This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month’s theme is “Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope.” People with Hispanic backgrounds have had made significant contributions to our country while also finding a better way of life for themselves and their families.

For me and many people I know, we found a better way of life and increased opportunities through conservation and fire management. I first started with the Forest Service 36 years ago as a seasonal employee, living in a bunkhouse while attending college. From that point on, the opportunities available to me where abundant, much more than I had before.

Just as employment with the Forest Service has much to offer people from the entire spectrum of backgrounds and heritages, those people have much to offer the Forest Service, especially when it comes to fire management and fighting wildfires.

Fire organizations around the country team up to tackle fires together. From the largest governmental organizations to the smallest volunteer fire departments, everyone brings different capabilities, equipment and specialized personnel to the table. The diversity of our organizations enables us to operate quickly and effectively to fight wildland fire. The same is true for diversity among members of an individual organization.

Having a diverse team with different backgrounds and from different places allows us to address challenges from a variety of different perspectives to arrive at the most robust solution. Having firefighters with a Hispanic background and cultural competency is especially essential in wildland firefighting as many areas in the United States that are prone to wildfires also have large, local Hispanic populations.

Bilingual firefighters, support staff and those with the cultural background reflected in the community we serve are essential to informing those communities most often impacted by wildfire. As an agency, it is essential for the Forest Service to foster that diversity: to recruit, train and retain people not just with Hispanic backgrounds but from the broad spectrum of cultures that make up this country.

We have many programs across the country to provide training and employment opportunities to historically underrepresented people. On the Angeles National Forest, the Wildland Fire Explorer Program gives young people an opportunity to learn more about wildland fire, complete fundamental fire training and explore future career opportunities. The program, founded in 1995 in collaboration with the Boy Scouts of America, focuses on training and teaching techniques used in wildland firefighting, investigation, fire science, fire engines operations, hand crews, aviation, “mop-up,” prevention, resource management, land management, public service and much more. Since its inception, the Explorer Program has trained more than 2,500 people.

In the spirit of this year’s theme, it is important to note how opportunities like the Wildland Fire Explorer Program can give young people the skills, experience, training and hope for a better future, not only for themselves, but for their families as well.

I know the agency gave me a better future. In turn, programs like this also give the Forest Service hope to strengthen its capabilities and effectiveness and to better represent the communities we serve.