Chico, California Editor, Smokejumper Magazine
Smokejumper magazine: https://smokejumpers.com/smokejumper-magazine/
Yeah, let me give you some background. I started with the Forest Service in 1957, spent two seasons on what we called a tanker crew at that time -- on the Lassen [National] Forest; went into smokejumping for the next 13 years with the Forest Service out of Cave Junction in southern Oregon; then I transferred to the BLM [Bureau of Land Management] out of McGrath and Fairbanks, Alaska, for four more seasons; switched back down here and spent the last 19 years' seasons on the Mendocino [National] Forest.
I was their "Type 2 Crew Coordinator." In other words, I went around, recruited young people, mainly college-age students, and I put them into crews. I ran about 13 crews a summer for 19 years. That's -- was my one job. My other job, I'm a public school teacher -- was a public school teacher -- here in Chico for 38 years, and I've been a track coach down here for 50 plus years.
Smokejumper Magazine editor Chuck Sheley discusses wildfire impacts, smoke, community effects, and the role of rapid initial attack and wildfire management policy in Northern California.
Learn who the pioneer smokejumpers were, how the first U.S. smokejumper program began in 1939, and which early jumpers shaped its history.
