Women’s Fuels and Fire Crews create defensible space at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

The Grand Teton MCC Women's Fuels and Fire Crew.

Brant Porter, NPS

During summer of 2023, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks partnered with the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) to host two all-women’s fuels and fire crews. One crew was stationed in each park to reduce vegetation near structures and improve forest health. The crews were comprised of five to six women who were trained and certified as wildland firefighters prior to their summer assignments in the national parks. Although their backgrounds varied widely, their desire to do valuable work in parks and learn in the process was consistent throughout.

An MCC crew member fells a tree to create defensible space near Lake Village in Yellowstone National Park. 

Brant Porter, NPS

The Yellowstone MCC crew continued work on the multi-year Lake Village Wildland-Urban Interface Fuels Reduction Project, which began in 2022. The crew was tasked with hauling and chipping logs, branches, stumps, and brush left from previous fuels treatments in addition to thinning forested lands adjacent to developed areas in the Lake District, located on the northwest side of Yellowstone Lake. This project increased defensible space in and around Lake Village, in addition to Canyon Village, Grant Village and the Norris developed area.

An MCC crew member fells a tree to create defensible space north of the Coulter Bay developed area in Grand Teton National Park. 

Brant Porter, NPS

The Grand Teton MCC crew focused on reducing fuel loads on a ridge adjacent to Colter Bay Village in the north part of the park. The crew thinned the forest along a ridge line and limbed larger trees to create slash piles in over 16 of the unit’s 35 acres. Although the footprint of their work was small, those acres provide a critical buffer from a threatening wildfire on the north side of the Colter Bay developed area, which contains employee housing, campgrounds, concession facilities, and historic park structures.

In both locations, crew members valued working closely with park staff to accomplish projects and the ability to learn skills in the low-pressure, supportive environment of an all-women’s crew. Participants expressed interest in leveraging the skills they learned during their corps assignments to pursue future employment with NPS Fire and Aviation or other land management agencies’ fire programs.

The Yellowstone MCC Women's Fuels and Fire Crew .

Brant Porter, NPS

While the summer was physically and mentally challenging for both the Yellowstone and Grand Teton crews, members found the experience of working in parks and learning new skills rewarding. “My summer has been incredible,” said Kristen Morale, a Yellowstone MCC crew member from Vermont. “I’ve seen cool stuff, met a lot of really cool people, and I feel grateful to have had this opportunity every single day.”