IAWF declares mission fulfillment statement to members

The mission of the International Association of Wildland Fire is “Facilitating communication and providing leadership for the wildland fire community.” There are many ways in which the association achieves this mission. In fact, the publication of two periodicals help facilitate communication. These journals span interests held by the scientific community as well as practical applications and experiences in the fire management community.

In addition to the publications, cooperation is one of the most important ways IAWF fulfills its mission. IAWF has sought and found many ways to cooperate with agencies, associations, businesses, individuals and lawmakers. We have co-sponsored many conferences with a variety of groups.

Recent conferences include:

• The Association of Fire Ecology Congress with the California Association of Fire Ecology, the Nature Conservancy, Tall Timbers Research Station and the Joint Fire Science Program.
• The Fourth Fire and Forest Meteorology Conference with the American Meteorological Society.
• The Fifth International Safety Summit with the Interior West Fire Council, U.S. Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Management Division, National Wildfire Coordinating Group, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Northern Rockies Coordinating Group, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula Technology and Development Center, and the Missoula County Fire Protection Association.

Upcoming conferences include:

• The Sixth International Safety Summit, with the Fourth International Conference on Forest Fire Research.
• Wildfire 2002: Surviving the Interface Danger Zone with the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
• Geological Society of America Annual Meeting and & Exposition with the Geological Society of America.
• The Second International Wildland Fire Ecology and Fire Management Congress with the American Meteorological Society, AMS's Committee on Fire and Forest Meteorology, the Florida Division of Forestry, Tall Timbers Research Station, Association of Fire Ecology, The Nature Conservancy, and the Joint Fire Science Program.

During the past few months, the IAWF started using the Web to facilitate communication within the fire community. The association now manages FireNet, a Web-based information exchange platform, through our Web site at www.iawfonline.org.

In addition to facilitating communication, the IAWF is serving in a leadership role for the fire community as a whole. For example, we are currently a stakeholder in the multi-agency effort called Firewise, which focuses on the wildland-urban interface issues nationwide. Also on a national scale, we are regularly invited to NWCG meetings, that address a wide range of policy-related issues, from firefighter safety to training requirements to the National Fire Plan.

Last spring, the IAWF brought together policy-makers at the First Annual National Wildland Fire Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., to share trends, issues, progress and challenges. This roundtable included federal land-management agencies such as the Forest Service, Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as the U.S. Fire Administration and associations such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Association of State Foresters, Public Entity Risk Institute, Society of American Foresters, Western Governors' Association and other industry experts.

We look for collaborative efforts and partnering possibilities to engage the great variety of disciplines and concerns in the wildland fire arena. In doing so, we will be meeting the needs of our members and advancing the interests of the wildland fire community: to facilitate communication and provide leadership for the wildland fire community. We encourage all people working or interested in wildland fire to support the profession by joining the IAWF.