Mission

The Dakota Interagency crew will provide safe, effective support for wildland fire operations as well as other all-risk incidents within the qualifications and skills of crew personnel. The crew will provide a quality learning experience for all personnel involved in leadership skills, technical skills and positive interpersonal communication. The crew will be composed of personnel from multiple agencies and/or organizations across North and South Dakota . It should serve to improve interagency cooperation and communication, as well as establish positive professional relationships among fire managers.

Dakota IA crews have been mobilized the past few seasons with personnel from several USFWS wildlife refuges, USFS Dakota Prairie Grasslands, Knife River Indian Villages NHS, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Bureau of Land Management, and ND State Forest Service. 2006 marked the beginning of active involvement by personnel from the Northern Great Plains National Park units. During the 2006 season, two Dakota IA crews went on assignment and about half of each crew came from the NGP Office. This included personnel from NPS units in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Having participation from several agencies in North and South Dakota provides a larger pool of resources from which to draw and makes it easier to pull together 20 people with the qualifications needed for the crew. We hope to mobilize two or more crews each season.

We have started to formalize the organization of the crew, starting with a draft operations guide. This should standardize rules and expections for those participating on the crew. We've also put together a gear list, a contact list of crew and squad bosses, and started to acquire gear (hard hats, chain saws and saw kits, hand tools, etc.) for the crew.

 

Dakota IA Crew Assignments: