“What does that mean to a profession that has been primarily white male?”īlack firefighters can feel intimidated and isolated in the field when they parachute into fires in predominately white communities or don’t have other crew members of color around them, Baker said. “If we’re going to meet these challenges, we’re going to have to have everyone,” Baker said. I feel like it has helped me a lot in my career now.“īaker, of the Society of American Foresters, said the need for more firefighters will only increase as wildfires intensify with worsening climate change and droughts. “It was like going into Comic-Con and seeing all the cool stuff and just wanting to take many pictures. In October, he traveled to a conference in Boise, Idaho, where he went on field trips and talked with fire professionals and students from around the nation. He has since accomplished feats like passing several firefighter work capacity tests including walking 3 miles (5 kilometers) in under 45 minutes while carrying a 45-pound (20-kilogram) pack. “I wanted to just have experience and be able to make the most out of my college experience because I wasn’t just going back for fun. “As the school year progressed, that’s when more information about the FireDawgs presented itself,” Massey said in between running around in fire gear. Massey said he was a student at Auburn University of Montgomery when he lost focus, working in retail back home in Huntsville before enrolling in Alabama A&M in 2021. Love said the Forest Service and HBCUs ensure there are mentorships, scholarships and internships.īradley Massey, an Alabama A&M junior and president of the school’s forestry club, said the school sparked a passion he was missing. Once students decide to study forestry or related fields, retaining them becomes the next challenge. There also is a misconception that working outdoors isn’t highly technical or doesn’t require skill, he said. They are not often encouraged to consider firefighting by guidance counselors or recruiters, said Terry Baker, CEO of the Society of American Foresters and its first Black leader.
The dearth of applicants of color may partly be due to a lack of awareness. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders make up less than 1%. Hispanics make up 12%, and Native Americans/Alaska Natives and Asians linger around 3% and 1%, respectively. Between July 2010 and July 2022, white staffers fell from 86% to 66%.īlack fire personnel have remained mostly around 1.3%. It has approximately 13,000 employees including firefighters and other staff who respond to wildfires. The development programs that have come out of the Alabama-Forest Service collaboration are responsible for training two-thirds of Black foresters in the federal agency, said Love, who was in the first FireDawgs squad.ĭiversity among the Forest Service’s wildland firefighters has increased by 20% in the last decade, according to data collected by the agency. When class isn’t in session, the FireDawgs are dispatched to wildfires or burn operations around the country. The Bulldogs established a nationally accredited firefighting team in 2009 made of students, called the FireDawgs. A USDA Forest Service Center of Excellence in Forestry was created at the school in 1993 to prepare students for jobs with the agency. The consortium is building on top of a decadeslong relationship between Alabama A&M and the Forest Service. The hope is every student comes away with a foundation to chart one of many possible paths in forestry, ecology, agriculture or firefighting. “We’re trying to create a pipeline of students who are pursuing this natural resources education and forestry and fire.” So, it just makes sense to align our efforts and move together in the same direction,” Love said. “These four HBCUs have some of the top agricultural programs at HBCUs in the nation.
The idea for a consortium came during the pandemic to address a “mission critical area of the Forest Service,” said Stephanie Love, the USDA Forest Service’s national diversity student programs manager and an Alabama A&M alum. The number of wildfires this year is below the 10-year average, but hot and dry conditions are raising the risk, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. grows due to climate change and minorities remain underrepresented in forestry and firefighting. The recruitment effort comes as wildfire season around the U.S. Forest Service and a cluster of HBCUs comprised of Florida A&M University, Southern University in Louisiana, Tuskegee University and Alabama A&M University. The on-site fire academy is part of the 1890 Land Grant Institution Wildland Fire Consortium, a partnership between the U.S. I feel like that’s more inspiring,“ Mohead said, grinning. And then being a woman of color, that’s something, too.
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