I invite you to watch my second video (or read the transcript below), where I talk about our agency priorities and my focus areas as Chief. I continue to believe that safety must be our highest priority, no matter where you work. We must be safe in the course of our duties, and we must look out for one another.
I also share a bit more about what I mean when I say we need to get back to basics. Everyone, including the public, knows that we fight fires, but we do so much more, from forest management to outdoor recreation to mineral and energy management. By focusing on the fundamentals of our work, we can do more to support the health and vitality of our forests and grasslands and neighboring communities.
Overall, our work is built upon relationships and communication, from those with one another to our partners, and I look forward to communicating with all of you through these videos and as we meet in person.
TRANSCRIPT
When I came in, people were asking, “What are the priorities? What are we focused on?” I looked at a couple different things. One, first and foremost, was safety.
And as we prepare for fire season or when, regardless of whether you’re a firefighter, but just doing your job day to day can be hard. And so to me, first and foremost, as we do our jobs, it’s got to be safe, how we perform them and looking out for each other. Another big focus for me is trying to get back to basics. To me, like, really focusing on what our primary responsibilities and duties are that we do.
We’re fighting fire. We have a forest management program. We have a recreation, outdoor recreation program, the minerals program, oil and gas.
But the recreation program, for me, is an area that I’ve learned a lot about that. We have over two hundred million users on an annual basis that recreate on national forest lands.
I mean, so that the interest in the use and how we’re viewed is so positive, I think when I’ve looked at some of the customer survey results, we have like seventy percent positivity in terms of like how people view us and how we interact with the public. So it’s significant, the work that we do, it’s critical, and how we deliver that to the public.
And, you know, one thing that I didn’t mention was the role of relationships, right, and partnerships. But whether it’s in fire, whether it’s in archaeology, whether it’s recreation, we have so many partners. I really think we are in the relationship business, and you all see that in how you do your jobs. Maintaining those relationships and spending the time to to get to know people, in and out of work, is critical, for us to do our jobs effectively.