NATIONAL WILDFIRE
COORDINATING GROUP
National Interagency Fire Center
3833 South Development Avenue
Boise, Idaho 83705

At the January 2008 NWCG Meeting, NWCG team/group chairs and staff leads participated in NWCG reorganization activities. This group assisted in defining a more efficient framework for responding to the needs and priorities of the NWCG. NWCG will begin transitioning its current structure into 13 separate committees, organized into three (3) branches:

• Policy, Planning & Management Branch
  • Fire Policy Committee
  • Interagency Fire Planning Committee
  • Fuels Management/WUI Mitigation Committee
  • Smoke Committee
  • Prevention, Education, Outreach Committee
• Equipment & Technology Branch
  • Information Technology Committee
  • Equipment Technology Committee
  • Fire Environment Committee
  • National Interagency Aviation Committee
• Preparedness Branch
  • Incident Business Committee
  • Workforce Management Committee
  • Risk Management Committee
  • NRF/NIMS Committee

To deal with the scope and complexity of this transitioning effort, NWCG has appointed three (3) people to serve as interim Branch Coordinators. The term of these appointments is expected to last through mid-July 2008. Duties will include:

• Working with Committee Chairs to:
  • Validate and refine each Committee’s purpose and function
  • Develop prioritized Action Plans and Budget Requests by May 8th
  • Facilitate each Committee’s charter development
  • Define needs for and composition of Organization Support Unit.
• Working with Fire Directors to:
  • Prioritize Blueprint recommendations and NWCG Strategies
  • Establish prioritized tasks and direction to the Committees
  • Identify Committee Chairs for the new organization
  • Develop charter templates & guidelines
  • Develop a Transition Plan
  • Develop the actual NWCG Branch Manager Position Descriptions for future recruitment.

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The following individuals will serve as interim Branch Coordinators:

• Lou Ballard, Policy, Planning & Management Branch
  • (208) 387-5276
• Paul Schlobohm, Equipment & Technology Branch
  • (208) 387-5196
• Al Borup, Preparedness Branch
  • (208) 387-5263

The Branch Coordinators will be dealing with some aggressive timeframes and require immediate assistance from the sub-groups. To accomplish the activities identified above, interim Committee Chairs have been designated as depicted in the attached Organization Chart. These interim Chairs will work with the Branch Coordinators to develop FY09 action plans and budget requests. Although the interim Chairs were selected based on proximity to the Branch Coordinators, future designations may be based on other factors.

Designation of regular Committee Chairs will occur during the summer of 2008. Work on defining the sub-committee and task team levels of the organization will continue between May 2008 and October 2009. All existing teams and groups will remain in place and active until they can be effectively transitioned. The new NWCG structure should be fully implemented by October 2009.

If you have any comments or questions, please contact any of the interim Branch Coordinators.

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