John Seals

Defender of the Forest. Smokey Bear has never had a more difficult job than he's got today, with warming climate causing more severe wild and urban fires even as the frequency of fires are on the decline, further made difficult by the growing human populace and the annoying urban/wild interface where property values negates establishing no-man fire zones between them.

Even as fire fighters are expected to tackle fires over an increasingly long "fire season," their wages are below what a sandwich shop employee makes, driving most of the 45% loss of fire employees last year in an ever-growing lack of employee retention -- and the NPS and BLM pay fire crews better tan the USFS so of course seasoned fire crews go where the funding it better.

The employees who stick it our are the employees who "bleed green," the ones who love our public lands so much that poverty wages are the price *they* pay to do the world's most wonderful job: That of a fire fighter.