Hundreds of the firefighters battling wildfires around the country are Native American (see video above). Among their most important tools are their expensive boots, which can cost as much as $400 a pair.

But as the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe reports, those firefighters have been fighting the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than two years over reimbursements for their boots:

But BIA has failed to respond to a September 2009 federal arbitration ruling that ordered the agency to reimburse firefighters for boots they must purchase as a condition of employment. Some federal firefighting agencies provide at least partial reimbursements, the arbitrator said, citing a previous ruling by the Occupational Safety Health Administration.

Federal requirements for fire-resistant leather firefighter boots that rise above the ankle and last for more than one seven-month fire season range in price from $250 to more than $400 a pair, depending on the brand, according to union officials.

“If you’re going to have First Americans be the first responders on wildfires in California or in Colorado, it seems to me that you ought to provide the fire equipment,” Michael Jennings, executive director of the Federation of Indian Service Employees, tells O’Keefe.

Gwen Florio

Tags: BIA, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federation of Indian Service Employees, Native American firefighters, Native American news, Occupational Safety Health Administration, wildfires

As we move into the summer wildlife season, this story from the Toronto Globe and Mail is not exactly reassuring.

The head of the First Nations Forestry Council says there’s not enough money to clear brush around some remote aboriginal communities, despite the fact that British Columbia has just finished a $400 million commitment to deal with pine beetle-infested trees.

“It is completely frustrating that there is such a lack of resources,” Keith Atkinson tells the paper’s Wendy Stueck. “We were all on the edge of our seats last year as fires burned extremely close to communities. We just snuck through.” As Stueck writes:

Several native communities were among those evacuated or placed on evacuation alert in 2009, when hot, dry conditions created perfect wildfire conditions and helped push the provincial firefighting budget to a record-breaking $403-million.

The FNFC, formed in 2006 in response to a mountain pine beetle outbreak sweeping the province, identified fuel management as one of seven key initiatives for the group. Fuel management involves clearing brush and timber around homes and communities. Such precautions are considered especially important in areas where the pine beetle infestation has resulted in vast stretches of dead or dying trees.

The FNFC estimates less than 5 percent of the necessary fuel-reduction work has been done.

“It’s not a problem that’s going to be fixed overnight. Fuel builds up over many, many years,” says Brent Langlois, special operations co-ordinator for B.C.’s First Nations’ Emergency Services Society.

About half the 201 aboriginal communities in British Columbia have been hit by the pine beetle outbreak, which kills trees, leaving them dry and tindery, perfect fuel for fires.

Gwen Florio

Tags: aboriginal, British Columbia, buffalo post, First Nations, First Nations Forestry Council, First Nations’ Emergency Services Society, Gwen Florio, Native American news, pine beetle, wildfires