United States Department of the Interior

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240

IN REPLY REFER TO:

ISSUED ELECTRONICALLY ONLY

SEP 2 1 2004
Memorandum
To: Human Resources Officers, National Park Service /
Human Resources Specialists, National Patk Servi
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From: NPS, Acting Assistant, Human Reso’ S Y 7
Subject: Implementation of the Interagency Fire Program Management

Qualifications Standards and Guide

This memorandum is to update you on the upcoming implementation of interagency
qualification standards for key fire management positions, which will require your
attention. Previously these instructions were issued by way of Human Resources
Advisory Number 002 — click on link below:

http://inside.nps.gov/programs/programcustommenu.cfm?menuid=1888&div=7&proe=6
10.

For several years, Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture’s Forest
Service fire and human resources representatives have worked together to develop the
Interagency Fire Program Management Qualifications Standards and Guide, referred to
as the IFPM Standard. The IFPM Standard establishes consistency in determining
qualifications for 14 key fire management positions. Studies of several fatal fire
incidents made it clear that these more stringent requirements were needed to help ensure
firefighters’ safety and increase professionalism in these key fire management positions.

Assistant Secretary, P. Lynn Scarlett, announced October 1, 2004 as the date to officially
begin implementing the IFPM Standard, with full implementation to be completed within
five years.

Available on the internet at http://Awww.nife.gov/training quals/IFPM/ifpm.htm are a
number of documents related to this process. Included is the IFPM White Paper, which
provides more detailed information about the IFPM Standard. Additional documents will
also be placed on this website as they are developed (e.g., the interdepartmental
implementation instructions, frequently asked questions, etc.).

The National Fire and Aviation Executive Board (NFAEB) has chartered an interagency
standing committee to oversee implementation planning and execution. The standing


committee will develop a framework of implementing instructions that will be applied
consistently by both DOI bureaus and the Forest Service.

To represent the Human Resources (HR) community on the implementation committee,
the Human Resources Franchise is designated as lead, with Ron Anderson, Contractor, as
the primary contact in the Franchise. Jay Wechselberger, Human Resources Officer from
Redwoods National Park is the field representative on the committee. Ron can be
reached at RonMAnderson@contractor.nps.gov or 662-842-4929 and Jay can be reached
at Jay_Wechselberger@nps.gov or

Future correspondence will be sent directly to the Human Resources Officers or
Specialists that have been identified (see attached excel spreadsheet) as having
responsibility for servicing fire management positions in the GS-401 and GS-462 series.
The Fire Management Program Center in Boise is having an IFPM binder duplicated and
sent to each of these HR Officers/Specialists.

cc: Acting Associate Director, Administration, Business Practices and Workforce
Development
NPS Chief, Division of Fire and Aviation
NPS National Fire Management Officer