In “The Forest Service should embrace a full-time workforce” (July 2020), Anastasia Selby made a compelling argument for full-time employment. However, that is in stark contrast to what many Forest Service firefighters actually want.
The seasonality of the job is something the vast majority of wildland firefighters enjoy. The idea that we want to keep working in remote locations, away from friends and family, when the work load has diminished is out of touch. Our jobs are seasonal because the work is seasonal.
Name withheld by request
Kittitas County, Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline What firefighters want.
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