PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 1
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Meeting Minutes
Attendees:
Barbara Kennedy, SORO
Bob ???
Nancy Orr, ???
Leo Sidebotham, BLM
Bruce Monell, DNR
Steve Meacham, DNR
Laurie Perrett, USFS
Earl Cordes, Jefferson County Fire/Oregon Fire Service
Andy Anderson, USFWS
Mark Forbes, NPS
Cory Winnie, BIA????
Tom Rilliey, USFS
Presenters/Guests:
Gerry Day, NWCC
David Widmark, USFS (Media)

Meeting Ground Rules:
1. Be on time (0900).
2. End meeting at 1500.
3. Two 15 minute Breaks, be back in your seat on time.
4. Lunch – As part of your RSVP let Barbara know if you want lunch delivered
or if you will bring your own. We will have working lunches.
5. Be prepared, read briefing papers before meeting, agenda will be sent out one
week before meeting.
6. Cell phones and pagers on silent.
7. No side conversations.
8. Meeting location will be at the NW Coordination Center unless it is not
available. Marshall House will be an alternate meeting place.
9. Stick with the task at hand, no need to over discuss.
10. Frame decisions; be clear when making a decision.
11. Communicating Task Orders - Liaison takes task out of minutes and
communicates it to the working team. Barbara keeps a master list of task
orders.
12. Please RSVP by Friday if you can make the meeting or not, let Barbara know
if you would be available for a conference call. If there are not enough
representatives to make a quorum, than the smaller group that is available to
meet, will meet regarding critical issues (making no decisions) to bring to the
larger group in a conference call where decisions can then be made.
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 2

Logos and Artwork
Gerry gave logos to Barbara, all artwork is done.

72 hour Accident Report
Gerry handed out a 72-hour report from Region 3 on accident.

Night Mobilizations – Proposed wording for inclusion into the 2002 NW area
Mobilization Guide (handout given) – Gerry Day
The Night Mobilization Draft proposes that as a general practice, due to safety
considerations, the NW Geographic Area will not mobilize resources between the
hours of 24:00 and 05:00.
Action/Decision:
Given to Laurie to task the Operations Working Team, giving them the policy
and constraints to give recommendations at the June meeting.
Deadline: June Meeting

National Contract for Contract Crews – Gerry Day
There is a contract for Crews and Engines to be implemented this year; it includes
22 crews, 6 units, and 50 engines. Will still have the NW solicitation issued
through the state and Engine Tender Agreement issued through the Forest
Service, which are still in affect. The new contract describes national resources,
which will be of the highest quality. A guarantee is still being discussed but
procedures still apply.
If necessary, the NW Mobilization Guide will be amended and posted on the web,
and messages will be sent out alerting people to the changes. However they do
not see reason to.

Restructuring of the Helicopter Manager Position (handout given) – Gerry
Day
What is going to be done to implement it:
There are two positions, there is no HCMG, and there are Helicopter Manager
positions. You need to decide what you are going to use the person for before you
order.
The BLM is the only federal agency that has sent through official channels and
said this is how it will be implemented.
Action/Decision:
Each agency needs to communicate HCWN/HELB to their agency regarding
red card crossover.
Note: this is a topic to be discussed with NWCG, regarding how items are
communicated.
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 3

Gerry Day spoke about 1996 letter to the Geographic Area Coordinating
Group, from the National Operations Team (i.e. The National Mac) (handout
given)
Topic: What the roles are of the different groups. This was given to Kim
Christiansen to verify and make corrections.

Updating PNWCG/NW MAC members contact list (handout given) – Gerry
Day
Action/Decision:
Each agency to update (including acting members) and was to be returned to
Gerry by the end of the meeting.

Updating MAC roster (handout given) – Gerry Day
Action/Decision:
Each agency to update with reliable people who can speak for your agency
and return to Gerry by the end of May.

MAC Training – Gerry Day
MAC Training will be held the third week of June. Someone is needed to
coordinate the training. Mike Edrington was proposed as coordinator. It was
agreed that the training would be held in the Portland area as long as it was not
down town.
Action/Decision:
Contracted Mike Edrington to coordinate training for June 18th. The NWCC
will facilitate arrangements. Training will be located in Portland area.

To review NW Preparedness Plan (handout given) – Gerry Day
The plan includes three actions to be considered.
Action/Decision:
Each agency needs to review the plan and be ready to adopt it or not, give
feedback, and validate action items. To include field and line officer review.
a. Given to Laurie to task to Operations Working Team for review.
b. Given to Cory to task to Prevention Working Team for review.
Deadline: Decision to be made at June meeting.

Gerry Received Award
Leo recognized Gerry for the work he does at the NWCC managing the systems,
by giving him a Quality Step Increase Award.
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 4

Topics for Media Day to be held at the NWCC - David Widmark, USFS
He will have Carol working on plan and she will contact each agency. Some
issues discussed last year were Safety Issues and Fire Prevention. Some talking
points that were brought up were:
1. Over 3000 media calls were received last year.
2. Never before have agencies been as prepared for fire season as they are
this year.
3. The national fire plan is a long-term investment and we are only at the
beginning, this is the second year and we are confident that we will
continue.
4. Several wild land agencies are well prepared to manage an escalating fire
situation.
5. Homeowners can help federal and state fire fighting agencies by taking
steps to reduce the risk of wildfire damage to their property.
Action/Decision:
Each agency is to have media messages to David by June 2nd. They also need
help in staffing Media Day if people are available that week.

NWCC Security Changes
There will be new security changes at the NWCC; you will need your agency
identification badge if you have one.

Incident Management Team (IMT) Configuration Memorandum (handout
given)
The Incident Operations Working Team (IOS) was tasked in 1999 to look at
trying to reduce cost incidents and try to increase incident management personnel
nation wide, and take a look at standard team configurations. They sent out a
memo proposing configuration of the type 1 and 2 IMT’s. They proposed that
type 1 teams would include 28 team members with an allowance for 6 trainees,
and allowance for 10 additional positions to be negotiated with the Agency
Administrator during mobilization. The type 2 team would be 20 members plus 7
negotiated at mobilization. The PNW has adopted a 50 “O” number policy for
IMT’s in the PNW. At present, our type 2 teams have an average of 38 positions
and our two National type 1 teams have 44 positions. The memo was to go to all
agencies but no one received it.
Action/Decision:
Everyone supported the proposal for continuing the policy of the PNWCG,
which is 50 “O” numbers for IMT’s in the PNW. Each agency is to contact their
NWCG representative regarding the decision process, especially the IOS working
team. If anyone sees NWCG proposals or news standards please contact Bob or
Barbara.
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 5

NWCG at Whitefish Montana meeting
Bob created a letter regarding the PNWCG’s response to the proposal by the IOS
working team for configuration of the type 1 and 2 IMT’s. He wants someone to
attend the meeting on May 16th, carry the letter, and speak on our behalf.
Action/Decision:
Bruce Monell to check on DNR’s participation, possibly John Viada. For
FWS, Pam or Mark may be possibilities.

S-420 changes (handout given) – Dick Gormley
Currently there are significantly more candidates for S-420 than the collective
wild land agencies training program can accommodate. There are also shortages
in staffing positions. The course cannot be offered unless full teams are present.
The solution that Dick proposed was to change the classroom environment for S420. The 2002 test is not meeting needs to get people through the training. The
proposal was presented to the Geographic Area Training group in San Diego and
the NW DC Working Team.
Action/Decision:
The training working team is to put together a steering committee to come up
with a plan to initiate the proposed training program and come back to report on
their findings.
Deadline: July Meeting

PNWCG Charter amendments approved (handout given)
PNWCG Charter amendments were discussed and approved.

30 Mile review (handouts given) – Laurie Perrett
Administrative review started in December of 2001 just concluded, nothing
decided yet on recs. Nine people were asked to step down temporarily until
decisions are completed. Expect to see some negative press. Only general
statements will be given until employees receive due course.
Action/Decision:
Editing of 30 mile focus areas to be corrected by the 17th of June, by Laurie.

Filling NFP Coordinator position
BLM has someone in mind. Laurie with Forest Service would like to get some
funding relief for this position.
Action/Decision:
Any ideas for an Interim NFP Coordinator should be sent to Leo by Thursday,
May 23rd. A decision is to be made by May 31st.
Action/Decision:
Laurie is to do an interest inquiry which each agency will send though their
own organization.
Deadline: Inquiry is to be done by May 20th and each agency should get replies
back by June 5th. Responses will be discussed at the next meeting.
PNWCG Steering Committee
May 15, 2002
Page 6

Review of PNWCG FY 2002 Strategic Plan Draft (handout given) – Tom
Rilliey
Everyone went over the plan as a group. Tom made updates and after some
discussion, the plan was approved.
Action/Decision:
Barbara is to connect background with S/T.

Promotion Group Team Members and Locations
Suggested Team Members for Promotion Groups were:
Washington State (8-9 in WA no more than 20)
1. Bob Bannon – DNR
2. Sonny O’Neal (contact to find someone) – FS
3. Bernie Ryan – BIA
4. Bob Appling – NPS
5. Fire Service to be named by state fire marshall
Oregon
1. Don Matick – ODF
2. Barbara Kennedy, Jon Stewart, or Tom Andrade – FS
3. Pete Martin or Chris Streibig – BLM (give to Leo)
4. Bruce Babb – FWS
5. Nancy Orr – Fire Service
The two places we see this group going are along the Gorge and Skamania. We
will need a map to show where groups are. The groups will report to the Strategy
Team in Oregon. For expectations of PM group members, refer to “notes for
LCG Action Plan”.
Future Agenda Items for June Meeting:
 NWCG Correspondence Distribution Process
 Department of Ecology’s participation in PNWCG
 Leo/Laurie to discuss fuels model, task with Louisa and Tim
 Master Agreement/Operating Plan revision