National Smokejumper Association
Encyclopedia
The National Smokejumper Association, or NSA, is a non-profit (501(c)(3)), American organization that preserves the history of aerial fire management, or smokejumping
, through interviews, rosters, photographs, films, letters, reports and publications. It is also a meeting area for people involved with wildland firefighting and helps in the preservation of national forests and grasslands. The first president of the NSA was Earl Cooley
, one of the first smokejumpers for the United States Forest Service
. Cooley presided over the NSA from 1993 to 1995. Other past presidents of the NSA were Laird Robinson, Ed Courtney, Carl Gidlund, Larry Lufkin, Ron Stoleson and Doug Houston. The current president is John Twiss.
, the Chief Forester for the United States Forest Service
, contacted the Chief of the Army Air Service to have aerial patrols over the western states to look for forest fires. This request was transferred to Col. Henry "Hap" Arnold, head of the Western Department of the Air Service. Arnold loaned aircraft to the Forest Service to create aerial patrols, and by 1925, there were aerial patrols in western Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington. Two Airco DH.4 aircraft, based in Spokane, Wash.
, flew on these patrols, piloted by Nick Mamer
and R.T. Freng.
The Winthrop Experiments: In 1939, David P. Godwin, Assistant Chief of Fire Control in Washington, D.C., recommended that the Aerial Experimental Project in Northern Pacific Region try some parachute jumping experiments. The Forest Service made a contract to prepare for the jumps, providing parachutes, protective clothing and assistance from professional riggers and parachutists. The experiments were conducted in the Chelan National Forest
, near Winthrop, Wash.
During the experimental course, two Winthrop citizens under contract, five Forest Service personnel and 60 Eagle Parachute Company personnel parachuted from aircraft into Chelan National Forest at heights between 2,000 and 6,000 feet. No one was seriously injured during these experiments.
Training and Implementation: Smokejumper training was focused in the Forest Service's Region 1 (Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington) and Region 6 (North Pacific Region). Region 1 selected six applicants who had firefighting experience, including Earl Cooley. Region 6 selected individuals who had jumped during the 1939 Winthrop experiments. The first jump for Region 1 was at Marten Creek in the Nez Perce National Forest
on July 12, 1940. The first jump for Region 6 was at Bridge Creek in the Chelan National Forest on August 10 of that year. Some injuries occurred during the training sessions and aerial firefighting jumps, including bruising and a tailbone injury. Region 6 smokejumper Dick Tuttle was unable to participate in the 1940 fire season because of injuries sustained after falling from a tree.
During the first smokejumper rescue mission on July 15, 1940, smokejumper Chet Derry parachuted into an area south of Moose Creek Ranger Station in Idaho. A cargo plane had clipped a tree and cartwheeled into a shallow lake, killing the pilot and seriously injuring the cargo kicker.
. The NSA has a database of all known smokejumpers and created the first list of smokejumpers killed in action. The NSA is looking into options for cataloguing, storing and displaying historical artifacts.
The official Mission Statement and values of the NSA as of July 1, 2009:
"The National Smokejumper Association, through a cadre of volunteers and partnerships,is dedicated to preserving the history and lore of smoke jumping (sic), maintaining and restoring our nation's forest and grassland resources, responding to special needs of smokejumpers and their families and advocating for the programs (sic) evolution."
"The values of the NSA are comradeship, education, pride in work well done and loyalty."
, High Sierra, Iditarod Trail
and Bob Marshall Wilderness
. The Trails Program hopes to add West Virginia to their list of project states by 2011.
A second program is the NSA Trail Maintenance Smokejumper Chair Scholarship Fund, which provides a yearly scholarship to a smokejumper or child of a smokejumper who is studying forestry at the University of Montana.
An NSA Scholarship program is going to start in 2011. This program will give $2,000 annually to smokejumpers or family members pursuing higher education at the trade school or college level.
.
On August 5, 1949, Cooley picked the spots for smokejumpers to land during the Mann Gulch fire
. A wind shift resulted in 13 deaths, including 12 smokejumpers, the most smokejumper fatalities during one job. An investigation cleared Cooley and a foreman who had helped him pick the landing spots of misfeasance.
Cooley said he was never afraid of jumping out of a plane and the only thing he didn't enjoy about smokejumping was the walk home. By the time he died on November 9, 2009, Cooley had jumped almost 50 times.
2. Ed Courtney (1995–1997): Ed Courtney was a smokejumper based in Missoula, Mont., in 1958. Courtney became the principal of Missoula's Lowell School from 1991–1993 and taught seventh and eighth grade at Russell School. In 1993, Courtney went to work at the Missoula Public Schools Administration Building, where he stayed until his retirement.
3. Laird Robinson (1997–1999): Laird Robinson was a smokejumper in Montana for the Forest Service for over 10 years. He began his smokejumping career at the Flathead National Forest
from 1961–1967, then for the U.S. Air Force from 1967-1971. After smokejumping, Robinson became the regional office public outreach coordinator for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Recovery Program, which was a collaboration between multiple government agencies to ensure the recovery of grizzly bear populations in areas such as the Bitterroot Ecosystem, Bob Marshall Wilderness
and Yellowstone National Park
. Robinson retired May 2, 2004, after 35 years with the Forest Service.
Robinson helped University of Chicago professor Norman Maclean find sources for Young Men and Fire
, Maclean's 1992 book on the Mann Gulch fire
.
4. Carl Gidlund (1999–2001): Carl Gidlund obtained his master's degree in journalism from the University of Montana in 1967 and then joined the Forest Service, where he became a smokejumper for five years. He also served in the Special Forces during the Vietnam War
. After smokejumping, Gidlund became a public affairs officer for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Gidlund retired to Hayden Lake, Idaho, in 2001, where he writes columns in the Spokesman-Review, and writes and edits for Smokejumper Magazine.
During Gidlund's tenure as NSA president in 1999, he said he was convinced by former treasurer Jon McBride and former smokejumper Art Jukkala to help create the Trails Program.
5. Larry Lufkin (2001–2003): Larry Lufkin was a smokejumper at Siskiyou Smokejumper Base, Ore., from 1963–1967 and 1969-1971. During the break in his smokejumping career, Lufkin joined the Army and served in the 101st Airborne Division
in the Vietnam War. After he earned a degree in accounting from Washington State University
in 1971, Lufkin worked as a field auditor for the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services. In 1981, Lufkin transferred to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, where he worked as the Area Audit Office Supervisor until his retirement in 2000.
Lufkin's father, Francis Lufkin, was one of the first people to jump from a plane during the Aerial Experimental Project in 1939. He was also one of the first two people to jump into Region 6 (North Pacific Region), to fight a fire at Chelan National Forest
.
6. Roland "Ron" Stoleson (2003–2005): Ron Stoleson was a smokejumper based in Missoula, starting in 1956. Stoleson was Forest Supervisor of the Sawtooth National Forest
from 1982-1991. He retired in 2000, after 42 years in the Forest Service.
After his retirement, Stoleson led crews for the Trails Program to help maintain trails and other natural and historical resources.
Stoleson is the only living survivor of a 1959 accident, in which a Ford Tri-Motor plane crashed into gasoline barrels while landing at the Moose Creek airstrip. He was in the plane at the time. The crash killed 10 people, including two smokejumpers and the Nez Perce Forest supervisor. Stoleson escaped from the plane, but was burned on the face and arms during the incident.
7. Doug Houston (2005–2009): Doug Houston was a smokejumper for 28 years. The first 17 years, he was stationed in Redmond, Ore. The next 11 were spent as the smokejumper base manager for the North Cascades Smokejumper base in Winthrop, Wash. Houston is currently an instructor for Mission-Centered Solutions in Parker, Colo.]
8. John Twiss (2009–present): John Twiss began working as a seasonal employee for the National Park Service
at Yellowstone National Park
in 1965. After working as a seasonal, Twiss became a Forest Service smokejumper for nine years, based out of Redmond, Ore. from 1967-1976. When he was done with smokejumping, Twiss worked as a District Ranger in Idaho and Oregon; Deputy Forest Supervisor in Minnesota; National Wilderness Leader in Washington, D.C.; and the Forest Supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest
. In July 2005, Twiss became director of law enforcement and investigations for the Forest Service. He retired November 2008, after a 40-year career with the Forest Service.
Smokejumper
A smokejumper is a wildland firefighter who parachutes into a remote area to combat wildfires.Smokejumpers are most often deployed to fires that are extremely remote. The risks associated with this method of personnel deployment are mitigated by an extremely well developed training program that has...
, through interviews, rosters, photographs, films, letters, reports and publications. It is also a meeting area for people involved with wildland firefighting and helps in the preservation of national forests and grasslands. The first president of the NSA was Earl Cooley
Earl Cooley (smokejumper)
Earl Everett Cooley became one of the first smokejumpers for the United States Forest Service, when he and a colleague parachuted from a plane to fight a forest fire in July 1940....
, one of the first smokejumpers for the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
. Cooley presided over the NSA from 1993 to 1995. Other past presidents of the NSA were Laird Robinson, Ed Courtney, Carl Gidlund, Larry Lufkin, Ron Stoleson and Doug Houston. The current president is John Twiss.
History of smokejumping
Aerial Fire Patrols: The idea and implementation of smokejumping was a gradual process, starting with aerial fire patrols. In 1918 Henry S. GravesHenry S. Graves
Henry Solon Graves was a forest administrator in the United States. He founded the Yale School of Forestry in 1900, the oldest continuous forestry school in the United States...
, the Chief Forester for the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
, contacted the Chief of the Army Air Service to have aerial patrols over the western states to look for forest fires. This request was transferred to Col. Henry "Hap" Arnold, head of the Western Department of the Air Service. Arnold loaned aircraft to the Forest Service to create aerial patrols, and by 1925, there were aerial patrols in western Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington. Two Airco DH.4 aircraft, based in Spokane, Wash.
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
, flew on these patrols, piloted by Nick Mamer
Nick Mamer
Nicholas B. “Nick” Mamer was a noted aviation pioneer and pilot in the Pacific Northwest during the 1920s and 1930s.Mamer served with the United States Army Air Service during World War I, and later settled in Spokane, Washington, establishing the Mamer Flying Service and Mamer Air Transport firms...
and R.T. Freng.
The Winthrop Experiments: In 1939, David P. Godwin, Assistant Chief of Fire Control in Washington, D.C., recommended that the Aerial Experimental Project in Northern Pacific Region try some parachute jumping experiments. The Forest Service made a contract to prepare for the jumps, providing parachutes, protective clothing and assistance from professional riggers and parachutists. The experiments were conducted in the Chelan National Forest
Chelan National Forest
Chelan National Forest was established in Washington by the U.S. Forest Service on July 1, 1908 with from a portion of Washington National Forest. On July 1, 1921 it absorbed the first Okanogan National Forest, but on March 23, 1955 the name was changed back to Okanogan. -External links:** Text...
, near Winthrop, Wash.
Winthrop, Washington
Winthrop is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. It is east of Mazama and north of Twisp. The population of the Winthrop area was 1,916 at the 2000 census; however, the incorporated town had a population of 349. The 2010 census showed an increase to 394 within the town limits...
During the experimental course, two Winthrop citizens under contract, five Forest Service personnel and 60 Eagle Parachute Company personnel parachuted from aircraft into Chelan National Forest at heights between 2,000 and 6,000 feet. No one was seriously injured during these experiments.
Training and Implementation: Smokejumper training was focused in the Forest Service's Region 1 (Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington) and Region 6 (North Pacific Region). Region 1 selected six applicants who had firefighting experience, including Earl Cooley. Region 6 selected individuals who had jumped during the 1939 Winthrop experiments. The first jump for Region 1 was at Marten Creek in the Nez Perce National Forest
Nez Perce National Forest
The Nez Perce National Forest is located in Idaho County in central western Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Palouse region, and on the south and west by the Clearwater National Forest. It has a total area of...
on July 12, 1940. The first jump for Region 6 was at Bridge Creek in the Chelan National Forest on August 10 of that year. Some injuries occurred during the training sessions and aerial firefighting jumps, including bruising and a tailbone injury. Region 6 smokejumper Dick Tuttle was unable to participate in the 1940 fire season because of injuries sustained after falling from a tree.
During the first smokejumper rescue mission on July 15, 1940, smokejumper Chet Derry parachuted into an area south of Moose Creek Ranger Station in Idaho. A cargo plane had clipped a tree and cartwheeled into a shallow lake, killing the pilot and seriously injuring the cargo kicker.
Smokejumper history program
The smokejumper history program is a collection that includes more than 250 video interviews with early smokejumpers, thousands of scanned and original photographs, and thousands of historical documents pertaining to smokejumping. This collection is preserved at the University of Montana's Maureen and Mike Mansfield LibraryMaureen and Mike Mansfield Library
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library is the campus library for students at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. The five-story library, which is located on the east side of the UM campus, was finished in 1978, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1979, it was dedicated to...
. The NSA has a database of all known smokejumpers and created the first list of smokejumpers killed in action. The NSA is looking into options for cataloguing, storing and displaying historical artifacts.
Mission Statement and values
"The National Smokejumper Association, through a cadre of volunteers and partnerships,is dedicated to preserving the history and lore of smoke jumping (sic), maintaining and restoring our nation's forest and grassland resources, responding to special needs of smokejumpers and their families and advocating for the programs (sic) evolution."
"The values of the NSA are comradeship, education, pride in work well done and loyalty."
Trails Program
The National Smokejumper Association’s Trails Program was founded in 1999 by former treasurer Jon McBride and former smokejumper Art Jukkala to field volunteer crews to clear trails, fix historical structures and build corrals and fences. McBride and Jukkala formed this group to help the Forest Service with trail maintenance, because it had cut back on it due to budget constraints. When Jukkala died of a heart attack during the program's first project that year, McBride became sole director of the Trails Program. Under McBride's leadership, the program expanded from two nine-man crews to 318 one-week crews by the time of his death on June 2, 2010. In 2010, 197 Trails Program volunteers completed 24 projects in six states. Areas with trails opened and maintained by this group included the Boundary WatersBoundary Waters
The Boundary Waters — also called the Quetico-Superior country — is a region of wilderness straddling the Canada–United States border between Ontario and Minnesota, in the region just west of Lake Superior. This region is part of the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota, and in Canada...
, High Sierra, Iditarod Trail
Iditarod Trail
The Iditarod Trail, also known historically as the Seward-to-Nome Mail Trail, refers to a thousand-plus mile historic and contemporary trail system in the U.S...
and Bob Marshall Wilderness
Bob Marshall Wilderness
The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a wilderness area in Flathead National Forest of western Montana in the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall , an early forester, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. The Bob Marshall Wilderness extends for 60 miles along the...
. The Trails Program hopes to add West Virginia to their list of project states by 2011.
Scholarships
The NSA supports three scholarship programs. The first is the Art Jukkala Scholarship Program, which was named after a former smokejumper who died of a heart attack during a Trails Program project. This program awards scholarships to the children of smokejumpers who were killed in action. Four scholarships have been awarded, totaling $10,000.A second program is the NSA Trail Maintenance Smokejumper Chair Scholarship Fund, which provides a yearly scholarship to a smokejumper or child of a smokejumper who is studying forestry at the University of Montana.
An NSA Scholarship program is going to start in 2011. This program will give $2,000 annually to smokejumpers or family members pursuing higher education at the trade school or college level.
Good Samaritan Fund
The Good Samaritan Fund was created to financially aid smokejumpers, smokejumper pilots and their families. The NSA has donated over $6,000 since the fund's inception.Presidents of the NSA
1. Earl Cooley (1993–1995): Earl Cooley was one of the first two men in history to parachute from an airplane to fight a fire, which was at the Nez Perce National Forest on July 12, 1940.] He trained smokejumpers in Montana during the 1940s, many of whom were conscientious objectors of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
On August 5, 1949, Cooley picked the spots for smokejumpers to land during the Mann Gulch fire
Mann Gulch fire
The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smoke jumpers who were parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it....
. A wind shift resulted in 13 deaths, including 12 smokejumpers, the most smokejumper fatalities during one job. An investigation cleared Cooley and a foreman who had helped him pick the landing spots of misfeasance.
Cooley said he was never afraid of jumping out of a plane and the only thing he didn't enjoy about smokejumping was the walk home. By the time he died on November 9, 2009, Cooley had jumped almost 50 times.
2. Ed Courtney (1995–1997): Ed Courtney was a smokejumper based in Missoula, Mont., in 1958. Courtney became the principal of Missoula's Lowell School from 1991–1993 and taught seventh and eighth grade at Russell School. In 1993, Courtney went to work at the Missoula Public Schools Administration Building, where he stayed until his retirement.
3. Laird Robinson (1997–1999): Laird Robinson was a smokejumper in Montana for the Forest Service for over 10 years. He began his smokejumping career at the Flathead National Forest
Flathead National Forest
The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of Montana. The forest covers of which about 1 million acres is designated wilderness. It is named after the Flathead Indians who lived in the area. The forest is located in the Rocky Mountains with elevations...
from 1961–1967, then for the U.S. Air Force from 1967-1971. After smokejumping, Robinson became the regional office public outreach coordinator for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Recovery Program, which was a collaboration between multiple government agencies to ensure the recovery of grizzly bear populations in areas such as the Bitterroot Ecosystem, Bob Marshall Wilderness
Bob Marshall Wilderness
The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a wilderness area in Flathead National Forest of western Montana in the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall , an early forester, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. The Bob Marshall Wilderness extends for 60 miles along the...
and Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
. Robinson retired May 2, 2004, after 35 years with the Forest Service.
Robinson helped University of Chicago professor Norman Maclean find sources for Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire is a non-fiction book written by Norman Maclean. It is an account of Norman Maclean's research of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 and the 13 men who died there. The fire occurred in Mann Gulch in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness on August 5...
, Maclean's 1992 book on the Mann Gulch fire
Mann Gulch fire
The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smoke jumpers who were parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it....
.
4. Carl Gidlund (1999–2001): Carl Gidlund obtained his master's degree in journalism from the University of Montana in 1967 and then joined the Forest Service, where he became a smokejumper for five years. He also served in the Special Forces during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. After smokejumping, Gidlund became a public affairs officer for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Gidlund retired to Hayden Lake, Idaho, in 2001, where he writes columns in the Spokesman-Review, and writes and edits for Smokejumper Magazine.
During Gidlund's tenure as NSA president in 1999, he said he was convinced by former treasurer Jon McBride and former smokejumper Art Jukkala to help create the Trails Program.
5. Larry Lufkin (2001–2003): Larry Lufkin was a smokejumper at Siskiyou Smokejumper Base, Ore., from 1963–1967 and 1969-1971. During the break in his smokejumping career, Lufkin joined the Army and served in the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
in the Vietnam War. After he earned a degree in accounting from Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
in 1971, Lufkin worked as a field auditor for the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services. In 1981, Lufkin transferred to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, where he worked as the Area Audit Office Supervisor until his retirement in 2000.
Lufkin's father, Francis Lufkin, was one of the first people to jump from a plane during the Aerial Experimental Project in 1939. He was also one of the first two people to jump into Region 6 (North Pacific Region), to fight a fire at Chelan National Forest
Chelan National Forest
Chelan National Forest was established in Washington by the U.S. Forest Service on July 1, 1908 with from a portion of Washington National Forest. On July 1, 1921 it absorbed the first Okanogan National Forest, but on March 23, 1955 the name was changed back to Okanogan. -External links:** Text...
.
6. Roland "Ron" Stoleson (2003–2005): Ron Stoleson was a smokejumper based in Missoula, starting in 1956. Stoleson was Forest Supervisor of the Sawtooth National Forest
Sawtooth National Forest
Sawtooth National Forest is in Idaho and Utah was protected in 1905 by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as the Sawtooth Forest Reserve. Today the forest administers over 2.1 million acres of some of the most remote forestland in the lower 48 states, and there are over 1,000 lakes and 3,000...
from 1982-1991. He retired in 2000, after 42 years in the Forest Service.
After his retirement, Stoleson led crews for the Trails Program to help maintain trails and other natural and historical resources.
Stoleson is the only living survivor of a 1959 accident, in which a Ford Tri-Motor plane crashed into gasoline barrels while landing at the Moose Creek airstrip. He was in the plane at the time. The crash killed 10 people, including two smokejumpers and the Nez Perce Forest supervisor. Stoleson escaped from the plane, but was burned on the face and arms during the incident.
7. Doug Houston (2005–2009): Doug Houston was a smokejumper for 28 years. The first 17 years, he was stationed in Redmond, Ore. The next 11 were spent as the smokejumper base manager for the North Cascades Smokejumper base in Winthrop, Wash. Houston is currently an instructor for Mission-Centered Solutions in Parker, Colo.]
8. John Twiss (2009–present): John Twiss began working as a seasonal employee for the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
at Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
in 1965. After working as a seasonal, Twiss became a Forest Service smokejumper for nine years, based out of Redmond, Ore. from 1967-1976. When he was done with smokejumping, Twiss worked as a District Ranger in Idaho and Oregon; Deputy Forest Supervisor in Minnesota; National Wilderness Leader in Washington, D.C.; and the Forest Supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota...
. In July 2005, Twiss became director of law enforcement and investigations for the Forest Service. He retired November 2008, after a 40-year career with the Forest Service.