The Aerial Firefighting Industry: A Voice in the Wilderness By Dan Reese In January 2022, a critical U.S. federal government action relative to the wildfire crisis was announced amidst great fanfare, with multiple agencies joining a public relations blitz demonstrating that the feds were taking a bold step. A ten-year strategic plan for mitigating the wildfire crisis was released, entitled “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests.” Like many fellow firefighters and aerial firefighting industry executives, at first glance, I applauded the mere fact that the 20202021 historic wildfires had prompted something as forward-looking as a ten-year plan. I immediately read the numerous documents detailing the plan. While there were important recommendations relative to the core causes of the worsening wildfire crisis, such as reversing climate change and the need for dramatic land management reforms, something was missing. What was missing, was any reference to fire suppression, on the ground or in the air, both of which are paramount to buying time as climate and land-related actions require decades before real progress can be made. More specific to our industry, nowhere in the many pages of the plan, is there a single mention of “aerial firefighting” or “aerial suppression,” or a single word indicating that our industry even exists. Not surprisingly, my inbox began to fill up with messages from like-minded colleagues in our industry who had spotted the same mind-boggling red flag. One such note said it best – “this is like the Department of Defense publishing a strategic plan that is entirely focused on the causes of military conflict, and suggesting that more diplomacy and dialogue with our enemies can solve the problem. That line of thinking blindly neglects the need for warfighters and the weapons they’ll need to fight back when, inevitably, we’ll be attacked.” Obviously, this hypothetical would never occur, and the strategic plans coming out of the Pentagon consistently recognize the need for weapons of war. Further, defense planners rarely neglect to note the close strategic collaboration between industry and government, as far more than just a buyer/seller relationship. AF 24 | aerialfiremag.com
Our industry mitigates the fast-growing economic risk posed by wildland fires, and economic security goes hand-in-hand with national security.
You won’t find a long-term, comprehensive strategic defense plan that fails to include heavy reference to the industry they work hard to protect and nurture – “the defense industrial base.” Now, for those outside of our industry who might reject the premise I’ve outlined, saying it’s apples to oranges, I’d offer these thoughts. Yes, Defense is responsible for the nation’s national security posture, they fight the global war on terror, and mitigate threats from rogue nations posing real risks. And, yes, the defense industry is massive. However, the notion that wildfires are merely an environmental threat, posing seasonal risks to our national forests and “treasured national resources” is a dangerous legacy misperception. Our industry mitigates the fast-growing economic risk posed by wildland fires, and economic security goes handin-hand with national security. According to economists, wildfires cost all Americans by negatively impacting our GDP by over $250,000,000,000 annually. Our industry saves lives every day of the year somewhere in the world. We protect whole communities and critical infrastructure that would otherwise be burned to the ground, not just trees and parks, but energy, the watershed, transportation, agriculture, etc. The aerial firefighting industry may pale in size to others that protect the homeland, such as the defense industry, but we punch way above our weight in the context of threats mitigated and the cost to taxpayers. It’s possible that in early 2022 our industry will witness another example of the disconnected, non-strategic relationship with government customers, and their longterm plans for aerial firefighting. A provision within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021, establishes the creation of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management
