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Geospatial Subcommittee

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Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Geospatial Subcommittee (GSC) provides national leadership for the integration of geospatial information, technology, and systems into all phases of wildland fire management. This includes the development and promotion of standards and tools; trusted data to support wildland fire operations; training; the development of geospatial capability in the field; and providing geospatial expertise to other wildland fire lines of business.

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Primary Objectives

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  • Define, promote, and recommend the use of NWCG standards-based interagency datasets, both current and historic. Develop processes for combining agency datasets to build interagency datasets.
  • Develop requirements for centralized acquisition, storage, and delivery of trusted interagency geospatial datasets, including governance, quality control, access, and maintenance of included data.
  • Provide a platform for the development, revision, review and adoption of the NWCG Standards for Geospatial Operations, PMS 936, the NWCG GISS Workflow, PMS 936-1, and geospatial data standards to enable wildland fire geospatial data to achieve broad usage throughout the interagency community. Identify gaps in standards and propose solutions. Promote the use of interagency standards within wildland fire applications.
  • Identify common GIS training needs and resources, and plan or make recommendations for the development and presentation of training in cooperation with other groups, programs, or agencies in the wildland fire community.
  • Establish and regularly update wildland fire incident position standards related to GISS and IRIN. This includes incident position descriptions and position requirements for training, experience, physical fitness, and position currency.

Guidance Documents

Standard Templates, Tools, and References

We have collected a variety of tools, documents, and other resources can be downloaded from this page to assist the GISS on an incident. Please provide any suggestions for page content to your GSC representative.

Job Aids and Reference Information

Spatial Data Sources

Wildfire Response GIS Group on GeoNet

You are invited to join the Wildfire Response GIS group on GeoNet!  The new Wildfire Response GIS group in the GeoNet Community is open. This is a place to ask questions, get updates from the NIFC ArcGIS Online Organization Admins, and connect with your Fire GIS colleagues.  It is a private group, which means the content is not searchable by the public and is only accessible to members of the group.

Get started: Join and contribute today!

  1. Go to GeoNet.
  2. Log in with your NIFC AGOL Org username and password and accept the Esri GeoNet Terms of Use and Conditions.​
    • NOTE: GeoNet only allows an email address once in the entire system. If you have ever signed into GeoNet with another AGOL account that uses the same address, you will receive an error. If you receive this error, you can submit a Support Request to change your NIFC Org account email to a different address.  Alternatively, if you actively use the other account, you may log in and request access with it.  If you use your work email address for your NIFC account and your agency uses an Enterprise Login for their own AGOL Org (BLM, NPS, USFS), we recommend you submit a Support Request to change your NIFC Org account email or use your agency login to request access to the group.
  3. Click “Ask to join this group” and give the Admins at least 1 business day to approve your request. You will receive a notification in your GeoNet inbox once you’ve been accepted in.
  4. Read the welcome blog post Start Here: Welcome to the Wildfire Response GIS Community.

Got Questions? Check out these GeoNet Community Quick tips

Thanks for joining and we look forward to your questions and engagement in our new GeoNet Community!

 

Chair: Tony Beauchaine

NWCG Coordinator: Dave Schultz

Parent Committee: Data Management Committee

Meeting Schedule: TBD

Page Last Modified or Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

Updated, NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430

Date: March 11, 2025
Contact: Fire Use Subcommittee
Wildland Fire Module Unit

The NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430 standardizes procedures and expectations for Wildland Fire Modules (WFMs). These standards are to be used by staff, supervisors, specialists, and technicians for planning, administering, and conducting WFM operations. These standards will also be used as a measure of WFM qualifications, capabilities, and expected performance, for both Type 1 and Type 2 WFMs.

References:

NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Module Operations, PMS 430

NEW! NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514

Date: March 7, 2025
Contact: National Interagency Aviation Committee

The NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514 establishes the standards for dispatching, utilizing, and coordinating airtankers on interagency wildland fires. These standards should be used in conjunction with the NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision (SAS), PMS 505, NWCG Standards for Airtanker Base Operations (SABO), PMS 508, and any applicable agency plans.

References:

NWCG Standards for Airtanker Operations, PMS 514

Incident Position Standards and Next Gen Position Task Books Now Available for Dispatch Incident Positions

Date: March 5, 2025
Contact: National Coordination System Committee

NWCG is excited to announce that Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Books are now available for all six Dispatch positions:

  • Aircraft Dispatcher
  • Expanded Dispatch Coordinator
  • Expanded Dispatch Recorder
  • Expanded Dispatch Supervisory Dispatcher
  • Expanded Dispatch Support Dispatcher
  • Initial Attack Dispatcher

The Performance Support Packages for these positions, including the Expanded Dispatch Job Aid, J-601 and the Initial Attack and Aircraft Dispatcher Job Aid, J-602, were developed as part of the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. These resources support trainees, qualified personnel, and evaluators in their roles.

Any changes to qualification pathways will take effect with the next update of the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1.

References:

NWCG Aircraft Dispatcher Position Page 

NWCG Expanded Dispatch Coordinator Position Page 

NWCG Expanded Dispatch Recorder Position Page 

NWCG Expanded Dispatch Supervisory Dispatcher Position Page 

NWCG Expanded Dispatch Support Dispatcher Position Page 

NWCG Initial Attack Dispatcher Position Page 

NWCG Job Aids 

Incident Position Standards and the Next Generation Position Task Books Now Available for DMOB, DOCL, and RESL

Date: February 28, 2025
Contact: Incident Operations Subcommittee

NWCG is excited to announce that Incident Position Standards and the Next Generation Position Task Books are now available for Demobilization Unit Leader (DMOB), Documentation Unit Leader (DOCL), and Resources Unit Leader (RESL).

The Performance Support Packages for these positions, including a job aid for RESL, were developed as part of the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. These resources support trainees, qualified personnel, and evaluators in their respective roles.

Any changes to qualification pathways will take effect with the next update of the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1.

References:

NWCG Demobilization Unit Leader Position Page 

NWCG Documentation Unit Leader Position Page 

NWCG Resources Unit Leader Position Page