Monday, February 4, 2019

Outreach for NIMO Jobs


It is with great excitement that we share the NIMO outreach links for both permanent recruit & fills as well as 120 day details. Also below you will find outreach(s) for other key FAM positions.

Please share/distribute these links with all contacts you think might be qualified and/or interested. Thank you so much for considering FAM and NIMO!

Permanent NIMO positions:






NTE 120 Days Detail/Temporary Promotion Opportunities:






Other WO-FAM Permanent Outreaches of Interest:

Assistant Director for Landscapes & Partnerships, GS-0401-14/15              https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com?id=031354ECAE8C448188F8CBD4D5081BE7

Assistant Director for Risk Management, GS-0301-14/15 6c                          https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com?id=61C69935C12846D2B1E6E68365C244A8

NICC Center Manager, GS-0301-13/14 6c                                                              https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com?id=FE4D63B08E4344A18865327D30E01F05

Branch Chief for FAM IT, GS-0301-14                                                                       https://fsoutreach.gdcii.com?id=594328634AFB4816B3AA0DE5F7B4BE67


Friday, April 6, 2018

4/6/18 2nd Annual Cohesive Strategy meeting


National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Workshop:
Making a Difference, Building Capacity, Improving Preparedness, and Learning from Experience.

NIMOs Judith Downing and Gene Madden participated in the 2nd Annual National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy held 26-29 March 2018 in Reno, Nevada.  Beyond those listed in the title, an emerging theme in the presentations was that engagement in, and commitment to, the Cohesive Strategy is spreading among wildland fire management stakeholders.  One clear indicator is that participation in the Workshop more than doubled from last year.  Representation spanned all levels of government and included international, tribal, and non-government organizations and universities.

Jane Darnell, Deputy Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region, emphasized USDA Forest Service commitment to the Strategy’s goals and principles in the first Workshop presentation.  Joe Stutler emphasized the expanding sense of ownership in the strategy among a widening range of stakeholders in his summation.  Independently, USDA Forest Service Interim Chief Christiansen in her April 2nd Letter of Intent for Wildfire – 2018 said,

“We remain committed to the goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, which seeks to create resilient landscapes, fire adapted communities and safe and effective wildfire response that bases decisions on risk analysis for all ownerships.  The strategy’s vision is to safely and effectively extinguish fire when needed; use fire where allowable; manage our natural resources; and, as a nation, live with wildland fire.”

A total of 41 presentations and working groups were presented not counting the opening remarks and summations. Many of these were rapid micro-talks presented in ten minutes or less. Speakers and presenters came from across the country and many of the sessions actively engaged participants in discussions.  Every presentation, including micro-talks, engaged audiences with questions and comments.  Break time was provided for informal interaction among participants and with speakers.  The format was a true workshop intended to co-produce new knowledge and refine questions through energetic dialogue among all participants and the participants eagerly joined in.

Other blog posts to follow will present some of the workshop content and results of interactions as summarized by the workshop organizers.  Next year’s workshop is being planned.  Although no location has been selected, the intention is to hold it somewhere mid-continent or in the Northeast or Southeast. 

-- E N D --

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

3/14/18 Cohesive Strategy Video Now Available

A video called Cohesive Strategy Stakeholders’ Perspectives -- An Educational Tool for Cohesive Strategy Presenters, Collaborative Organizers & Instructors  is now available.

Fire Response
The Cohesive Strategy workgroup developed the video, subtitled: A Rapid Introduction to the Cohesive Strategy by People Who Use it, to support efforts of people working to promote acceptance and use of the Cohesive Strategy.  Stakeholders appearing in the video were interviewed at the Cohesive Strategy Innovators’ Workshop in Bend, Oregon in 2015.   Dave Butler, a NIFC contract videographer, David Olson (retired, Boise National Forest) and Judith Downing (NIMO PIO) produced the video.   

Managing Human Cause Ignitions
The video, Cohesive Strategy Stakeholders’ Perspectives, is a dynamic, rapid, easy-to-use introduction to the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy). Audiences include wildland fire management stakeholders and others who may initiate or engage in Cohesive Strategy implementation projects.

It can be used whenever it is desirable to provide a rapid overview of the Strategy. The video demonstrates the Strategy’s relevance to the work of land management agencies, non-government organizations, interest groups, and other stakeholders. It can be used as part of public fire education programs; in college, university, and fire academy courses; and as a dynamic introduction to training, workshop, and conference presentations.

Fire resilient landscapes
The video will provide groups with shared basic understandings of the Strategy, so they can begin working from a common starting point.

Fire adapted communities



Read about the details & use of the video here:
https://www.forestsandrangelands.gov/strategy/documents/video/CohesiveStrategyStakeholdersPerspectivesVideoQuickGuide.pdf

See the 5 min trailer of the video here: 
Cohesive Strategy Stakeholders Perspectives Trailer https://youtu.be/9D4_lFjThMk 

See the 10.5 min video here:
Cohesive Strategy Stakeholders Perspectives https://youtu.be/Xy06f0YZPt8 

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

3/13/18 NIMO Plays Role in Learning Summit

November 6-8, the 2017 Learning Summit was held in McClellan, Calif., at the USDA Forest Service McClellan Wildland Fire Training and Conference Center. The purpose of the Summit was to engage in robust discussions around lessons learned from the 2017 fire season and agree to actions for 2018 which will improve the wildland fire system to more reliably protect responders and the public,
FAM Director Shawna Legarza providing
 her Leader's Intent for the 2017
Learning Summit
sustain communities and conserve the land. 

The intent was to bring together a collective group of senior fire leaders, the National Fire Leadership Council, the Risk Management Council and participants from research, employee representation and other subject matter expert specialists for the opportunity of increasing connectivity and better understanding of lessons learned. 

Several members of the National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) and the National Accelerated Training Program (NATP) were tapped to assist with the meeting to ensure its success. They helped with logistics, acted as facilitators, set up a small group discussion process called World Café, and captured notes which were eventually turned into the attached Summit Overview.

Deputy Chief Vicki Christiansen
 delivering opening remarks during
the 2017 Learning Summit
The desired outcomes of the Summit included bringing energy and alignment around areas of agreement and areas of opportunity for improvement. In addition, a direct and purposeful intent to action for 2018 would be developed around key issues influencing or affecting individual and agency mission success.

The Summit Overview is attached here. Feel free to share or print.






Thursday, March 8, 2018

3-8-18 NIMO's Puerto Rico Damage Assessment & Recovery Strategy Complete

Post Hurricane Damage –
El Portal Visitor Center, El Yunque National Forest
The destruction resulting from both Hurricanes Irma and Maria left El Yungue National Forest
(EYNF) and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) with significant infrastructure and resource damage; damage so severe that, in many cases, regaining full operational capacity will take several years or more.

On October 25, 2017, acting Regional Forester, Ken Arney tasked NIMO IC Joe Reinarz, to assist the EYNF and IITF in compiling a damage assessment summary and coordinated recovery strategy. 
El Yunque NF Hurricane Damage

In an effort to meet this delegation, Joe and NIMO PSC Dana Carter traveled to Puerto Rico where they spent a week working with the staff from both EYNF and IITF to begin gathering prioritized response and recovery needs and developing a Program of Work that would allow both EYNF and IITF to regain full operational capacity.

The Strategic Planning Package developed for this delegation includes a Strategic Project Planner and a Narrative with supporting documentation (i.e. damage assessments developed by EYNF and IITF). A Gantt chart-styled strategic project planner was developed to capture and display the prioritized and phased strategic level activities.
Locals hires clearing 
the right of way
along PR Hwy 191

Prior to leaving Puerto Rico, EYNF, IITF and the Southern Area Regional Office Staff were presented a copy of the draft Strategic Planner and were given time to validate and further develop activities, including the development of cost estimates for the prioritized work. In addition to developing the Strategic Project Planner, a supporting narrative was drafted to describe the strategic planning process used, and includes milestone conditions to help gauge progress throughout the response and recovery efforts.   

(above & below) Potable Water System
 Intakes – Approximately 20% of the 
island of PR’s fresh water supply 
is estimated to originate on EYNF
After leaving Puerto Rico, Joe and Dana continued to engage with the personnel from Puerto Rico and the Southern Area Regional Office. Daily coordination conference calls were attended through the end of the 2017 calendar year; after the first of the year 2018, the call schedule was moved to Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Additional calls were held to develop a phased approach to measuring accomplishments throughout the response and recovery efforts

Thursday, February 15, 2018

2/15/18 NIMO's February 15 Calendar

NIMO has a lot going on but we're not very good at telling our own story!  Our solution? We are trying to share more on our social media pages  about what we're up to.  An updated NIMO calendar will be published every 2 weeks in order to be transparent about what we are doing, where we are doing it and for whom. If you have any questions, please contact one of our ICs or our coordinator Robin Cole: robincole@fs.fed.us. For a printable Word version of this calendar, click here: https://tinyurl.com/2-15-18-Calendar

                                          FEBRUARY 15 CALENDAR

Now – May 12 / John Giller / Detail as R6 Fire Director / Portland, OR
120 day detail as Fire Director of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska behind Kevin Martin who retired.                                       

Feb 12-15 / John Giller / ICAC Presentation / Medford, OR
Presenting on the Strategic Management of Long-term Fires to the Incident Commander/Area Commander Steering Committee at the IC/AC annual meeting

Feb 14-16 / Sirena Fugitt / R10 S-261 with Intro to e-ISuite / Anchorage, AK
Presenting the Introduction to e-ISuite to new fire employees.  R6/R10 has offered a modified S-261 with adding a customized introduction to e-ISuite at the end of the course.  Students are able to go through the application of incident business roles, like equipment time recorder and personnel time recorder the first part of the week and then truly apply what they learn to the computer application that they will be using on incidents.  The introduction does not take place of the full week e-Isuite course but allows the students to get on hands experience prior to a dispatch.

Feb 16-25 / Joe Reinarz / National Coordination meeting on Chernobyl / Kiev, Ukraine
Will meet with US Embassy personnel in Ukraine to discuss past and future interactions and training with the fire managers in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ).  NIMO got involved because of work done on the Kootenai NF and EU3 Superfund response area in Libby   There is a team of SME’s helping the Ukrainians move legislation and training forward.

Feb 20-21 / Lorri Benefield / PNWCG Facilitation / Vancouver, WA
Prepare agenda and facilitate monthly PNWCG Steering Committee meeting and their annual meeting with PNWCG committee leadership.

Feb 20-23 / Teutrine, Palmer, Stimach / PA State Type 3 Training / Penfield, PA
Coaching and mentoring State DNR and EMA Incident Management Teams as they participate in a 3 day workshop which includes a full day simulation managing a wildfire incident.

Feb 21 – 22 / Reid & Fugitt / National IAC Meeting / Albuquerque, NM
Participation at the annual National Incident Administration Coordinator’s Meeting held at the Albuquerque Service Center – Incident Business Building. Members of the group include the National Branch Chief and Deputy for Incident Business Practices, the Regional Incident Admin. Coordinators, NIMO FSCs and ASC personnel.   Focus of the meeting is to discuss current and future business practices that will affect the incident business community.  Significant time is spent on lessons learned from the prior response season to identify areas that were successes we can learn from and areas where incident business practices can be improved.  NIMO FSCs were asked to participate in this meeting to provide the field perspective since we support all attending members from the Branch Chief to each regional coordinator with projects/taskings, trainings, and response.

Feb 21-Mar 9 / Dana Carter / ICS Instructor / Bangkok, Thailand
Assisting USAID/USFS International Programs as an instructor and subject matter expert in Basic/Intermediate ICS and Integrated Planning Courses for the Government of Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Feb 25 – Mar 1 / Joe Reinarz / Fire Management Meetings / Belarus
Three meetings in Minsk, Brest and Gomel, for the Ministry of Emergency.  These meetings will be to understand how they manage fires and discuss how we do it in the US.  They have the same problem as the CEZ (in Kiev) due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster along their southern border.  The audience will be from firefighters to ministry personnel.  The outcome of this is a possible new assignment for International Programs.
  
Feb 26-Mar 2 / Lorri Benefield / S-420 Instructor / Redmond, OR
One of several instructors for S-420 as well as a team coach. Region 6 sponsored course

Feb 27-Mar 1 / Eric Martinez / Risk Mgmt. Program. Meeting / Washington, DC
Providing input to the Risk Management-Human performance program. Will discuss organizational learning, human performance, caring for our people and suicide awareness to provide to the Executive Leadership and identify of some solid next steps.

Feb 28-Mar 2 / Judith Downing / Collaborative Planning Meeting / Reno, Nevada
Working meeting with University of Nevada, Dr. Marlene Rebori to work on Collaborative Planning Toolkit

Mar 2-5 / Jon Teutrine / National Shower Contract / Boise, ID
Serving as a member of the review panel for the National shower contract solicitation.  Reviewing proposals for the 2019 National Shower Contracts.

Mar 5-9 / Eric Martinez / You Will not Stand Alone / Sacramento, CA
Cadre Member- YWNSA Interagency Guide to Critical Incident Management is intended to provide guidelines for Agency Administrators, employees, family members, and others who have been affected by a critical incident. Line of duty deaths, off duty deaths, suicides, serious accidents, and serious injuries are extraordinary traumatic events for both the surviving family members and our employees.

Mar 5-9 / Lorri Benefield / S-420 Instructor / Redmond, OR
One of several instructors for S-420 as well as a team coach. Region 6 sponsored course.

Mar 6 – 9 / Dana Reid / FAM Strategic Plan Meetings / CA & DC
Meetings to continue development on the FAM Strategic Plan

Mar 7 – 8 / Kris Eriksen / DASP Orientation/Training / Albuquerque, NM          
Disaster Assistance Support Program – DASP is a cooperative program between U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the U.S. Forest Service International Programs. The DASP enhances and supports OFDA’s capacity to respond to disasters by mobilizing a roster of more than 250 disaster management experts from the U.S. Forest Service and other domestic agencies.

Mar 7-8 / Sirena Fugitt / Teaching Advanced Cost / Denver, CO
Advanced cost is a course that was requested by the National Incident Business Committee several years back to supplement the Cost Unit Leader module of S-360 (now E/L-975) and currently being worked on to be an official NWCG course.  NIMO helped create the materials for the course and serves as key instructors.  This course is continually evolving as the work that is being asked of Cost Unit Leaders has evolved over time to meet the needs from Agency Administrators to Payment Centers, as well as capturing accruals for the USDA Forest Service.

Mar 7-8 / All PHX NIMO / Color Country IMT3 Training / St. George, UT
Delivery of a Type 3 IMT training to Federal Wildland Interagency partners, primarily USFS, NPS, and BLM, as well as Utah State and some local cooperator fire agencies as well.

Mar 8-9 / Robin Cole / O & A Meeting / Washington D.C.
Meeting with Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry, Vicki Christiansen and Fire Director, Shawna Legarza strategizing and updating NIMO’s new focus area of Oversight & Accountability
Mar 12-15 / All Workforce Workgroup / NATP –WO Session / Washington, DC
The Workforce Development Workgroup is holding the final session for the 2017 (NATP) National Accelerated Training Program in DC. Students will have the opportunity to meet with Fire and Forest Service leadership to engage in dialogue about the current challenges, where the agency is headed, attend a Chief’s Stand Up and present reports on their specific special projects. The Workgroup is coordinating the event and will also meet as a group separately to discuss our program of work for 2018.
Mar 19 – 23 / John Giller / Presenting at PNW IMT meeting / Yakima, WA
Presenting as Agency Leadership at the annual PNW Incident Management Team meetings.

Mar 19-23 / Eric Martinez / Fire Program Mgmt - Leading Complex Programs / Santa Fe, NM
(Presenting CISM/Honor Guard).   Session is evolving to engage our participants in an immersive learning environment.  Our plan is to take the lessons beyond lecture and to fully engage those attending in dialogue and experiential opportunities both in the classroom and in the field.

Mar 19-23 / Terri Knauth / Basic ICS class / Myanmar, Burma
Teaching Basic ICS for International Programs which will include interactive classroom exercises

Mar 20 -22 / Stimach, Cunningham, Fugitt / ESF4 Training / Denton, TX
Emergency Support Function 4 is the role the Forest Service plays in national disasters under the National Response Framework. Participating in the ESF-4 course being offered by the Southern Area in order to understand the role of ESFs for activation and response to Stafford Act incidents. Attendance is two-fold in that NIMO has been assisting the All Hazard & International Fire Support Branch in the WO, and was requested to participate in the current curriculum first to enhance our efforts with updating the current materials for ESF-4 and second, to provide capacity for national ESF-4 support.

Mar 21 – 23 / Kris Eriksen / FDNY Social Media Training / New York, NY
Creating and offering a 3 days course called Social Media: Strategies and Applications in Emergencies. Day one will be live streamed nationally while the last two days will help FDNY get its agency-wide social media protocols developed and new users trained.  This is the first offering of this new course which will then be offered nationwide where requested.

Mar 23-27 /Jon Teutrine / National Shower Contract / Boise, ID
Serving as a member of the review panel for the National shower contract solicitation.  Reviewing proposals for the 2019 National Shower Contracts.

Mar 26- 29 / Judith Downing / Cohesive Strategy Workshop / Reno, Nevada
Attending the workshop and supporting the Conference organizers as requested

Apr 3 / Kris Eriksen / Disaster Communications Presentation / Virtual
3rd year for an online presentation to the Disaster Communications class at Tulane University in New Orleans. The presentation will be about Joint Information Centers and Incident Communications

Apr 3-4 / Fugitt & Eriksen / Rocky Mtn IMT Meeting / Cheyenne, WY
Attendance at IMT meeting for NIMO representation to the Rocky Mountain area and to provide national perspective to functional area breakouts, as well as support to the regional Incident Business Coordinator.

Apr 3-4 / Dana Reid / PNW Incident Business Workshop / Olympia, WA
Attending the Pacific Northwest Interagency Incident Business & Procurement Workshop in preparation for 2018 fires.

Apr 3-5 / All Risk Mgmt. Workgroup / Workgroup Meeting / Charleston, SC
NIMO Risk Management Workgroup and the AD for Risk from the WO will be meeting to update their FY18 Projects and develop FY19 Program of Work and Leaders Intend

Apr 4-5 / Sirena Fugitt / PNW Incident Business Workshop / Olympia, WA
Representation of NIMO and member of the PNW Incident Business Committee who sponsors the annual workshop.  Will specifically be presenting on the topics of Cost Share supplements to the Master Agreement and providing an update on e-ISuite for 2018 and supporting the rest of the incident business committee members.

Apr 5 / Dana Reid / Collective Fire Hire AAR / Albuquerque, NM
Coordinating an AAR of the Collective Fire Hiring that occurred FY2017.

Apr 5-6 / Robin Cole / O & A Meeting / Washington D.C.
Meeting with Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry, Vicki Christiansen and Fire Director, Shawna Legarza strategizing and updating NIMO’s new focus area of Oversight & Accountability
Apr 9-13 / All NIMO / NIMO Professional Development / Gatlinburg, TN
NIMO combines its annual meeting with professional development opportunities whenever possible. The 2018 spring session will center on the staff ride developed for Gatlinburg, Tennessee to provide a learning opportunity for NIMO members surrounding skills and tools needed to implement work around RMAT and Oversight and Accountability. Like many others, nearly every NIMO member was involved somewhere in the south during the fires of fall 2016.

Apr 9-13 / Lorri Benefield / Lead Instructor for S-440 / Redmond, OR
Update current NWCG S-440 (Planning Section Chief) course to meet current conditions and still meet NWCG standards. As part of this course, we will add a Type 3 Plans Workshop to provide practical information for Type 3 plans staff to update their skills.

Apr 16 – 18 / Dana Reid / L-973, Finance Section Chief / Bend, OR
Lead instructor for Finance Section Chief in Deschutes County

Apr 23-27 / Eric Martinez / Learning from Unintended Outcomes / Salt Lake City, UT
(Presenting CISM/Honor Guard). LfUO is intended to prepare participants to serve as an FLA team member, understand the impacts of those effected by unintended outcomes and create a learning culture in Federal/State/Local land management agencies.

Apr 24 – 26 / Dana Reid / NFLC Meeting / Chattanooga, TN
Facilitate the National Fire Leadership Council Meeting (WO Fire Leadership, Regional Fire Directions and the National Line Officer Team) for deliberate dialogue around compelling issues at the national level. This dialogue will serve as a catalyst to improve the wildland fire system to one that more reliably protects responders and the public, sustains communities, and conserves the land.

May 7-11 / Sirena Fugitt / ESF-4 National Exercise / Washington D.C.
No details yet

May 21-Jun 8 / Jon Teutrine / National Shower Contract / Multiple Locations
Serving as a member of the review panel for the National shower contract solicitation.  Travelling to numerous regions and conducting inspections on shower units in order to make final recommendations for the 2019 National Shower Contract.