Remembering Mann Gulch While On Higgins Ridge

(Photo: Montana PBS)

In a remote area of Idaho in the early 1960s, 20 smokejumpers found themselves in a challenging situation. Thanks to a heroic effort, and as mentioned by the survivors interviewed, leadership and the lessons from Mann Gulch saved lives. 

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Watch Montana PBS's documentary Higgins Ridge.

• Reflect upon the following questions:
• What are you doing in your organizations to share lessons? 
• Is leadership a part of your culture?

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Do you have any ideas or questions about experiential learning or other tools within the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Toolbox, please reach out to us today. Click here for the WFLDP roster. 

IGNITE: Healing Through Story

All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. - Boris Cyrulnik, French doctor

[Photo: Mann Gulch/George Risko/Florida FS]

Remembering Mann Gulch

(Photo: George Risko)

For years, the wildland fire service has conducted staff rides using military events. This year the roles reversed a bit and members of the 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment participated in the Mann Gulch Staff Ride. National Wildfire Coordinating Group partners from the Florida Forest Service and U.S. Forest Service,  collaborated with personnel from the Helena National Forest to walk the Rangers through the staff ride process. We are excited to tell you about the learning experience in future blogs as we prepare for the 75th anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire which took the lives of 13 smokejumpers. Until then, take a moment to reflect upon the event using some of the same materials the Rangers used to prepare for their learning opportunity.

IGNITE: Without Action...

Without it [action], thought can never ripen into truth. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Photo: Lunch spot/Mann Gulch 1949/USFS]

Challenge #31 - 2023 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #31: Servant-Leaders think systemically.

• Watch: Awaken Your Foresight by Dr. John Demartini

• Dig deeper on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal.

IGNITE: The Cost of Learning

“There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for the acquiring.” - Ernest Hemmingway, author


Photo: Mann Gulch/George Risko/Florida Forest Service

IGNITE: The Best Day

The best day in your leadership journey is when you realize the biggest challenges reside within. – Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak


[Photo: Jacob Welsh/AK IMT]

Challenge #30: 2023 WFLDP Campaign

 

Challenge #30 – Servant-Leaders think systemically.

• Review Greenleaf’s four requirements for thinking systemically.
• Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, p. 138.
•  Answer the questions posed by the authors on pp. 138-139.
• Dig deeper on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal.

IGNITE: The Act of Service

 

Service isn’t doing what’s expected of us. Service is doing more than what’s expected of us. – Simon Sinek

[Photo: Kari Greer/USFS]

Be Open To Talking To People

[Photo: Chris Ayer]

With no particular start date, the 2023 Region 3 fire season (or fire year, if you are so inclined) has taken it's sweet time in ramping up; however. Arizona seems to have entered another burn period last few weeks. Therefore, while I am sitting in the demob line waiting to go through finance, I thought I would share some perspective from my last 5-day assignment as a single resource tending a support tender where air conditioning was minimal and temperatures hovered around 102-105 degrees and vehicle dash readings around 111 degrees (I am going to ignore the 118 degree reading.)