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The IAWF establishment of the Bill Gabbert Fellowship in Wildfire Reporting was initiated by a generous donation from Mark C. Sedenquist, a long-time supporter of WildfireToday and a 50-year student of fire.Sedenquist worked on the Angeles National Forest in 1973-1974 on Engine 314, and on the Coronado National Forest in 1976 as Silver Peak Lookout.
I first met Bill Gabbert in a forestry economics class in 1968 at Mississippi State where we were both forestry majors. The professor of the class coordinated summer jobs with the students and the Forest Service. The previous summer I had taken one of those jobs: a hotshot position with the Chilao Hotshots in southern California. I told Bill about the experience and he decided he wanted to go the next summer.
Fire crews of all types are wonderful places to develop lifelong friendships as people move through the fire seasons. This was also a time during which Bill Gabbert quickly learned the ins and outs of the structure and politics within the wildland fire community, knowledge that would serve him well later in life. He ended up with 20 years of service in the U.S. Forest Service, and then transferred to the National Park Service (NPS) for another 13 years. He eventually retired as the Fire Management Officer for the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota; he was responsible for fire manageme...
The U.S. Forest Service is looking at something different — very different — to improve situational awareness at big wildfires: high altitude balloons.
The U.S. Forest Service is looking at something different — very different — to improve situational awareness at big wildfires: high altitude balloons.