Prior to the "National Forests" there were "Forest Reserves" per a congressional act of 1891. Ruth said Preserves and that is a small error. The Forest Reserves were managed by the Department of the Interior until early 1905 when the U.S. Forest Service was established by an act of the congress. The Forest Service built a greater presence on the ground than the Interior Department had up to that point. I worked in the Flagstaff area in the early years of my U.S. Forest Service career in fire management as a Fire Prevention Technician. I drove a patrol truck with a small fire pump and water on board. I clearly remember the day of the "Radio Fire" that burned from the outskirts of Flagstaff up and over Mt. Elden and on east to nearly highway 89. That area near the highway is much more developed now and this fire would have likely been more damaging.
I was fire lookout for a state agency, and FS, in Oregon. In 2018 replaced by automation. Best job I ever had. The way I reported a fire was to radio dispatch, say this is xxx lookout. I have a smoke report when you are ready to copy. That always got their attention.
replaced by automation=means nobody is watching for fires when they start, so by the time they are detected they become huge forest fires. this is a big reason why the west has been experiencing huge wildfires in the last several years. it's a simple fact that cameras, heat detectors and aircraft cannot substitute for human eyes on the mountaintops.....
MR DEADSHOT This profession seems to be going extinct....thanks to all the new tech(satellites, drones, radios, etc)....damn I hate new tech.....anyways the people who do this aren't going to give up their jobs. I've looked into it myself and there has been zero openings in both paid and volunteer positions for the past two years across the entire country. You have to look on USJobs.gov or the forest service website. It's a shame it's going away as in my opinion the interaction between humans and nature is invaluable compared to nature and technology.
@MR DEADSHOT go to the Forest Fire Lookout Association and go to job listings. The forest service and some different agencies hiring lookouts post them there.
