Program Overview
Wildland Firefighting
Program Overview
The Wildland Firefighting program consists of eight National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) courses taught by certified instructors and natural resource classes. The goal of the program is to provide graduates with the necessary training and certification to become wildland firefighters while providing a good background in natural resource skills. Graduates from this program are working for state and federal firefighting agencies like the Minnesota DNR and the US Forest Service.
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Reasons to Attend Minnesota North
Partnership with Minnesota Interagency Fire Center.
This center includes the U.S. Forest Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The goals of the partnership are two-fold:
- Provide highly trained entry-level fire fighters for employment with fire organizations to meet state and national needs.
- Offer high quality training and hands-on experience in wild fire and natural resource management.
Career opportunities.
It is estimated that over the next 5 years 40-50% of the federal and state workforce will be eligible to retire. As they leave, a new generation of employees needs to be trained and ready to take over. Itasca’s partnership with the federal and state firefighting agencies has been very successful in placing students into internships. Many students are placed at the U.S. Forest Service in Minnesota, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Montana, Alaska, Oregon and Wyoming; several have gone on to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
