Is Anybody Out There?
When the IAWF board of directors asked me to become its president in early 2004, I accepted the position because I believe in the organization and in its stated mission of “facilitating communication and providing leadership to the wildland fire community.”
For the most part, we've been working hard on that mission and have accomplished quite a bit: Our membership is well above 1,000; the International Journal of Wildland Fire is one of the most credible peer-reviewed scientific publications in its field; the recent Policy Summit brought senior leaders from the U.S. and Canadian wildfire communities to plot out the future; and we've continued to host outstanding conferences like the Fuels Workshop and Safety Summit, with new conferences already planned for 2007 and 2008.
In spite of all these good things that are happening in your IAWF, I still have a lingering concern! While it seems that IAWF is providing leadership to the wildland fire community in some important areas, we sure seem to be lacking in facilitating communication. The dictionary says that to facilitate is “to make easier.” Right now, it looks to me like there's just one-way communication occurring, and that can't be real healthy for our organization or our profession.
One of the responsibilities of the president is to prepare this column for each issue of Wildfire magazine. When I began writing this column — this is my 13th — my idea was not to just report about the conference we just had and promote the conference coming up next; I wanted to address issues that are affecting the worldwide wildland fire community and stimulate some conversation between us.
So far, it looks like the target is still eluding us.
The folks at Wildfire tell me that they have yet to receive a single letter to the editor about anything that's been published in the magazine over the past few years. And some of the topics were hopefully of interest and concern to you as wildfire professionals. Earlier columns have dealt with budget cutbacks, stupidity in the interface, politics overriding science, the new Forest Service Doctrinal Foundation, terrorists in the woods and legal liabilities for firefighters. Doesn't anyone out there have an opinion about at least one of these topics that you'd like to share with your cohorts?
To remain a viable and important player in the world fire community, your association needs you to step forward and speak you mind on the topics affecting you and the world of wildland fire. It doesn't have to be fancy: Just send an e-mail to IAWF Executive Director Bill Gabbert or myself and to Wildfire Senior Editor Lisa Allegretti, and we'll be sure your thoughts and ideas are shared with the rest of the worldwide wildfire community.
We look forward to hearing from you!
International Assn. of Wildland Fire
P.O. Box 261
Hot Springs, S.D.
57747-0261
ph: 605-890-2348
fax: 206-600-5113
iawf@iawfonline.org
To join the IAWF, visit www.iawfonline.org
Send them to:
Wildfire Magazine
330 N. Wabash Ave.
Suite 2300
Chicago, Ill. 60611
Attn: Lisa Allegretti lisa.allegretti@penton.com
