Retention And Hiring Data Went Ignored: Warnings Of Workforce Issues Fell On Deaf Ears.

Chief Moore was given all of this.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been poring over hiring and attrition data compiled and presented to the current Chief of the Forest Service, Randy Moore, when he served as the Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region in California. Multiple Hotshot Superintendents in 2019 presented the data, which included historical hiring and attrition numbers dating back to 1997.

I thank them for providing this data, and the numerous pots of coffee I drank going over this trove of documents.

It’s pages and pages of information that these individuals spent months compiling. One of the individuals who presented the data said, “We were told that they would take a look at it. You know the rest, no change.”

It covered everything we discuss today: permanent employee attrition, seasonal attrition, loss of workforce to other agencies, cost of training for lost employees, reasons for quitting, and significant concerns and solutions for fixing the issue. It breaks down hiring and retention on an individual Forest basis, including positions, age, and reasons for leaving.

The authors of this data gave a very real and stark warning to the officials they presented to, who have now all gone on to work in the highest positions in the Agency in D.C.

When a humble but effective workforce does speak up to the current degree, their leadership must listen or risk losing them. The Region 5 fire suppression personnel have spoken. They aren’t asking to be made rich or be showered in rewards and accolades. They are simply voicing a desire to be compensated and recognized adequately and comparatively for the continual output of the best product any firefighting organization in the world has to offer.

These sentiments have already grown well beyond the grumblings of a few and begun to manifest into well-written essays by highly respected Hotshots and genuine inquiries into union, associated press, political avenues, and class action legal representation. Our Firefighters are sending us the message that the floodgates will soon open, but first are giving us the chance to be the kind of leaders we say we are.

This warning rings even more true today as the current government has once again been unable to pass permanent wage reform for Federal Wildland Firefighters.

Pay was the first issue found for retention problems when compiling this data, followed by lack of development as careers progressed, as well as benefits. The ongoing issue of losing employees to other agencies was noticed and warned about 5+ years ago, with precise numbers to go with the concerns. Let’s look at what concerned supervisors gave the current Chief of the Forest Service years ago.

From their data:

Attrition Trends Over The Past 5 Years:

• Employee Turnover:

  • Municipal/State Fire Departments: Over the past five years, 441 employees transitioned to these agencies.

  • Non-Fire Agencies: 498 employees shifted to jobs outside firefighting during the same period.

  • Current Departures: 330 employees are testing for municipal/state agencies, and 270 are applying to non-fire agencies.

    

• Primary Reasons for Attrition:

  • Low pay (top reason: 423 cases historically, 278 current cases).

  • Poor morale, high cost of living, limited career growth, and family/commute challenges.

  • Retirement also plays a role, particularly among older staff.

    

While the data showed that employees were still entering the system, retention was the overarching issue. It was presented that if this continued, there would be massive qualification and experience problems. Exactly what we have seen in the last few years.

While many first-year apprenticeship participants left after 1 year, the majority of folks left right when they started to gain leadership training.

That 2-4 year mark.

One thing that was stressed was the cost of training all these individuals, which would only result in losing them to other agencies. Then those costs occur again, training individuals up to that lower leadership level, and those employees leave for all the same reasons that persist.

There are always conversations about “training budgets,” something that was brought up in the last all-employees call by the Forest Service.

We even see the exact breakdown of what positions were leaving:

Senior FFs left en masse back then and still today…

1. Age Demographics of Departing Staff:

   • The majority are aged 26-35.

2. Qualifications Lost:

   • The agency has lost personnel with critical certifications (e.g., ENGB, ICT4, DIVS) essential for wildland fire operations.

3. Job Tenure and Experience:

   • Many employees have been in their current roles for fewer than three years, demonstrating limited retention of experienced personnel.

   • Approximately 70% of employees have been with the agency for fewer than five years.

What were the highest levels of qualifications lost?

They were pretty blunt about their concerns, saying the problem was getting worse year after year. They pressed Forest Service leadership, saying the Forest Service was realistically paying for and training the future employees of private and municipal wildfire employers.

Costing millions of dollars.

The Forest Service has a retention problem. Every year we lose highly trained, highly qualified permanent and seasonal employees to other firefighting agencies as well as other industries. We know why they leave: better pay, better benefits, and more opportunities for professional development and promotion.

When these employees leave, we lose the benefit of their diverse knowledge, skill, leadership, and experience, all of which are vital to the success of any team, all attained while working for the Forest Service. We also lose the significant investment of funds spent on their training and education while in the agency, an investment that goes with them to benefit their next employer.

We have had many conversations that continue to go in circles regarding retention and why we lose employees with varying experience and years with the agency. It seems very common now to hear from modules that have just lost an employee or have employees actively seeking employment outside of the agency.

Preservation Survey Summary: 2019

While I was not there, dozens of people in Region 5 will tell you the famous quote from then Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region in California, now Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, when asked about employee concerns: Multiple sources and firefighters that were there say that the response was, If you don’t like it, you can leave.

As one author of this comprehensive presentation told me this week, “Nothing’s changed.”

They even covered the issues with mental health back in 2019, work-life balance, misclassification of positions, promotion bottlenecks, and job title reclassification. Many of these issues have received significant lip service, yet many still have not seen any notable progress.

• Retention Challenges Presented:

1. Work Environment:

   • Chronic fatigue, mental health challenges (e.g., PTSD, depression), and unstable work-life balance significantly affect retention.

2. Misclassification of Roles:

   • Employees are often categorized under "Forestry Technician" instead of "Firefighter," which affects pay scales, benefits, and recognition.

3. Grade and Position:

   • The majority of employees are at GS-5 to GS-7 grades, with limited movement to higher grades due to promotion bottlenecks.

4. Future Aspirations:

   • Significant numbers of employees are actively seeking other job opportunities, often outside the federal firefighting system.

They were supposed to reclassify and fix the position descriptions as promised years ago. They then were embarrassingly called back to redo the “new” position descriptions because it was found they copied and pasted old descriptions to the new ones.

They still haven’t released the fully completed descriptions list and said work is ongoing despite significant delays. This was all addressed YEARS ago in the presentation to Randy Moore before he was Cheif, along with others who now work in the D.C. office.

The authors, who have decades of combined service supervising Hotshot crews, provided their recommendations to fix the retention issue:

Recommendations for Improvement

1. Enhanced Compensation:

   • Introduce pay equity measures to align with state and municipal firefighter salaries.

   • Implement incentives for retaining key qualifications and experienced staff.

2. Work-Life Balance:

   • Address chronic stress and workload demands and provide better mental health support to retain employees.

3. Career Development:

   • Create clear pathways for advancement within the agency, including specialized training and leadership opportunities.

4. Job Reclassification:

   • Reclassify positions to align with modern wildland firefighting duties, ensuring appropriate recognition and benefits.

Since 2019, when this data was presented to the leaders of the Forest Service, there has been little change to the retention problem. One author and presenter of this data told me this week, “Someone needs to get fired.”

In my opinion, the Forest Service tried to fix the problem by hiring its way out of it. If we hire more people, the retention issues will subside.

However, the retention issue was not resolved. They hired more people but used funds that were not permanent to hire those new employees. They paid those new hires more with a supplement that was also not permanent. That led to a massive budget shortfall and ultimately led to ALL non-fire seasonals getting laid off, and now there is chatter of a reduction of force moving forward.

The calls for change in wildfire are growing louder every day. What that change looks like is not agreed upon by all. One of the presenters and authors of this data to Randy Moore in 2019 had the following to say when it came to retention and wildfire policy today:

“Fix the known issues.

Acknowledge the few you have, and support them. Give them the tools to do the right things. Rebuild with the few you have. Do not allow some Forest Chief to tell you how to do it.

That’s the biggest problem is having to constantly explain to nonfire folks, i.e., rangers forest supts when, how, and why you do your job. Then that person leaves… you get another one. Same old bullshit over and over.”

I suggested a chief with extensive wildfire operational experience could help with these issues. I have heard a few names floated around to fill the role in the next Admin, and some come from outside the Forest Service and have extensive wildfire knowledge and experience.

But others have pushed back, saying the Forest Service shouldn’t be run like a wildfire agency; it’s a land management agency… but this inherently continues these known issues.

So I asked if the Chief of the Forest Service is not an outsider with in-depth wildfire knowledge and experience as an operator, what needs to happen?

“Overhaul might be necessary to make fire its own thing, not under a Target store manager as a district ranger or forest supervisor.”

Calls to create a national fire service are louder than ever. The Forest Service is bleeding money because of its wildfire expenses, putting seasonal non-fire employees on the sacrificial altar to make up the difference.

So, as we move into the next year and are once again told fundamental changes are coming, we should soon find out what that will be. Do we see a Forest Service Chief come in who’s a D.C. outsider with wide-ranging wildfire operational and industry experience?

Or do we see the promotion of a Forest or Regional supervisor as has been the norm for some time now?

As I said in this week’s podcast, the new administration is laser-focused on the Forest Service. They are trying to change how the Chief is appointed, making it a Presidential appointment.

Senate Bill 5440 says, "The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Chief of the Forest Service.” This is a big change and shows the level of attention they have set upon the Agency,

The next few months should provide a lot of insight on how this will all proceed.

Clearly, the workforce issues continue. Will changes finally address the concerns of supervisors who feel like they have been ignored for years?

I hope so.

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