I was just perusing the latest issue of Fire Management Today, Volume 70, No. 3. As usual, it has several articles that look interesting, including the lead article by Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U. S. Forest Service. He mentions that he has been in that position for 5 1/2 years and it is his goal to make it an even decade before stepping down. It would be interesting to know how many years his predecessors served in the rarefied atmosphere of D.C. before becoming a victim of the vagaries of politics.
It is stunning that Fire Management Today was first published 74 years ago in 1936 and is still going strong today. They say they are now on Volume #70, so the publication must have skipped a few years, perhaps during World War II when many industries shut down in order to support the war effort, or due to an inability to obtain supplies or manpower.
I have mixed feelings about the fact that they are still publishing. On the positive side, it is an excellent publication that is providing a service to the world of wildland fire, as evidenced by the latest issue. On the other hand, you have to wonder to what degree this federal government project is competing or interfering with private enterprise.
The International Association of Wildland Fire was founded in 1989 and began publishing Wildfire magazine shortly thereafter. Wildland Firefighter published for a few years in the mid 2000’s but finally folded, most likely as a result of too few subscribers and inadequate advertising revenue. Wildfire, which struggled at times and survived some near-death experiences years ago, appears to be healthy now and is still sending out six issues a year. After at times having as few as 26 pages in an issue (January/February 2010) during most of this year each one has had 42 to 46 pages.
Government employees publish Fire Management Today four times a year without any advertising revenue. The Government Printing Office will sell you a one year subscription to the dead tree edition for $24. Or, you can get electronic versions for free on the Internet, compliments of the U. S. taxpayers.
If the federal government were not subsidizing this publication, I wonder if the fates and economic health of Wildland Firefighter and Wildfire would be any different?
Thanks Dick
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER Magazine published its first issue in May 1997. Inadequate ad revenue was only one of several reasons for its demise, but competition from Fire Management Today was not one of the reasons.
Two points. First the publication should not be paid for by taxpayers. Time for change. And second, the US Forest Service Fire Program is so screwed up, it is time for Mr. Harbour to step down and get someone in the position that can make the needed changes to move out forward instead of backward.
J.J. makes the unsupported statement that “the publication should not be paid for by taxpayers.” WHY NOT??? Do you have any reasons, except your dislike for Tom Harbour and the USFS Fire Program? Should the Government be paying for other publications? How about Fire Research pubs? How about the USFS F&AM Web site? Your comment begs the bigger question of “what is the role of government in today’s society”, but I’ll leave that question to a much larger forum than this.
I’ve been a long time subscriber to FMT (and it’s predesessor Fire Management Notes), and have always had to pay about $25/year for the hard copy. As a practissing fire management professional, I’ve found many of the articles and research published there very helpful on the job, and to expand my professional knowledge in a broader context.
J.J.’s opinion about the direction that the USFS Fire Program is moving seems to have little to do with the publication Fire Management Today, so I’ll pass on offering my thoughts about that also unsubstantiated statement.
Hey Emmett, excellent points.
I think the fed government (and states and other government agencies) should indeed pay for publications. As you mention, fire research, which is just one of thousands of critical topics that should be published and have a large and appreciative audience. Check out, just for kicks, how the USFS ranks worldwide with research agencies — it’s one of the best and brightest and has been for DECADES.
Your mention of the F&AM website made me grin. I have written for Wildland Firefighter AND Fire Management Today AND the F&AM website (national and regional incarnations) and I think they ALL are valuable publications, with a different editorial focus, a different but overlapping audience, and different purposes — and therefore different funding models.
I’ll leave Harbour and F&AM alone, too. High fives, Emmett.