Wildland Fire Associates provide fire management and planning services that help private and public landowners protect communities and sustain and restore ecosystems.
We base our guidelines on the best available science, we strive for synergistic solutions for achieving ecosystem and community sustainability, and we facilitate knowledge-based collaborative and adaptive management processes.
Elizabeth Anderson
Elizabeth is one of the original founders of Wildland Fire Associates and is currently the Chief Operating Officer. She had a 15-year career with the US Forest Service and National Park Service. Elizabeth started her federal career working on a helitack...
Tom Nichols
Tom is one of the owners of Wildland Fire Associates, following a 37-year career with the National Park Service. He retired as the Chief of Fire and Aviation Management, working at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, and managing...
Carl Douhan
Mr. Douhan had 30 years of experience as a career employee with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He served as a Regional Fire Management Officer for the NPS and as the Regional Prescribed Fire Specialist for the USFWS. He...
Ben Jacobs
Ben began his fire career in 1978 on the Los Padres National Forest. After 34 years working in fire management, Ben retired in 2014 from the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Fuels Management Specialist. Ben received his BS in Forest...
John Lissoway
John is our lead instructor for many of the classes that Wildland Fire Associates offers. Armed with a degree in Forest Management, John has over 29 years experience in fire and resources management and in training. He has had 22 years experience as supervisor...
Esther Mandeno
Esther complements Wildland Fire Associates experience with technology. As a GIS Specialist with a Fire Ecology background, Esther bridges the technological gap. Esther started her career working for California State Parks in the Lake Tahoe Basin. As...
Rich McCrea
During his career, Rich worked 32 years in fire management and forestry. Outfitted with a degree in Forest Management, he started his career as a seasonal employee with the Forest Service as a forestry technician and member of the Helena Interagency Hotshot...
Dan O'Brien
With over 39 years in the field of wildland fire management, Dan brings a deep “above the situation” perspective on forest fire suppression and planning. Beginning as a firefighter and smokejumper, Dan soon became a hotshot crew supervisor. This solid fou...
Phil Perkins
Phil has over 35 years of experience in wildland fire management with the USFS, BLM and NPS. He began his career with 10 seasons of dirt time on helitack and hotshot crews, and as a smokejumper. Phil has extensive experience in fire behavior, prescribed...
Stephen Petersburg
Steve directed natural resource management and natural science research programs at Dinosaur National Monument from 1973 into 2002. Major activities included endangered species recovery programs, environmental compliance, research administration, fire...