Accepting the award, from left to right, are: Jim McMahill, park superintendent Vidal Davila, Al Stover, Eric Allen, Dan Swanson, Kenn Perreault, Jon Freeman, and Angie Nellen. (NPS Photo: Mike Johnson)
Congratulations to the National Park Service fire management staff at the Northern Great Plains park group for winning the Brad Cella award. Here is a news release from the National Park Service.
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, S.D. – Staff from the Northern Great Plains Park Group based at Wind Cave National Park recently received the Brad Cella Award for diligence and proficiency in managing fuels funds to reduce risk to critical park values. The award was presented at the 2010 Fire and Aviation Management Workshop in San Antonio, Texas.
The award is given annually to the fire unit or park for diligence and proficiency in managing vegetation as it relates to wildfire risks. This includes conducting prescribed burns and removing vegetation using thinning, piling, and chipping. These activities help reduce the amount of fuels that could contribute to a catastrophic wildfire.
Award recipients are: Jim McMahill, Al Stover, Eric Allen, Dan Swanson, Andy Thorstenson, Jon Freeman, Toby Nettifee, Karri Fischer, Angie Nellen, Sonya Feaster, Kenn Perreault, Keith Mitchell, Noah Daniels, Matt Koller, and Andrea Holmquist.
“This national award acknowledges the fire program within the Department of Interior that has best aligned their efforts with the goals of the Department of Interior and the National Park Service’s Hazard Fuels Program,” said Dan Buckley, National Fire Operations Chief for the National Park Service. “The competition for this award is strong, and we were very pleased to award it to the Northern Great Plains Park Group.”
The Northern Great Plains Park Group provides fire management support for eight National Park units in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. In addition, fire ecology support is provided for three additional units in North Dakota. The award is named after Brad Cella, a nearly 30-year veteran of the National Park Service who worked extensively in fire and natural resource management and who passed away in 2007.
Brad Cella was one of two federal Department of Interior wildland firefighters who died while parachuting in the last three years. He died of a massive stroke at Star, Idaho after he deployed his parachute while skydiving on September 15, 2007. Brad had just moved from Anchorage to Boise to begin his new job as the Budget and Planning Chief for the NPS Branch of Wildland Fire at the National Interagency Fire Center. His previous position was the regional Fire Management Officer for the NPS’ Alaska Region.
Chad Suppa, the Module Leader of the Bureau of Land Management’s Unaweep Fire Use Module in Grand Junction, Colorado died in a parachuting accident near Phoenix on Feb. 15, 2009. He died while he was attempting a Base jump when his chute failed to open properly.
