Interagency Dispatch Centers Proposed Closing of Pueblo....

[rfburns]

The results of a study that began in 2018 has been publicly released. The proposal would close interagency dispatch centers in Pueblo, Durango, Montrose and Craig. Leaving Fort Collins, Grand Junction and a new center to eventually be built in Colorado Springs. Medicine Bow-Routt NF in Colorado would likely be dispatched with the rest of the Forest from Casper, Wyoming. There are 38 dispatcher positions in Colorado who would be offered jobs in the remaining centers. This study is similar to, but more extensive than the proposal made in 2006. The inability to hire dispatchers was cited as one reason for the closures. Wildland firefighters and dispatchers (forestry technicians) start out at $11.60 or $13.03 an hour, in Durango, Montrose, Grand Junction and Craig, substantially less than the McDonalds wages. Dispatchers in Fort Collins start at $14.75 or $16.56 and Colorado Springs at $13.67 or $15.34 an hour. Apparently they think they can hire people for those wages in Fort Collins and Grand Junction. Biden-Harris WH has proposed a 2.7% increase in forestry technician wages in 2022 and 3.2% for Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. The study also cites the lack of space for Expanded Dispatch. The public comment period closes 27 November. Public comment can be sent to co.interagency.dispatch@state.co.us The reorganization could take a minimum of three years.

 

[theaton]

Low wages! In Moab you can flip burgers for more than that!

 

[rbuxton]

Do you have a link to the study

The results of a study that began in 2018 has been publicly released. The proposal would close interagency dispatch centers in Pueblo, Durango, Montrose and Craig. Leaving Fort Collins, Grand Junction and a new center to eventually be built in Colorado Springs. Medicine Bow-Routt NF in Colorado would likely be dispatched with the rest of the Forest from Casper, Wyoming. There are 38 dispatcher positions in Colorado who would be offered jobs in the remaining centers. This study is similar to, but more extensive than the proposal made in 2006. The inability to hire dispatchers was cited as one reason for the closures. Wildland firefighters and dispatchers (forestry technicians) start out at $11.60 or $13.03 an hour, in Durango, Montrose, Grand Junction and Craig, substantially less than the McDonalds wages. Dispatchers in Fort Collins start at $14.75 or $16.56 and Colorado Springs at $13.67 or $15.34 an hour. Apparently they think they can hire people for those wages in Fort Collins and Grand Junction. Biden-Harris WH has proposed a 2.7% increase in forestry technician wages in 2022 and 3.2% for Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. The study also cites the lack of space for Expanded Dispatch. The public comment period closes 27 November. Public comment can be sent to co.interagency.dispatch@state.co.us The reorganization could take a minimum of three years.

Do you have a link to the study?

 

[crazy88]

Those wages are criminal. I would think most forestry technicians are seasonal or limited term with no benefits. They can make more at fast food restaurants. Fort Collins has a high cost of living, I would think that these positions would attract more people in Pueblo or Craig, unless there is some sort of federal housing that I don't know about.

 

[natedawg1604]

I will try to find this study and post it here. I am also shocked at those wages.

 

[natedawg1604]

So I've reached out to several people and I'm waiting to hear back.

Edit: it looks like some info can be found here.

 

[es93546]

The U.S. Forest Service has about 7,000 vacancies at any one time in a workforce of about 29,000. When I graduated from college in 1975 the competition for every job in the agency was fierce. There was a tendency of baby boomers to want to work in the public service. There was a desire to work in environmental fields. Some graduated foresters would apply for clerk positions in the land management agencies just to get federal employment status, work the job for a year or two, then start applying for open forester jobs. It was hard to get a seasonal job. The vacancy rate was very low back then.

However, in spite of what you may think, the feds make the least, the state people make more, the county people make more than them and local districts and municipalities make the most. I know there are exceptions to this, but as a general rule, this is the case. The only advantage for federal employees is their health insurance is much better than anyone else and you stay insured after you retire. Federal wages just haven't kept up and the difference between a federal firefighter's pay and that of someone from a city fire department is very significant.

I have mixed feelings about dispatch center consolidations. People in the "super centers" don't know the land and local weather like those in the smaller, dispersed centers. Often time, people who have been in the field for many years become dispatchers for a host of reasons including not being able to physically hold up to field work, needing higher pay, having more regular hours (not always) and living in bigger towns and small cities. That field experience is key to doing a better job as a dispatcher.

Consolidated centers such as the federal interagency center in San Bernardino have the workload to operate 24 hours and that has some real benefits. You don't have to arrange to put a dispatcher on for later hours and pay for those hours directly if you find yourself needing to work late in the field. Lots of agencies combining their resources results in a better dispatch center and coordination improves as well. The 3 centers for Colorado sounds like a little too little to me, no one would know the land very well.