Joe Sullivan, Assistant Fire Management Officer Bureau of Land Management

It was a fuels management specialist position with the Bureau of Land Management that brought Joe Sullivan to Harney County. That was his starting place with Burns BLM and since May of 2023 he has been the Assistant Fire Management Officer managing the Burns District Fuels program. While this position brought Joe to southeast Oregon, he has family connections to Harney County. "I did have family that lived here for a long time, Wayne and Phyllis Lissman, and I was able to purchase my great uncle's house and live in it currently. I was raised in Baker but have always had a fondness for Burns and grew up playing the Hilanders in sports through the years. Some of my earliest memories are from third grade being a ball boy on the sideline for my father who coached the Baker High School football team against those Hilanders."

Joe's path to working with BLM has some twists and turns with multiple years working in fire fuels positions. "I started working for the Forest Service on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest just out of high school as a way to pay for my college. I was originally going to be a teacher, but that was short lived.  Besides a year on the Umatilla in 2010, I spent 15 years on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. After running a handcrew for 7 seasons I decided to try a fuels job and landed an Assistant Fire Management Officer (Fuels) position on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in North Central Idaho. While working there, I took classes from Oregon State University and Clackamas Community College, earning certifications for fuels positions with the BLM. I learned a lot in Idaho and made some lifelong friends."

"I’m lucky to fall into this position in Burns and get the opportunity to work with a lot of great people. I enjoy working with all our different partners like High Desert Partnership, Forest Service, Harney County Soil Water Conservation District, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Eastern Oregon Agriculture Research Center, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, State of Oregon, Community Fire Departments, Rangeland Fire Protection Association and all the landowners across Harney County."

Summer is a busy season in fuels management. "It's a mix of fighting fire, checking fuels contractors, and being in the field. Especially in August and September, it requires long shifts in supporting not just our zone, but our neighbors, our region and even nationwide when needed."  The fall brings on project work to reduce fuels on the landscape, rehabilitating burned areas, and starting to plan for the next field season. Winter is about planning, training for the next season and taking some much-needed time off following the long days of summer. Spring is about prescribed burning when and where possible and preparing for the summer fire season.

A special fuels project Joe is involved with is limiting the severity of fire that could impact cell towers in Harney County. "If the cell towers were damaged this would make a bad day even worse, with cell phone service potentially vanishing for the area. We want to be ahead of that situation with fuels treatments that can minimize the effects of fire on our communications system."

As part of his work with BLM, Joe also participates with the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative. "In my role as the BLM fuels lead, it is imperative to be a part of the wildfire collaborative. When it comes to fire behavior and fuels treatments used across the west, I have some great experience and knowledge to share with the group. I also believe that some of my role is to listen and observe. The collaborative helps multiple partners move in the same direction toward creating effective fuels treatments all across our county and set up firefighters to have fewer bad days."

In his spare time, Joe loves to be outside. “I love to ski and snowmobile. I am a winter sports junkie, usually chasing snowstorms across the west. I also like to hunt deer, elk, upland birds and waterfowl. And I spend a lot of time with my family, which is a big priority for me."