagine multiple agencies sharing the same dispatch centers and geographic areas of responsibility and personnel! At one time, this really was a radical idea.
Now interagency cooperation is slowly becoming international as we share teams to learn each other's methods, position liaison personnel and help with suppression actions. There definitely is a slow, building trend, and I am pleased to see it spread as we grow to trust that we all can be on the same team to protect natural resources and the public. You might even call it contagious, as other nations look for partners to learn from and share with.
The last issue of Wildfire featured the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. That facility is only part of an expanding global fire science research partnership. In many respects, we can point to fire science as leading the way in cooperation and communication within our fire community. Because of the long-established concept of the free exchange of scientific thought and ideas, fire scientists have always worked with international partners. Good fire science leads to good fire management — and good fire management means learning and sharing with partners from around the world. This is a tide that will lead our discussions and policies into the future.
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