Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program Live on NPR's All Things Considered

Tune in to NPR today at 2:20 PM PST/5:20 PM EST for FFRP’s CEO Royal Ramey’s interview with All Things Considered. 

Hear Royal and host Juana Summers dive into the forestry workforce shortage, and how the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP) is leveraging people coming home from Fire Camp as an untapped pool of talent to close the gap. 

Just look at the numbers and the challenge is clear: In 2023, the Nature Conservancy reported that there will be a gap of nearly 9,400 forestry workers in California by 2028. Recent data shows that over 3,500 people were released from prison with Fire Camp experience, equating to a third of California’s wildland firefighting personnel shortage. FFRP is a tuition-free job training program that is connecting the dots and closing this workforce shortage gap. Our organization is committed to tackling these issues one step at a time–and our work is just beginning. 

If you’d like to listen in your own time, Royal’s interview will be available on all streaming platforms: Wildfires are getting more extreme. And so is the need for more firefighters.

And, join us in sharing this interview with your networks on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter!

Thank you for your support of our work and for celebrating moments like this one when we get to share our story with the rest of the country.

In strength and service,

The FFRP Team