Welcome to new contributor Dana Tibbitts! We discuss wildfire quite a bit here, and I hope that Dana’s contributions will get lead to more and better discussion. Many forces are coming together (the USWFS, technology, and so on) such that wildfire and its management, and fuel treatments and how they are done, may well be in the process of change more than we have seen in our careers.
Note: everyone is welcome to contribute posts, subject to TSW civility constraints, so if you have been thinking “no one has ever expressed my point of view” or “I could do a lot better than what I’ve read at TSW or elsewhere”, please consider submitting!
Biography | Dana Tibbitts
I’ve always been curious about the stories behind the story. That curiosity has led me down unexpected paths, through surprising doors, and more than once left me wondering, How on earth did I get here?
Nine years at UCLA took me from educational policy and legislative affairs to Washington, D.C., and into the vortex of international press operations for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Corporate communications followed, but I was more interested in the stories nobody was telling.
Then came Harnessing the Sky, the untold story of my grandfather, Vice Admiral Trapnell, godfather of modern naval aviation. From NAS PAX River to Tailhook, we had entirely too much fun taking this on the road.
Along the way, I co-founded a ministry in Ventura County that became a remarkable now 22-year journey of faith, recovery, and service.
Fifteen years in Tahoe opened other doors. My husband and I co-founded TESA, Tahoe East Shore Alliance, and next thing you know, I’m investigating policy, practice and competing narratives on wildfire. Gratefully, my nearly unpublishable License to Burn series found a home with The Smokey Wire.
That venture landed me in the trenches with the National Wildfire Alliance, advancing public awareness, accountability, and determination change wildfire policy:
First put out the fire!
