Last updated: January 10, 2024
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Women’s Fuels and Fire Crews create defensible space at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
The Grand Teton MCC crew focused on reducing fuel loads on a ridge adjacent to Colter Bay Village in the north part of the park. The crew thinned the forest along a ridge line and limbed larger trees to create slash piles in over 16 of the unit’s 35 acres. Although the footprint of their work was small, those acres provide a critical buffer from a threatening wildfire on the north side of the Colter Bay developed area, which contains employee housing, campgrounds, concession facilities, and historic park structures.
In both locations, crew members valued working closely with park staff to accomplish projects and the ability to learn skills in the low-pressure, supportive environment of an all-women’s crew. Participants expressed interest in leveraging the skills they learned during their corps assignments to pursue future employment with NPS Fire and Aviation or other land management agencies’ fire programs.