FY2004 Accomplishment Report

The Wildland Fire Education Working Team worked on many tasks this year to improve team operations. These tasks included updating the team’s strategic plan, handbook and team history. The team is also working on revising the charter and will present the new version to the parent group in FY2005. The task group organization begun in FY 2003 is functioning well for the team.

The National Fire Messaging Task group is comprised of three team members and a representative of the Fire Use Working Team. The task group is working with Fleishman Hillard to develop a long-term communication plan to build public acceptance of the role of fire in ecosystems and garner support for wildland fire efforts and to reinforce personal responsibility of those living in fire-prone ecosystems. In April 2004, the WFEWT provided the Interagency Wildland Fire Key messages to the field in order to implement these messages. The task group is currently working on Phase 2 of the work plan. Three products were completed in 2004: the national messages, a fact sheet and a power point program. The project is ongoing and utilized $42,000 in funds.

The National Fire Prevention and Education Teams task group completed year two of the three year strategy to incorporate the National Fire Prevention and Education Team (NFPET) program into the national mobilization and resource systems. Two new prevention positions were approved and are now included in ROSS. Twenty-eight teams were dispatched this summer to various assignments. $106,000 was budgeted for this year's portion of the three-year project.

The WFEWT completed the printing and distribution of the Wildland Fire in the United States brochure. The brochure is now distributed from the Symbols Cache. The project cost $15,000 in funds. The Cache also distributes a second product – The Communicators Guide to Wildland Fire.

The WFEWT sponsored the development of an interagency Wildland Fire Prevention Sign Guide. The Forest Service funded this project which is expected to be completed and into the PMS System by the Spring of 2005.

During the year, the team sent three announcements to the field through the email network regarding issues that the team worked on. These announcements were: National Fire Prevention and Education Team resources available on the Internet; the National Fire Messages; and The Wildland Fire In America brochure availability.

The team completed a national prevention training needs survey and report that identified the interagency training needs related to prevention. A proposal to the Training Working Team was developed for future training needs and will be presented to the TWT in December 2004.

Team members also represented the WFEWT in the following areas: the interagency fire prevention coordinators group (NIFC CORE group), the NE area Fire Ecology poster development project and the WISE project; and served as liaisons to the other working teams.

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