Northern Region Fire Hiring

Permanent Fire Positions

Hiring for permanent Wildland Firefighter positions happens year-round in a phased approach.

Careers in Wildland Fire

More information on Forest Service Careers in Fire and what to expect through the hiring process.

National Interagency Fire Center Career Resources

Video tutorials on how to apply for a fire job on USAJobs.

2025 Phase 1 Hiring Outreach [PDF]

2025 Phase 1 Centralized Hiring positions will be open from August 23, 2024 to September 24, 2024.

The Northern Region hires hundreds of permanent wildland fire positions across National Forests and Grasslands in north Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Specialized positions include dispatch, engine crews, fire and fuels management, hotshot crews, hand crews, helitack, smokejumpers, and prevention. Hiring for vacancies in these permanent positions takes place in four phases throughout the year.  See below for the timeline.

Hiring Phase Positions Announcement Opens Announcement Closes Selection Period Start Date (est. no later than)
2025 Hiring Phase 1 (Centralized Hiring event) GS-9 and Below Vacant Positions August 23, 2024 Sept. 24, 2024 November – December 2024

March 2025
Hiring Phase 2 GS-9 or GS-10 and Above January 16, 2025 January 27, 2025

January - February 2025

 April / May 2025
Hiring Phase 3 Select GS-8 and Above March 6, 2025 March17, 2025 April 2025 June / July 2025
Hiring Phase 4 GS-9 and above June 4, 2025 June 13, 2025 July 2025 Sept. 2025
Special Entry Level Hiring Event GS-3 & GS-4 March 2025 March 2025 March 2025 May / June 2025

Notes: Dates are subject to change; please review the job announcement in USAJOBS for Open and Close Date.

Please review Outreach Notices posted in Forest Service Outreach Database; Single Vacancy Positions at a lower grade may be filled outside of the centralized hiring event as need arises.

Centralized Hiring Event includes backfilling of currently encumbered positions. Please refer to the Centralized Fire Hire link for more information on specific vacancy announcements filled during this event.

Coming soon

For more information, reach out to the Fire Management contacts for each Forest/Grassland and District listed below. Specific information about the position(s) and duty location(s) is available from the units.

Northern Region Offices

  • Aerial Fire Depot – Charles Savoia charles.savoia@usda.gov
    • Missoula Smokejumper Base – 406-329-4894
    • Missoula Tanker Base – Jared Bohrman 406-829-7328
  • Beaverhead-Deerlodge – Joe Sampson joseph.sampson@usda.gov / Eric Reiner eric.reiner@usda.gov
    • Anaconda Job Corps – Monica Thomas 406-546-0695
    • Butte Jefferson District - Kevin Smith DFMO 406-491-0202
    • Dillon District – Aaron Knudson DFMO 775-846-3056
    • Wisdom/Wise River District – Richard Griffin DFMO 406-925-1951
    • Wise River Helitack – Bert Smith FAO 406-660-7371
    • Madison District - Jim King DFMO 406-682-4253
    • Pintler District – Jerod Russell DFMO 208-946-6803
    • Dillon Interagency Dispatch – David Mosher 406-683-3991
  • Bitterroot – Matt Young matthew.young@usda.gov
    • Stevensville District - John "Jay" Wood DFMO 406-777-7436
    • Darby / Sula Districts – Zach Lee DAFMO 406-821-4280
    • West Fork District – Bret Lewis DFMO 406-821-1247
    • Trapper Creek Job Corps – Craig McDonald Job Corp FAFMO 406-821-2159
    • Bitterroot IHC – Cache Gibbons 406-821-4253
    • Bitterroot Helitack – Josh Woodard Asst. Superintendent 406-529-2713
    • Hamilton Interagency Dispatch – Kevin Kratsch Asst. Center Manager 406-363-7133
  • Custer-Gallatin –Scott Schuster scott.schuster@usda.gov
    • Ashland District - Scott Studiner DFMO 406-784-2344
    • Beartooth District - Jeff Flick DFMO 406-446-4538
    • Bozeman / Hebgen Districts – Rob Spence DAFMO 406-640-0810
    • Yellowstone / Gardiner Districts – Zac Krohn DFMO 406-223-0140
    • West Yellowstone Smokejumper Base - Eric Held 406-646-7691
    • Sioux District – Jason Donahey 605-797-4432
    • Gallatin Valley Rappelers – Curtis Parkhouse 208-859-7838
    • Billings Interagency Dispatch – Angie Pollock 406-896-2900
  • Dakota Prairie – Lee Nelson lee.nelson@usda.gov or Zac Thompson zachary.thompson@usda.gov 605-677-9445
  • Flathead – Rick Connell richard.connell@usda.gov 406-758-5261
    • Hungry Horse / Glacier View District - Andy Huntsberger DFMO 406-387-3833
    • Spotted Bear District - Jim Flint DFMO 406-758-6471 / 406-387-3845
    • Swan Lake - Brett Pargman DAFMO 406-837-7549
    • Tally Lake District - Manny Mendoza DFMO 406-758-3522
    • Flathead Helitack – Tom Rawlings 406-387-3864
    • Flathead IHC – Shawn Borgen 406-387-3836
    • Kalispell Interagency Dispatch – Sarah Whetzel 406-758-5260
  • Helena - Lewis and Clark – Kendal Wilson kendal.wilson@usda.gov / David Nunn David.nunn@usda.gov
    • Belt Creek / White Sulphur Springs District - Kip Colby DFMO 406-547-6015
    • Helena District - Mike Kaiser DZFMO 406-495-3931
    • Townsend District - Cody Crismore DFMO 406-266-3425
    • Judith-Musselshell District - Matt Plagenz DZFMO 406-566-2292
    • Lincoln District - Jarel Kurtz DFMO 406-362-7031
    • Rocky Mountain District - Kyle Inabnit DFMO 406-562-3247
    • Helena IHC - Fred Thompson 406-495-3921
    • Lewis and Clark IHC – Nick Wydra 406-791-7788
    • Helena Aviation Center/Central Montana Helitack – Bjorn Troberg FAO 406-495-3832
    • Helena Interagency Dispatch – Kim Beaver 406-449-5475
    • Great Falls Interagency Dispatch – Travis Collier 406-731-5311
  • Idaho-Panhandle – Mike Behrens mike.behrens@usda.gov / Shawn Pearson shawn.pearson@usda.gov
    • Bonners Ferry District - Mitch Prophet 406-291-3750
    • Coeur d’ Alene District - John Heyn DAFMO 208-659-5254 / Ryan Nipp DAFMO 208-659-1921
    • Priest Lake District - Glen Palfrey 208-443-6824
    • Sandpoint District – Robert Burnside DFMO 208-217-8311 / Bryce Barth DAFMO 208-449-2950
    • St. Joe District – Greg Juvan DFMO 208-245-6012 / Jerrod Scheffelmaier DAFMO 208-245-6218
    • Panhandle Helitack – Randy Gaulrapp 208-920-0077
    • Coeur d’Alene Interagency Dispatch – Melanie Roose 208-762-6915
  • Kootenai – Dan Rose daniel.rose@usda.gov 406-283-7742
    • Cabinet District - Dusty Pierson DFMO 406-827-0709
    • Libby District - Brent Cooper DFMO 406-283-7597
    • Rexford District - RJ McDole DFMO 406-296-7138
    • Three Rivers District - Beau Macy DAFMO 406-295-7477
    • Kootenai Interagency Dispatch – Jacob Jeresek Deputy Fire Staff 406-283-7795
  • Lolo – Greg Jacobson gregory.jacobson@usda.gov 406-329-1089
    • Missoula District - Jesse Kurpius DFMO 406-329-3852
    • Ninemile District – Teo Digiando DFMO 406-626-5420
    • Plains District - Trevor Unsworth 406-826-4325
    • Seeley Lake District – Adam Carr DFMO 406-677-3916
    • Superior District – Lorie Cotter DFMO 406-822-3916
    • Lolo IHC – Shawn Faiella – 406-329-3808
    • Missoula Interagency Dispatch – Maria Helterline 406-829-7070
  • Nez Perce-Clearwater – Josh Bransford joshua.bransford@usda.gov / Brandon Skinner brandon.skinner@usda.gov
    • Lochsa District - Sean Gaines DFMO 208-926-6419
    • Moose Creek District - Jon Norman DFMO 208-926-8948
    • North Fork District – Aaron Skinner DFMO 208-476-8206
    • Palouse District – Alan Carlson DFMO 208-875-1702
    • Powell District – Brandon Cichowski DFMO 208-942-0344
    • Red River District – Craig Roach DFMO 208-842-2123
    • Salmon River District – Matt Myers 208-839-2102
    • Grangeville Interagency Dispatch – Adam Warren 208-983-6800

For questions regarding overall Fire Hire process, contact Tiffany Counts at tiffany.counts@usda.gov or 406-241-8305