We are in the peak of our western fire season, and I want to thank you, our employees, who have already responded in support of the uptick in fire activity and our agency administrators who are carrying the heavy responsibility of navigating fire on your units. Your health and well-being are front and center in my mind. We are in this for the long haul, and I want to address long-term fatigue management.

On July 18, 2024, the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group raised the National Preparedness Level to 5 driven by the sustained and anticipated increased level of fire activity. This is the time that as an agency our focus turns to wildland fire response, suppression and support of those doing that work. It is an “all hands on deck” moment for the Forest Service.

Due to the current high level of activity and expected long duration of our western fire season, we have to manage fatigue for the long-term. I expect you to use all available tools to help our employees rest and recover between assignments, knowing they will be engaged again soon. The guidelines for days off (Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations, page 102) mandate that “agency employees be provided three days off after completing a 14-day assignment and returning to their home unit. If the next day(s) upon return from an incident is/are a regular workday(s), a paid day(s) off is/are authorized.” The Red Book’s guidelines also note that agency administrators, whether the incident host or the home unit, may authorize additional time off supplementary to mandatory days off requirements.

Predicted fire and weather conditions will continue to drive heavy resource mobilization and increased competition. Given this situation, we are strategically managing resources to reduce shortages while fully committed to our national response. This can include demobilizing responders before they complete a full 14-day assignment so they can be given three days off to rest between assignments before mobilizing in time to relieve others who have timed out. Supervisors are asked to authorize supplemental time off to meet the agency’s intent of providing three days off at the end of an assignment.

We are at a critical point in our national response efforts and are seeing an increase in injuries, serious accidents and heat-related illnesses. These serve as stark reminders of the risks that our firefighting and support personnel face daily and how important it is that we always remain focused on safety. Taking care of our people doing this critical and dangerous work should be our top priority. I expect line officers and fire leaders to ensure our personnel have the rest needed through the duration of this peak of fire activity. I also expect that to do so, you will need to provide clarity and focus on what work needs to be done and what can wait until we see a slowdown in this operational tempo and return to lower preparedness levels. That means some of our other mission delivery work will, by necessity, be a lower priority for this time period.

In doing this, we are asking you to anchor to our core values, especially safety, service and interdependence, as you consider how you can help support our workforce. This includes ensuring employees can respond when needed and backing and supporting those who are responding on large incidents or engaged in initial attack.

I thank you for everything you are doing in service to our mission and the American people. It’s especially at times like this that we are at our best as an agency.

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