Where the association stands
Position & Issue Papers
The Board of Directors has developed a range of Position Papers and Issue Papers that engage discussion of the key issues facing our profession today.
The set
Seven papers, one profession
Position Papers cover Health & Wellbeing, Prescribed Fire, and Climate Change. Issue Papers cover Extreme Fires, Fire Suppression, Competing Resources, and International Cooperation.
Health & Wellbeing in the Wildland Fire Sector
This IAWF position statement articulates the IAWF’s commitment to promoting health and wellbeing for wildland fire practitioners, their families, and support communities. The IAWF seeks to promote and contribute to the mental, cultural, physical, and emotional safety of wildland fire practitioners worldwide.
Prescribed Fire
This position statement articulates the critical importance of intentional burning as a landscape management tool, including the skillful application of fire to meet multiple resource objectives. The IAWF will continue to advocate with national and international policy makers for improvements in wildland fire management policies in relation to prescribed fire.
Climate Change
Climate change has resulted in drying and warming trends in many parts of the world, exacerbating wildfire risk, the likelihood of fire, and extreme fire consequences — and climate models predict these conditions will worsen. Fire seasons will lengthen, become more extreme, and extend into landscapes previously unaffected by wildland fires, increasing risk to firefighters, communities, the environment, industries, and the economy.
Extreme Fires
Wildfires globally are becoming increasingly deadly and destructive — not just larger, but with a steep increase in impacts: high numbers of human fatalities, homes and structures destroyed by the thousands, and an upward trend in smoke exposure related to human health. There is no single cause; rather a triangle of three factors — climate, fuels, and people.
International Cooperation
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion about what it means for the IAWF to be an international organization, and why it is a value worth pursuing.
Fire Suppression
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion about new ways to protect values and fight large fires, including the consideration of suppression strategies and tactics.
Competing Priorities and Demands
This Issue Paper focuses on competing and increasing demands on the focus and activities of wildfire professionals and community members, and the prioritizing and commitment of fiscal resources. How can we balance institutional, social, economic, and political needs — this competition for resources and time — to best manage our evolving fire challenge?
Join the discussion
These papers are conversation starters
The board develops each paper to engage the profession — members shape what comes next.