Wildland Firefighter to be incorporated into FireRescue magazine

By Jeff Berend, Publisher

The May 2008 issue represents the end of one era and the beginning of another. This is the final issue Wildland Firefighter will be published as a stand-alone magazine. Beginning in June, we will be merging Wildland Firefighter into a new Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) section in FireRescue magazine.

The road we’ve been down spans 12 years and more than 125 issues. For Elsevier Public Safety, it started when we took over Wildland Firefighter from the original publishers in 2003. Along the way, we’ve seen sporadic national attention focused on wildland fire. We’ve documented some of the most challenging fires in our history. We’ve reported on advances in equipment, technology and tactics, as well as tragic incidents.

For all of us at Wildland Firefighter, this change leaves us with mixed emotions. After all, Wildland Firefighter has been, since its inception, “The Voice of the Wildland Firefighter.” We’ve taken great pride in creating a magazine for you—the folks who toil on the lines and in the fire camps. We’ve enjoyed hearing your stories and being the first to see amazing photos from the lines. This magazine has never been about the suits or the bureaucrats.

And what a fiercely loyal group of readers and advertisers you’ve been! But from a business perspective, we simply have not been able to grow the readership or advertising beyond that loyal core. At the same time, publishing costs have risen at unprecedented levels.

Although we will miss seeing Wildland Firefighter as a stand-alone publication, we’re excited about this change for another reason. The growing national significance of the WUI means that taking the issues to a broader audience—namely, FireRescue’s 50,000-plus subscribers—has the potential to reach fire- fighters who are increasingly being called on to respond to WUI fires, often without much experience or training in wildland fire. 

John Marker, one of the original founders of Wildland Firefighter, captured it well in an e-mail to me: “Your merger of Wildland Firefighter into FireRescue may be a means for the leadership in the fire services to talk about roles, responsibilities, organizations, funding and other issues that must be resolved if citizens, their resources and property are to be protected from fire—whether it is a structure or a forest burning.”

That’s a lofty goal, and one we don’t take lightly. We vow to do our best to bring information to both groups—structure and wildland—with respect and equity. We also promise to continue to listen to your ideas, feedback, concerns and criticisms.

A little farther down the line, our aim is to put the best wildland content possible on www.wildlandfirefighter.com, including magazine archives as well as current and new articles, photos and insights. While we’re putting these plans together, please go to the Web site and give us your e-mail address so we can keep you posted.

Finally, there are a number of people I need to recognize and thank:

• Our editorial and design staff who has worked tirelessly to create such a great magazine: Shannon Pieper, Cindy Devone-Pacheco, Janelle Foskett, Crawford Coates, Pippin Schupbach and Erica Krystek, to name just a few.
• Founding Editor Brian Ballou and Technical Editor Paul Ross.
• Founders Doug Coyle, Rick Dice, John Marker and Arnie Masoner.
• Area representatives Grover Payne, Don Overbaugh and Ben Beall.
• Vicki Minor and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, whom we will continue to support.
• Chief Tom Kuntz and the IAFC’s Wildland Fire Policy Committee.

And of course, thank you, our readers, contributors and advertisers, who’ve made the ride such a great one for all of us.

Jeff Berend is vice president/publisher of Elsevier Public Safety.