Wildland Fire: NPS Communicates Cohesive Strategy to Stakeholders

The central message of the Cohesive Strategy is: “The Cohesive Strategy is about more than fire suppression.”

On a daily basis, the National Park Service (NPS) Division of Fire and Aviation Management (DFAM) works with interagency counterparts and other stakeholders to facilitate implementation of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. The Cohesive Strategy (CS) is an ongoing effort by federal, tribal, state, and local governments and nongovernmental organizations to address growing wildfire challenges in the United States. For more information, visit the Forest and Rangelands website.

Since the inception of the CS, NPS DFAM has learned many valuable lessons about communicating the CS effort. First and foremost is that effective implementation of the Cohesive Strategy will occur only if the NPS has successfully communicated the CS tenets first to the NPS community.

Good communications is inherent in the mission of the NPS. It is a recognized part of the job of all employees. As part of the strategy of open communication, DFAM collects success stories focused on how units implement the Cohesive Strategy at the ground level. This is done using the existing chain of command--from the park unit to the region, where the material is reviewed and subsequently submitted to NPS DFAM. In the spirit of a national, multiagency, multistakeholder approach to the Cohesive Strategy, the NPS success stories are shared with all interested parties via the National Park Service shared articles.

In addition to compiling success stories, NPS leadership initiated bimonthly phone calls for the first two phases of the CS, connecting the Wildland Fire branch chief to NPS employees on regional and park-level committees. As the CS moves into Phase III, calls occur on a monthly basis, reinforcing internal agency communication in order to support the goals of the Cohesive Strategy.

Through already tested modes of communication, the NPS DFAM community has been able to disseminate the key messages of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy in an efficient and effective manner. The National Park Service understands that it must do its part in this “All-Lands, All-Hands” approach to fire.

Contact: Bill Kaage, branch chief, NPS Wildland Fire
Email: e-mail us
Phone: [phone]