MWNB

For three years now, Sacha Wells, an interpretive ranger for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, has made “Ground Squirrel High School” an annual summer exhibit. Last year’s theme was prom. This summer, it’s spirit week.

The Forest Service's new chief recently published a letter that called for wildfires to be suppressed "as swiftly as possible." That may sound prudent to many, but it raised eyebrows among some who study fire policy. They worried that it may signal a return to aggressive suppression that has been linked to growing wildfire severity.

With 16-hour days for weeks straight, long separation from friends and family, and regular exposure to serious immediate and long-term risks, wildland fire pushes people to both their physical and mental limits. But the recently launched federal Wildland Fire Therapy Service is now available to help those workers ease the mental strain of battling wildfires.

The 4th of July, statistically, is one of the heaviest days of the year for wildfire starts. And this year the holiday comes amid heightened risk for major blazes.

Farrell Hayes represents something that veteran firefighters say is harder to come by these days: a young person who wants to get involved in firefighting.

President Trump has signed an executive order on wildfire policy, which seeks to speed responses to wildfires and address what it calls “reckless mismanagement.”

It would be called the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, according to budget documents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior. The agency would consolidate the wildland fire programs of the USDA and Interior within the latter.

Federal forecasters say there is above-average potential for significant wildfires all the way through the end of September across a vast swath of the Western U.S.

Tom Schultz, the head of the U.S. Forest Service, is calling for wildfires to be extinguished “as swiftly as possible this season.” But aggressive suppression policies are widely believed to be one of the key culprits in the current wildfire crisis.

In recent years, there have been a number of fast-moving, destructive wildfires in which residents had little or no warning to evacuate. Federal officials have new recommendations for how communities should prepare for such disasters.