A New Wildfire Agency, Massive Grant Cuts, And A Hiring Freeze. An update on all three.  episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 8, 2025 · 46 MIN

A New Wildfire Agency, Massive Grant Cuts, And A Hiring Freeze. An update on all three.

from The Hotshot Wake Up · host The Hotshot Wake Up

On Today’s Show: To Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/I cover the proposal for the new National Wildfire Fire Service. This has been discussed for decades, and an effort to finally streamline the wildfire bureaucracy now has bipartisan support. It would consolidate all fire agencies under one umbrella.The USDA sent out a policy email stating that wildland firefighters are not exempt from the hiring freeze, which is paused until the Office of Personnel Management reviews the positions being offered. This issue needs to be resolved quickly to ensure an appropriate workforce can be in place for the summer fire season. It should be a priority.Wasteful spending by the Wildfire Agencies is under heavy scrutiny right now. All grants have been paused while they are sorted through. Last night, I looked through some grants and spending; some wild things are in there. This is an area of focus for those working on reducing costs.One foundation that received $564M from the Forest Service has the acting Chief of the Forest Service on its board of directors. I was assured that this was being looked into.THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP —Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.

On Today’s Show: To Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/I cover the proposal for the new National Wildfire Fire Service. This has been discussed for decades, and an effort to finally streamline the wildfire bureaucracy now has bipartisan support. It would consolidate all fire agencies under one umbrella.The USDA sent out a policy email stating that wildland firefighters are not exempt from the hiring freeze, which is paused until the Office of Personnel Management reviews the positions being offered. This issue needs to be resolved quickly to ensure an appropriate workforce can be in place for the summer fire season. It should be a priority.Wasteful spending by the Wildfire Agencies is under heavy scrutiny right now. All grants have been paused while they are sorted through. Last night, I looked through some grants and spending; some wild things are in there. This is an area of focus for those working on reducing costs.One foundation that received $564M from the Forest Service has the acting Chief of the Forest Service on its board of directors. I was assured that this was being looked into.THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP —Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.

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A New Wildfire Agency, Massive Grant Cuts, And A Hiring Freeze. An update on all three.

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This episode was published on February 8, 2025.

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On Today’s Show: To Subscribe 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/I cover the proposal for the new National Wildfire Fire Service. This has been discussed for decades, and an effort to finally streamline the wildfire bureaucracy now has...

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