FIRELINE The official publication of the National Wildfire Suppression Association Winter 2023 ALL HAVE What We in COMMONTable of Contents Published for: The National Wildfire Suppression Association Physical Address: 228 SW Broadway Mill City, OR 97360 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 169 Mill City, OR 97360 Executive Director: Debbie Miley Tel: (877) 676-6972 Direct Line: (503) 897-6150 Published by: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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Up Front 07 A Message from the NWSA Executive Director, Deborah Miley 08 Introducing the New 2024 Executive Board 09 Agenda: NWSA 2023 Annual Conference 11 The Role of the National Wildfire Suppression Association in Wildland Fire & Emergency Incident Support 13 NWSA Sponsorship Opportunities NWSA Insider 29 Meet NWSA’s Members 35 Meet NWSA’s Instructors 36 NWSA’s Corporate Sponsors 37 Tools of the Trade 38 Index to Advertisers Features 14 What We All Have in Common 17 Community Investment and Enhancement 23 Give Me Shelter 25 High Tech Fuels Reduction 27 How Wetting Agents Can Help Fight Wildfires: A Guide to More Efficient Firefighting On the cover: While they may attack wildfire from different angles, the NWSA and UAFA both share the same mission; supporting the firefighter on the ground. Photo courtesy of Kyle Miller Fire Photography.The National Wildfire Suppression Association 7 The National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA) is celebrating 32 years of formally being in existence and, over that time, we have had many great leaders who have kept the vision of NWSA alive and well. You all have heard the story of the mustard seed and the faith it represents. Just like that mustard seed, our original board had faith that creating a united front on the issues we have in common would help guide us. Through the years and different leaders, this vision has remained strong and has brought us to where we are today. It may sometimes feel as though we are seeing our hard work going backwards and it’s easy to become discouraged about our progress because of it. But to see how far we have come we must look back to where we started: • 32 years ago, each contractor was on their own island and trying to work through their own issues. Now we have an Association that works on their behalf on common issues and has a unified voice as an advocate for the industry. • 32 years ago, the federal government was still paying us as AD workers. Now we have contracts that pay companies for their services – not the individual employees – and rates are bid. • 32 years ago, the only way we could get training was by invitation from the agencies. NWSA advocated for a Memorandum of Understanding that allows us to have a recognized training program and certify instructors to provide that training. • 32 years ago, at the first NWSA Conference, there were 10 member companies in attendance and no agency representatives. Today we have on average 175 companies in attendance and federal, state, and local agencies that present to us. • 32 years ago, NWSA started with 10 companies. Now we have a membership of 375 companies from 28 states – and growing. Those are all major accomplishments, and we should be proud of that. We still have many issues to work on, and are there days when you will be discouraged about lowering standards, lack of best value, and dispatching issues? Yes. But you also have an industry advocate in NWSA that continues to meet with agencies, congressional staff, and others to further our vision. NWSA also has amazing staff who work behind the scenes helping you find resources to answer your questions, advocate for you if appropriate, and providing members services on a day-to-day basis. We want to thank our Board of Directors for keeping the industry moving forward, our staff Melissa Weaver and Teresa Widby for their long hours spent serving our membership, and our training coordinator Paul Hawkins for his work with our instructors. We will continue to look forward to what could be for our industry and will use that to guide us into the future. � A Message from the NWSA Executive Director, Deborah Miley Deborah Miley NWSA Executive Director 32 Years of Progress Connect with NWSA More than 419 contract crews and approximately 14,500 pieces of specialized equipment are available from Professional Private Wildland Fire Services for dispatch across the United States. Connect with us for more information! Online: https://www.nwsa.us LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ company/national-wildfire-suppression- association Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nwsafire Email: nwsa@nwsa.us Up Front8 www.nwsa.us Up Front The National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA) is proud to introduce the Executive Board for the coming year. Thank you to each for their service! NWSA PRESIDENT – CLAREN NILSSON Claren Nilsson founded Lost River Fire Management Service in 1995, and learned quickly that diversification was a must- have to survive in an industry that was far from predictable. Nilsson is a wildland fire manager with 40 years’ experience responding to wildland fires and all hazard incidents nationally. Lost River creates and implements multilevel complexity and prescribed fire projects and burns an average of 15,000 acres every year. Nilsson knows that the NWSA membership has the skill sets and equipment the agencies need, as well as the capacity to enhance their efforts and to meet the mission of Cohesive Strategy. As the incoming NWSA President, she plans to continue elevating awareness of the association and the good work of its members, as well as promote the value of the private wildland fire service to the agencies. “I am especially looking forward to working with the NWSA membership, as well as our agency partners, to create greater landscape scale resilience and fire-adapted communities,” says Nilsson.“By working together, we will meet the high hazard vegetation management challenges on the landscape, provide the appropriate wildfire response, and create economic development for communities at risk.” NWSA VICE PRESIDENT – JESS WILLS As the current President and Operations Manager at Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression Inc., Jess Wills started his career working alongside his father (Jim) in 1996 as a rookie on a 20-person hand crew. Within six years, he was a certified Single Resource Crew Boss running his own 20-person crew, while also working double duty to take over the operation management position. In 2007, Wills left his Crew Superintendent position to slide into a new role as Firestorm’s Business and Operations Manager. Today, he still enjoys getting out and working with the boots on the ground when he can, but Firestorm has become much more than just a wildland firefighting agency and the majority of his time now is spent working on the future of his company. After serving a term as association Treasurer, Wills is now looking forward to stepping into the role of NWSA Vice President. He is eager to start working with incoming President Claren Nilsson, and to continue the momentum of building relationships with the agencies, as well as strengthening the important partnerships between the United Aerial Firefighters Association (UAFA) and the National Mobile Shower and Catering Association (NMSCA). “I plan to continue to address our contract concerns and advocate for contracts that are better for both our clients and our industry,” says Wills. “We have been making some headway in this regard, but there is still a lot of work for us to do.” NWSA IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT – LEE MILLER Lee founded Miller Timber Services, Inc. in 1982 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry Engineering from Oregon State University. Today, Miller is the President of Miller Timber Services and is an active and well-respected member of the Oregon forestry community. He oversees and is actively engaged in all aspects of the wildland fire suppression effort at his company, from planning through execution. Miller Timber is a well-diversified forestry services company with more than 30 years of forest management experience and today provides comprehensive professional forestry and emergency services for private landowners and government agencies. Fire suppression resources provided by the company include hand crews, engines, water tenders, professional timber fallers, heavy equipment, and equipment transport. Miller is now wrapping up his term as NWSA President and has been humbled and honored to serve the wildland firefighting community. That being said, there is always more he wished he could have accomplished, and Miller is now looking forward to sitting back as President Emeritus and seeing the direction Nilsson takes as new President. “There were a lot of little victories during my tenure as the President, as well as lot of challenges – I hope that the victories outweigh the challenges,” says Miller. “I am eager to be part of the Executive Committee in a new role where I can continue to provide input into NWSA for the next couple of years.” � Introducing the New 2024 Executive Board9 Up Front National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA) 2023 Annual Conference Agenda Tuesday, December 5, 2023 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMNWSA Board Meeting (Closed) 10:00 AM to 11:00 AMNWSA Training Committee 12:00 to 4:00 PMNWSA Trainers Sessions 2:00 to 4:00 PMNWSA Meeting Registration 4:00 to 6:00 PMNWSA Members Only Meeting Wednesday, December 6, 2023 7:00 AM to 4:00 PMRegistration 7:30 to 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast: Sponsored by Silke Communications / KPD Insurance Company 8:30 AM to 7:00 PMVendor Show 8:00 to 8:45 AM Welcome & Keynote Speaker: Jeff Marsolais, USFS, Associate Deputy Chief – State and Private Lands 8:45 to 9:15 AMAgency Keynote Speakers (via Zoom) 9:15 to 10:15 AM Industry Representative Forum: “What Do We Have in Common?” 10:15 to 10:30 AMBreak 10:30 AM to 12:00 PMNational Procurement Speakers 12:00 to 1:30 PMLunch 1:30 to 3:00 PM Operations – Contractor - Landowner Panel 3:00 to 3:15 PMBreak 3:15 to 5:00 PM Breakout Sessions: Family Business Legacy Planning (Capri 1) 3:15 to 5:00 PM U.S. Department of Labor Presentation (Naples 6 & 7) 5:00 to 7:00 PMVendor Welcome Reception Thursday, December 7 2023 7:30 AM to 3:30 PMRegistration 9:00 to 9:45 AM Welcome & Keynote Speaker: KC Kacey, Nevada State Forester Fire Warden 9:45 to 10:00 AMBreak 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMRegional Speakers 12:00 to 1:30 PMLunch 1:30 to 3:00 PMFuels Presentation (Capri 2) 1:30 to 3:00 PM NWSA Database Presentation (Naples 6 & 7) 3:00 to 3:15 PMBreak 3:15 to 3:45 PM National Museum of Forest Service History Presentation 3:45 to 5:00 PMFire Weather Presentation 6:00 to 7:00 PMNWSA Happy Hour 7:00 to 8:00 PMNWSA Dinner 8:00 to 9:30 PM Auction with 50 percent of proceeds to benefit the Wildland Firefighter Foundation **AGENDA SUBJECT TO CHANGE**Next >